There are four eligibility criteria that all applicants must meet.
They must:
- operate on a not-for-profit basis (or if an individual, provide wider public benefit)
- be financially viable
- have a track record of delivery related to the activities they seek funding for
- deliver the funded activity in Oxford - see our boundary map
Organisations we can fund
We can fund the following organisations:
- Registered charity
- Community interest company (CIC)
- Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
- Community benefit society
- Co-operative society (if it has a not-for-profit clause and is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority)
- Voluntary or community organisation (an organisation set up with a bank account with at least two signatories required to approve expenditure; it would ordinarily have a governing document – like a constitution – but is not a registered charity or company)
- Company limited by guarantee (if it has a not-for-profit clause or is a registered charity – it can be registered with Companies House)
- School or college
- Faith organisation e.g. a church, mosque, temple or synagogue – for community orientated activity
What we can't fund
We cannot fund:
- Organisations focused on making profits and sharing these profits privately - including companies limited by shares, organisations without the right asset locks, or organisations that can pay profits to directors or shareholders
- Organisations based outside the UK
- Activity taking place outside Oxford
Other organisational considerations
Organisations can apply to each of the 3 funds but should consider the balance criterion.
Whilst the funded activity must be delivered in Oxford (see our boundary map), it is not a requirement that organisations be based in the city. We recognise that there are Oxfordshire groups based outside of the city who deliver essential services to our residents.
There will, however, be a preference to support groups based in Oxford / Oxfordshire over groups based further afield.
Individuals we can fund
We can fund the following individuals (for Small Grants only):
- those who can demonstrate a previous track record of successful delivery
- those who will raise the same or greater amount of funding requested for their Small Grant activity (for example, if you're requesting £500, you would need to secure at least £500 from other sources e.g. donations, other grants, crowdfunding)
Please note individual applications will be scored and assessed competitively as per the Oxford Community Impact Fund scoring criteria, which includes delivering activity in Oxford for wider public benefit.
