How to…find funding for a social enterprise

This section lists well-known funders that give grants you don’t repay. Start here if you’re seeking core, project, or capital funding for a charity, CIC, community group, or social enterprise. Check each funder’s focus, size, location, and deadlines before applying.

• Arts Council England — Lottery-funded grants for arts, culture, and creativity in England.
• The National Lottery Community Fund — Grants for projects that improve communities and lives across the UK.
• BBC Children in Need — Funding for work with disadvantaged children and young people.
• City Bridge Foundation — Funding that helps tackle disadvantage and strengthen London’s communities.
• Comic Relief — UK grants focused on poverty, inequality, and social justice.
• UK Community Foundations — A network of local foundations distributing grants in their areas.
• Esmée Fairbairn Foundation — Grants across environment, communities, and arts priorities; some social investment.
• Garfield Weston Foundation — Core, project, and capital funding for charities across the UK.
• Henry Smith Charity — Grants for organisations tackling social and economic disadvantage.
• National Lottery Heritage Fund — Grants for heritage, from local memories to major sites.
• Paul Hamlyn Foundation — Funding for organisations to help people realise potential through arts, education, and social change.
• Santander Foundation — Grants supporting financial inclusion and digital skills.
• London Community Foundation — Place-based funds for small charities and community groups in London.
• Lloyds Bank Foundation — Unrestricted grants and support for small specialist charities.
• Sport England — Funding to grow and sustain grassroots sport and physical activity.
• The Tudor Trust — Flexible funding for smaller, community-led organisations.
• Trust for London — Grants addressing poverty and inequality in London.
• UnLtd — Awards and support for individual social entrepreneurs.
• People’s Postcode Lottery Trusts — Regional trusts offering small to medium grants funded by lottery players.

These are databases and directories that help you find more funders fast. Use them to search by theme, location, grant size, or organisation type, and to see who funds work like yours. Some tools are free; others require a subscription.

• Charity Excellence – A completely free one-stop-shop that enables any non profit to find the charity funding, policy templates and free help & resources it needs.
• Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF) – Membership body for funders; guidance and resources on good grant-making.
• Funds Online (Directory of Social Change) – Subscription database of trusts, foundations, corporates, and government funds.
• Get Grants – A free resource for grant fundraisers with information on hundreds of grant funders, including what they fund, how much they give, and how to apply.
• Grants Online — Subscription service listing UK and EU funding opportunities and alerts.
• GrantFinder — Professional subscription database for UK public and charitable funding.
• GrantNav (360Giving) — Free search of UK grants already awarded to find likely funders.
• Find a grant (GOV.UK) — Official search for UK government grants.

Social investment is repayable finance for organisations with a trading model. It can fund growth, working capital, or assets. Start with impartial guidance, then explore lenders and impact investors. Always assess affordability, risk, and whether investment aligns with your plan.

• Good Finance — Impartial guides and a quick diagnostic to see if social investment fits.
• Big Issue Invest — Loans and investments for charities and social enterprises.
• CAF Venturesome — Flexible, repayable finance to support impact and growth.
• Charity Bank — Loans tailored to charities and social enterprises.
• Esmée Fairbairn Foundation (Investing) — Social investments alongside grants.
• Ethex — Positive investment marketplace connecting enterprises with ethical investors.
• Fredericks Foundation — Revenue-share investments for small social enterprises.
• Key Fund — Loans and blended finance for organisations in the North and Midlands.
• Resonance — Impact investment funds, including property-backed solutions.
• Resolution Foundation WorkerTech Partnership — Investment in tech that improves low-paid and insecure work.
• Social and Sustainable Capital (SASC) — Specialist funds such as Social and Sustainable Housing.
• Social Investment Business — Loans, grants, and blended finance for VCSEs.
• Social Investment Scotland — Loans and support for organisations in Scotland.