Grants for Good invites local charities, voluntary groups or social enterprises that have an average annual income of less than £50,000 to apply to them for funding.

Scheme details

Every three months, the Foundation will share £10,000 between 5 shortlisted projects that have a positive impact on communities, people or the environment.

Since 2011, the Matthew Good Foundation has empowered employees of the John Good Group to support many good causes in the UK and around the world by nominating good causes for funding. However, in 2021, their tenth year, they wanted to extend their impact and allow small charities, community projects and social entrepreneurs to come straight to them.

To stay true to their ethos of donating funds to causes close to the hearts of our members, every three months, five shortlisted projects will be voted for by John Good Group employees. These five charities will all receive a share of £10,000 – the more votes a cause receives, the bigger the donation. Following the vote, the project that receives the most votes will receive a grant of £3,500, second place £2,500, third place £2,000 and fourth and fifth place will both receive £1,000.

Who can apply?

Your application must be on behalf of a local community group, charity, voluntary group or social enterprise that has a positive impact on communities, people or the environment and has an average income of less than £50,000 in the last 12 months.

They want to make it easy for very small charities or new community interest companies to apply, so organisations/groups do not need to be a registered charity, however, you will need to have a bank account in your organisation’s/project’s name such as a community bank account. They are not able to provide funding to personal bank accounts.

Exclusions

They do not make grants directly to individuals. Other areas that they do not fund include:

Activities that promote political or religious beliefs.
Sponsorship/fundraising events.
Applications for sports clubs, such as amateur or private sports clubs or sponsorship.
Applications from organisations that have an income of over £50,000 in the last 12 months.

How to apply

Charities and projects are welcome to apply all year round, and your application will be considered in the next funding round. Funding will be awarded every three months, in April, July, October and January, with an application deadline of the 15th of the month before. Eg. for the April round, applications will close on the 15th March.

Only one application every twelve months will be accepted, however, unsuccessful applications may be resubmitted for future rounds.

The Foundation has kept the online application form straightforward. They'll need your contact details, a brief outline of the organisation’s work, and how you’ll use the funds. They’ll also need a reference from someone not involved in the project, but with enough knowledge of what you do to support your application.

The application form is available on their website.

If you have any problems applying using the online form, please email michelle@matthewgoodfoundation.org.