The Small Charities Challenge Fund (SCCF) is a funding opportunity for small UK-registered charities and not-for-profit organisations.
SCCF project grants of up to £50,000 are available for projects of up to two years, for UK-registered organisations working towards addressing the Global Goals (opens in a new window), to improve the lives of the most vulnerable and marginalised.
Your organisation or your downstream partner will also need to be registered in the country of delivery for your application to be eligible.
We welcome applications from organisations with strong links to the country in which their project operates.
SCCF project grants are a rolling funding opportunity whereby applications are reviewed on a six-monthly basis and can be submitted at any stage.
COVID-19: Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, we will be prioritising applications that can demonstrate that they are responding to longer term impacts of COVID-19. The fund remains open for applications addressing a wide range of Global Goals in a variety of contexts. However, we will expect all applicants to be able to explain: how their project will address anticipated longer term impacts of the virus and outline how the risks of COVID-19 to project delivery could be mitigated as part of their application. We appreciate the crisis is developing rapidly and that accurately predicting how COVID-19 will impact the specific context you work in will be challenging. Please refer to our COVID-19 FAQs page for further guidance.
The UK Aid Direct team hosted an application guidance webinar on Wednesday 21 October 2020. A recording of the event is available on YouTube. A copy of the questions that came up during the session are also available to download.
The Small Charities Challenge Fund application process is a one-staged process. All applications must be submitted online via the online portal.
To find out if you are eligible to apply for our SCCF project grant and details regarding the application process, please download and view our SCCF project grants guidance document (PDF).
Application guidance can be viewed in our SCCF project grants guidance document.
Here is a summary of the funding process:
Thinking about applying for a Small Charities Challenge Fund (SCCF) grant? Here are some facts for you to consider.
Projects cover a range of policy areas including disability inclusion, education and livelihoods, and operate in 22 countries.
The average income of the current SCCF grant holders is £95,000.
*This number is for rounds 1 – 5 (including provisional grant holders)