Do you use our online Funding Search?

Our search tool is straightforward to use and it focuses on around 200 funders who we think are the most likely to be appropriate for voluntary and community groups working in South Yorkshire. This total includes a number of funders who only fund in South Yorkshire, as well as over a hundred who are also relevant to organisations elsewhere.

You need to be registered and logged in to use the Funding Search. Your searches and results are then saved in your MyFAB account, so you can revisit them later.

If you’re not getting the results you expected, check out these tips:

• Be specific – select as few specific criteria as possible to describe your project, otherwise you’re likely to end up with a long list of general funders. Where a funder’s priority matches your main aim, you’ll stand a better chance than if you fit other funders’ ‘general charitable purposes’.
  
  For example, if you want to run an environmental activity, your best chance is with funders who will prioritise environment projects, so just tick that one box.  Even though the activity might attract old people, families, women, ex-offenders, young people, refugees etc, if you tick all of them you won’t get tailored results. It’s better to try a few different searches with a couple of criteria ticked, than one with lots ticked.
• Think creatively about your project – an environmental project might have health benefits for those involved, so do a separate search for health funders as well as environment ones. There is no limit on the number of searches you can do.
• Be aware that when you registered on the site, you will have ticked boxes to describe your organisation, and these will be automatically ticked when you start the search. If you are looking for something different, simply uncheck them before you start.
• Results come up in order of best fit, so check out the ones on the top of the list first.

What to look for in results:

• Double check that the funder is relevant (e.g. funders for ‘arts’ activities may be interested only in dance, or ‘sports’ funders covering one sport )
• When are their deadlines?
• How much do they usually give?
• How do you apply?
• Are there any relevant exclusions?

We also run Finding funders training sessions from time to time which give more in-depth guidance on using the search and deciding which funders to apply to. Keep an eye on our Events page for dates.