Attractive match funding

If you set up a new endowment fund at the Community Foundation between now and March 2011 – or if you make a new contribution to your existing fund – you could qualify for matching funding on a 1:1 basis (this means that the government provides an extra £1 for every £1 you donate).

In a groundbreaking initiative to encourage private donors to set up endowment funds for grassroots projects, Office of Third Sector is providing a £3 million match incentive for donors to the Capital Community Foundation - offering leverage of up to 300% on your gifts.

Your contribution could help tackle crime on a local estate, provide befriending for the isolated or elderly, create safe play areas in the midst of urban deprivation or support young people who are struggling in education.

The match funding is available for all endowment gifts up to a maximum of £750,000 for any individual or corporate donor. UK taxpayers also qualify for tax relief through Gift Aid* which reduces the real cost of your gift significantly, for example:

In other words with tax relief and match funding the original gift more than trebles in size.

* Charities can claim Gift Aid tax relief of 25p on every pound you give. HMRC will also be operating transitional provisions for Gift Aid donations made from 6 April 2008 until 5 April 2011, paying a Government supplement of 3p on every pound you give. Transitional relief will be used as a contribution to CCF’s core costs.

Grassroots Terms

There are conditions to qualify for the incentive funding as follows:

• Income from the Fund must be invested in small community organisations within the area covered by CCF’s Grassroots Grants Challenge. This area consists of the following boroughs: Camden, Westminster, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Kensington and Chelsea
• Grassroots endowments must be for unrestricted or broad field of interest funds. For example, for a specific area e.g. Westminster, or a beneficiary group e.g. young people.
• The Fund name is chosen by the donor but should inculde the word 'Grassroots' e.g. 'The John Smith Grassroots Fund'.
• The Fund must acknowledge support from Office of the Third Sector e.g. ‘This Fund has received a boost from Office of the Third Sector’.
• There is a 5% set up fee for Grassroots Endowments to contribute to Capital Community Foundation’s core costs.
• We hope Grassroots is just the right incentive to encourage a new generation of local people and companies to support community projects that are at the heart of your community. A Grassroots Fund will build in your lifetime, and become a way of helping the community in your name, for generations to come.

For more information about setting up a Grassroots Endowment Fund, contact Rhys or Sonal at the Community Foundation on 0207 582 5117.

We were interested in supporting grassroots organisations. The Capital Community Foundation provided the means to do this and they have a very good reputation in the field of grant distribution.