Deadline: 18-Nov-2024

The Women’s Fund for Scotland aims to promote systemic change in Scotland to empower women, and to help overcome the multiple disadvantages and discriminatory practices that females experience throughout their lives.

Purpose

They are aiming to develop a sustainable network of grass roots organisations throughout Scotland which are supporting women and girls to achievements in line with our investment themes. To this end our grant programme in 2023/24 will offer unrestricted grants to sustain existing work with women and girls or to support new work in line with our investment themes and priorities.

Themes

Applications should demonstrate how they fit into one or more of our key investment themes of:

Building skills and confidence
Improving health and well-being
Growing social connections
Moving on from abuse
Developing leadership and innovation
Combatting poverty and building financial resilience

Funding Information

They will award grants up to a maximum of £5000

Funding Priorities

All applications will be considered according to these funding priorities. Applications which most clearly fit one or more of these will be prioritised. They are:

Women’s organisations, especially those run by and for women
Community-based organisations running projects with women and girls
Projects supporting disadvantaged women and girls
Empowering women and making a tangible difference to their lives
Supporting women to escape and recover from domestic or sexual abuse
Using the limited resources for maximum long-term impact and improving organisational sustainability
To ensure so far as possible Scotland-wide distribution of funds.

Eligibility Criteria

Any properly constituted non-profit organisation which meets the criteria may apply, including charities, social enterprises, and unincorporated organisations.
Organisations with an annual turnover of more than £500,000 are not eligible for funding. Please note that if they are oversubscribed, they will give priority consideration to organisations with an annual turnover not greater than £300,000.
Management Committee

There must be a minimum of three unrelated persons on the management committee or Board. This is to ensure that the group has a range of perspectives and experiences and is not dominated by the interests of a single family or similarly connected individuals.
For the same reasons, the majority of your management committee or Board members must be unrelated.

Governing Documents

Your organisation has charitable purposes, and these are described in your governing document.
Your governing document includes suitable restrictions on the disposal of assets under the organisation’s control (a charitable ‘asset lock’) and its management committee or board members’ remuneration.

Accounts & Financial Procedures

You must be able to supply your latest set of approved accounts, unless your organisation is less than 18 months old, in which case no accounts are required.
For all constituted groups these will need to have been approved by your management committee or Board.

Ineligibility Criteria

They try to be as flexible as possible to encourage innovation, however, they do not fund:

Uniformed, political, or religious organisations except where they are running a project which would otherwise be eligible, and which does not promote any religion or a political purpose. (For example, a project promoting women’s participation in the political process may be eligible where it is for women of all political persuasions.)
Organisations with an annual turnover of greater than £500,000 are not eligible for funding
Organisations that pay less than the living wage of £12.00 per hour (April 2024)
Projects primarily targeted at girls under the age of 12

For more information, visit Women’s Fund for Scotland.