Resources and support
Guidance notes: How to complete a grant application form
What you’ll need before starting your application
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Resources and support
What you’ll need before starting your application
Before you begin, please make sure you have completed the eligibility checker on our website.
We will ask for:
your organisation’s name
its registered address
the name, phone number and email address of the main contact for this application
This named person will be our only point of contact, so please make sure their details are correct.
If the contact changes at any stage, please update Kent Community Foundation as soon as possible.
This section starts with a question about whether you have applied to Kent Community Foundation before. This is a conditional question, so the form may show extra questions depending on your answer.
If you select: “Yes, this is our first application”
A new box will appear asking for some important basic information, including:
your website and social media links
your office phone number and email address
where most of your work takes place
You will also be asked to select your type of organisation (e.g. registered charity, company, CIO).
If you are a charity not registered with the Charity Commission, select Constituted Community Group.
If you select: “No, our details have not changed since we last applied”
You will go straight to the about your people questions.
Here we will ask:
how many staff you have (full‑time and part‑time)
how many trustees/directors/management committee members you have
the names of all trustees/directors/management committee members
the names of the individuals who are signatories on your organisation’s bank account
In this section, we ask for:
your organisation’s latest annual income
your organisation’s bank account name, number and sort code
information about how your organisation authorises and spends money (card, cash or online)
You can either type this process into the box provided, or attach an existing document such as your finance controls policy.
This section has several parts.
Choosing a fund (optional)
You will be asked if you have a specific fund in mind. If not, select No and move on.
Choosing a priority area
You will be asked to select which of Kent Community Foundation’s five priority areas your project fits into.
Use the dropdown to choose the area your project, or most of your work, addresses.
Telling us about your project or request
You will then be asked whether you are requesting funding for:
a specific project, or
a contribution towards your core costs
The questions that follow cover the who, what and why of your request, including your primary beneficiaries and main issues addressed.
You may find it easier to draft your answers first in a Word document, then copy and paste them into the form.
These are the questions:
What do you intend to spend the grant on?
What is the need for this work and how was that need identified?
What positive difference will this grant make to the organisation and/or people who use your service?
Tell us why you're the best people to do this work and any partnerships/collaborations you are part of.
This section asks for:
the total cost of your project (or your annual expenses if applying for core costs)
how much you have raised so far (from other funders, donations, reserves, etc.)
Providing your budget
You can:
type your budget breakdown into the box, or
attach a spreadsheet or another document
Whichever option you choose, please:
break down any staff costs by hourly rate, and
attach a quote or pro‑forma invoice for any individual cost of £750 or more
Examples:
A £500 monthly rent (totalling £6,000 per year) does not need a quote.
An insurance premium of £800 paid in one lump sum does need a quote.
Supporting documents
If you have applied within the last two years, there are some documents we may not need again (e.g. your governing document).
However, if anything is missing, we will contact you - this may delay your application depending on how quickly you can provide the documents.
Referee
Depending on whether you are applying through the Annual, General or Micro Route, we may ask for a referee.
Your referee must:
be independent of your organisation and its daily operations
know your organisation and support your work
Please speak with your chosen referee and send them a copy of your completed application so they can write a helpful reference.
Once you submit the form, you will receive an email containing a PDF copy of your completed application.
Please save this for your records - you may need to refer back to it later.
If you have any questions at all while completing your application, please contact the Kent Community Foundation team.
We’re always happy to help.
