Funding Criteria

Mustard Seed Funding Criteria

The Mustard Seed Grant Programme aims to:

‘Provide grants to enable churches and faith-based organisations, working in very deprived communities, to engage in social action through supporting them to initiate or develop community work. This will then enable groups to either undertake larger pieces of work or significantly improve the existing provision.’

• Community Audits/Consultations
• Needs assessments
• Making premises fit for new purpose 

Improving Existing Projects 

• Trustee/staff/volunteer training
• Quality Assurance (e.g. PQASSO, Investing pilot projects in Volunteers – where appropriate for the start-up equipment size/type of organisation)  

1. The project must be directly tackling the effects of profound poverty and should be working in the 10% most deprived areas in England. Church Urban Fund uses the most up-to-date and appropriate Government issued statistics to assist in assessing all applications. You may access an overview for your area by visiting www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk.
2. If the organisation or project is serving a target group that is deemed to be intrinsically disadvantaged, but not working in the 10% most deprived areas in England, the project may still be eligible. Target groups include, but are not restricted to: homeless people, people with drug and alcohol problems, refugees and asylum seekers, people working in the sex industry etc
3. The project needs to be based in the local community and to have local community involvement in identifying needs, initiating responses and running the project
4. The project must be open to all regardless of faith, ethnic origin, disability, gender, age or sexual orientation, except where there is an expressly identifiable need (such as a gender specific homeless project or counselling/ support service)
5. Projects are not required to be Anglican but there should be a strong link between the project and a faith group
6. The project must have charitable purposes (charitable purposes are defined by the Charity
7. Commission and more details can be found at www.charity-commission.gov.uk)

• Mustard Seed Grants can pay for specific activities but not for on-going revenue expenditure, existing salary costs, deficit funding, or retrospective spending.  Capital projects are considered low priority unless directly linked to starting up a new project.
• It is expected that work supported under the Mustard Seed Programme will grow into more substantive or developed activities.
• The grant requested should typically represent at least a third of the total funding required. For capital requests, this total should be the total of the work undertaken, regardless of how it is presented as a grant proposal (e.g. a kitchen refurbishment totalling £10,000 to enable a specific project to start may be considered, however a kitchen refurbishment of £10,000 as part of an overall building project of £100,000 will not be considered).
• Grants should be claimed or part-claimed within six months and fully spent within 12 months of approval.
   

Priority will be given to:

1. Projects based within areas where there are the greatest levels of deprivation in England
2. Projects identified by Dioceses as being key to the reduction of deprivation in their area
3. Projects which, by their nature, are limited in the funds they can access and therefore are in particular need of Church Urban Fund support
4. Projects where Church Urban Fund support will make the greatest impact

1. Projects outside England
2. Individuals
3. Projects not directly tackling profound poverty or specific issues caused by poverty
4. Projects without church or faith links
5. Organisations with an annual turnover of over £150,000, or with significant reserves (Church Urban Fund recognises that operational reserves are appropriate for well-managed organisations but they should not normally exceed twenty-six weeks of annual running costs)
6. Existing salary costs, except where there is a significant increase in hours in order to expand an existing project or begin new work
7. Ongoing revenue costs (core costs)
8. Repeated activities (such as an annual summer camp or regular training sessions)
9. Work that has already been completed or started (retrospective funding) or to fund deficits or loans
10. Campaigning and fundraising activity
11. Revenue and capital funding for national voluntary/ community organisations and public and private sector organisations
12. Activities open only to church members
13. Evangelistic activity not part of a response to poverty
14. Clergy stipends including Church Army posts
15. General repairs and refurbishment, internal re-ordering of churches for worship, church maintenance or DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) compliance
16. General appeals