The Community Business Fund
David Chater, Head of Community Business Funds,
Power to Change
Power to Change is:
•
An independent Charitable Trust
•
One Year Old
•
Backed by £150 million endowment from the Big Lottery Fund
•
Working to a 10-year plan
•
Aiming to build ‘better places through community business’:

Funding (Community Business Fund, Wholesale Funds, Inception, Community
Shares,Innovation and Infrastructure)

Strategic Programmes (Pubs Programme, place-based pilots, Peer Networking)

Research and Impact Work
What have we done to date?
The Community Business Fund:
• Currently our main funding programme
• At least £10 million over the next 12 months
• Aim of ‘growing the community business sector’
 Supporting assets in community hands
 Increased stability for fledgling businesses
• Missing middle of funding (£50,000 - £300,000)
• Up to 80 grants awarded over the year
• Round one open now until 1 June 2016.
• Further rounds in July and October
Community Business Fund criteria
You must be based in England and Incorporated
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You must fit our definition of a community business
Share our impact goals
Have a charitable purpose
Operate for public benefit
Your project must help improve your business become more viable/sustainable
At least one year of accounts
Ready to start project within 6 months of grant award
Other funding sources
State Aid
Grant request between £50,000 and £300,000
Requesting max. 75% building-related capital costs, 100% building related capital costs, and/or
75% revenue costs
Strongest applications which meet these 11 criteria will be taken through to detailed assessment stage.
Guidance available at http://www.thepowertochange.org.uk/funding/grants/community-business-fund/
Findings from IGP
62% of applicants did not meet
our definition of a community business
We’ve focused much more clearly on that description for
the Community Business Fund – Guidance includes videos
and case studies of successful applicants
Key features of a community business
Locally rooted
They are rooted in a
particular
geographical place
and respond to its
needs, for example
high levels of urban
deprivation or rural
isolation.
Accountable to
local community
Trading for
benefit of local
They are accountable community
to local people. This
can be demonstrated
in many ways – but
you must have
evidence of regular
community influence
on your business.
They are businesses.
Their income comes
from activities like
renting out space in
their buildings, trading
as cafés or selling the
produce they grow.
Broad
community
impact
They benefit the
community as a
whole
and can clearly
evidence the
positive
social impact on
the
broader
community.
What does locally rooted mean?
You are rooted in a particular geographical place and respond to its needs, for example high
levels of urban deprivation or rural isolation.
Granby Four
Streets was
started by local
residents after
failed
regeneration
projects
How can you evidence we are accountable to the local community?
You must have evidence of regular community influence on your business including,
but not limited to: membership, voting rights, leadership drawn from that community,
community shares, regular consultation, surveys, polls. . .
Members of
Bamford
Community
Society own the
local pub and
have a say in the
business’s
direction
What does trading for the benefit of the local community mean?
You are a business – start with the business model. Your income comes from activities
like renting out space in your buildings, trading as cafés or selling the produce you
grow.
Burton Street
Foundation
trades by letting
out space to
local community
groups, and
reinvests profit
into community
activities
What does having a broad community impact mean?
You must benefit the community as a whole and can clearly evidence the positive
social impact on the broader community. If you are, in part, focused on supporting a
particular group you need to also show the wider community benefit.
Community bakery
Homebaked
engages with local
unemployed,
socially isolated
people including
NEETs and the
elderly. It also
provides wider
community activity
and pride in the
neighbourhood
Charitable Purpose and Private Benefit
As a Charitable Trust ourselves, we can only use our funds in line with
our charitable purpose. So your project must demonstrate it has a
charitable purpose at its heart and is for public benefit.
•
Our charitable purpose does not include advancement of
religion. So we aren’t able to fund projects that are primarily
aimed at that
•
We don’t only fund charities. But for other types of organisation
our funding may come with additional conditions (such as asset
locks on buildings that are purchased) to ensure it is used
charitably.
•
Any private benefit from the project must be incidental
Impact Measurement
Applicants will need some
support and challenge to
think through which impact
area is right for them, and
how they measure progress
against it
Thank you
Applications
Helpline 0300 1240444
Email [email protected]
http://www.thepowertochange.org.uk/funding/grants/community-business-fund/