UK Aid Direct grants

Small Charities Challenge Fund project grants

The Small Charities Challenge Fund (SCCF) is a funding opportunity for small UK-registered charities and not-for-profit organisations.

Small Charities Challenge Fund (SCCF) project grants launched in July 2017 and closed on 25 March 2021. Applications were reviewed six monthly and there were eight funding round reviews.

SCCF Project grants is funding of up to £50,000, for projects of up to two years. Grants are for UK-registered organisations working towards addressing the Global Goals to improve the lives of the most vulnerable and marginalised.

SCCF grant holders can be viewed on our where we work page.

Jo Cox Memorial grants

On Tuesday 6 March 2018, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) paid tribute to MP Jo Cox and announced a new £10 million funding opportunity in her memory, the Jo Cox Memorial Grants.

The grants are funded by UK Aid Direct and there are two types:

Network – grants for of up to £1 million for medium-sized organisations (with an average annual income of up to £10 million)
Strengthening – grants for up to £100,000 for small organisations (with an average annual income of up to £500,000).

The grants support projects working across two themes that Jo Cox was passionate about and dedicated her life to:

Theme one focuses on supporting and improving women’s social, economic and political empowerment; and
Theme two focuses on strengthening civil society capacity for the early prediction of identity-based violence and conflict prevention.

To be eligible, organisations proposed projects to support the most marginalised in one of the lowest 50 countries in the UN Human Development Index (HDI) or countries FCDO considers to be of high or moderate fragility.

Community Partnership grants

UK Aid Direct Community Partnership grants are funding opportunities of up to £250,000 and are for small non-governmental organisations which are:

Registered in the UK or
Registered in one of the lowest 50 countries in the United Nations Human Development Index (UN HDI) or
Registered in a country considered by the UK government to be of high or moderate fragility
With an average income of less than £1 million per annum
For projects being delivered in one or more country
Located in the list of lowest 50 countries in the UN HDI or
In a country the UK government considers high or moderate fragility.

When applying for a Community Partnership grant, applicants are required to submit an initial concept note through the online portal. If successful, they are invited to submit a full application.

Impact grants

UK Aid Direct Impact grants are funding opportunities of between £250,001 and £4,000,000 and are for medium sized, non-governmental organisations which are:

Registered in the UK or
Registered in one of the lowest 50 countries in the United Nations Human Development Index (UN HDI) or
Registered in a country that the UK government considers to be of high or moderate fragility
With an average annual income of less than £10 million per annum for the past three years
For projects being delivered in one or more country
Located in the list of lowest 50 countries in the UN HDI or
In a country FCDO considers high or moderate fragility.

When applying for an Impact grant, applicants are required to submit an initial concept note through the online portal. If successful, they are invited to submit a full application.