Capital projects

What do I need to consider?

If you are applying for building works or repairs please take the following into consideration.

• Any relevant planning permissions should be secured before you apply to us. If you are applying from a religious building, we expect that faculty permissions or similar will also be in place.
• If you don’t own your building, we are unlikely to make a grant unless you have at least 20 years on your lease.
• Tell us what your organisation is doing to improve your building’s environmental efficiency. If you are working towards specific energy or environmental certification (e.g. BREEAM), tell us.
• Tell us how your capital project will affect the ongoing operating costs of your organisation. For example, will a larger building cost you more to operate? If so, tell us how you will meet these increased costs. Or your capital project may lead to cost savings so tell us about that!
• Tell us who will manage your capital project and about their relevant experience.
• We expect quotes for capital projects to be up to date and no more than three months old where possible.
• We recommend that you have around half of the total project costs raised before applying to us.
• We expect to see an appropriate contingency in your project budget which will help should your project costs rise or the project is delayed

What size are capital grants?

Normally, our capital grants are no more than 10% of a total project cost. However, for local community projects (e.g. village halls, community centres, places of worship, etc.), grants are unlikely to be over £30,000 regardless of the project size. We expect to see local fundraising activity as we believe that shows how much your local community values your organisation.

If your organisation wants to apply for £100,000 or over, we expect your annual income or project to be over £1 million. Please refer to our Major Grant guidance.