About the application
Q: How much is the median grant and what sort of amount should we be asking for?
A: We accept applications for between £35K- £150K. The average grant for the last three years was £60K. Decisions to award a grant will be made based on the quality of delivery and perceived benefit for beneficiaries rather than amount requested.
Q: We aren’t ready to submit an application this time round- how many cycles do you have a year?
A: The ScottishPower Foundation typically invites applications for funding once per year, for projects that will begin in the following calendar year. We anticipate that our next funding round will go live in July 2024.
Q: We wish to apply for funding for a project that will have another funder/multiple funders - can we apply?
A: Yes- we do not require to be the sole funder of the project. There is the opportunity to provide information on the total cost of the project on the application form, and to indicate where the other funds are to come from.
Q: Are there any particular geographical areas of the UK you work in?
A: We support projects all over the UK (including Northern Ireland). There is no particular area of focus as long as you can demonstrate that your project addresses at least one specific objective. See our Applying for Funding page for more detail.
Q: Do you fund projects outside of the UK?
A: No- as per our criteria, projects must take place within the UK.
Q: Can I apply for funding for salaries?
A: Yes- please also note that there is no guarantee of repeat funding, so this should be taken into account.
We encourage our applicants to pay all of their employees the real Living Wage and require that any post directly funded from our grant is paid at no less than the current real Living Wage rate.
If you are applying for funding for salary costs, your application should factor in the associated indirect overheads as well as direct costs associated with the delivery of services.
Q: How do I decide which of the strategic aims/specific objectives to apply under?
A: In the application form we have listed the corresponding UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under each strategic aim to help you identify which aim best suits your application. In your main application form, you can highlight that there is a crossover but ultimately, we are looking for you to select which Specific objective most closely represents your project.
As we launch the 2024 round of funding, we recognise that collectively as a society we are facing increasingly more difficult and complex issues. To this end, we have chosen to further focus our call for applications to ensure that our funding is reaching those most impacted by these current issues.
In order to be considered, your application must address at least one of the ScottishPower Foundation’s strategic aims and specific objectives as detailed on the Applying for Funding page.
Q: What kind of answer are you looking for with the sustainability question?
A: At the Foundation, we want to ensure that our funding will not only be invested in making a difference in the lives of your beneficiaries but will add value to your organisation and provide a springboard for leveraging future funds for development. In this question, we want to know what measures your organisation is taking to enable financial sustainability in the long-term by identifying or developing other funding streams.
Q: What kind of answer are you looking for in the environmental impact question?
A: The ScottishPower Foundation supports the aims of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and we have aligned our four strategic aims with what they are trying to achieve. As an overarching focus, we are also interested in how we can mitigate our environmental impact as a society and want to hear from you how your organisation considers this when designing and delivering programmes. Reducing travel, recycling, cutting use of fuel or reducing reliance on fossil fuels or changing supply to green energy are some examples we might expect to see in your application.