Grants for fixing a building

Former Member

Hello everyone, I really need to fix-up my old building. So I really need for a government grant. I have been the frequent victim of theft and damage, but never enough at one time to qualify for re-imbursement from insurance. So could my efforts to further improve our building qualify under community well? Can you provide any information of Govt. grants for non-profit organizations? Have a nice day.

Former Member

Finding funding for capital projects is very hard as most funders will not cover the cost of buidings.

In most business models a building cost would be covered by mortgage or rent and then the costs recovered as part of a service charge for activities taking place in that building. So for example if you were using a building for traing purposes then you would be able to get grants to cover the cost of training activities and then witin your grant proposal you would build in the overhead costs of covering your rent or mortgage for the building.

If you are looking for a grant then you will need to demonstrate how your building is used by the community - as you have given us very little information about what your building is and what it is used for it is hard to acertain whether or not it is in the public benefit. In any case you will most likely need to carry out some kind of survey or feasability study to demonstate the need for the building and the services it offers within the community. In addition it would be good to get on board an advisory group of community members who are likely to use your building to ensure that the building does indeed meet thier needs. You should also ensure that any building work which takes places enables access for disabled people so that they are not excluded from benefiting.

If you are raising funds then you will probably need to be a registered charity as very few funders are likely to give money to someone who is not a charity - for more information on how to do this then you need to contact the charity comission however it is also possible to become a social enterprise - which is different for a charity and for this you might be able to get a start up grant - however you will need to demonstrate over time that you are able to turn your enterprise into a sustainabile business model.

For information on funders your best bet is the Directory of Social Change - who publish fundarising guides detailing UK Trusts and foundations, corporates and other individuals - they also have this information avaliable online for a rather steep fee - but often you can find the guides in the reference section of your local library - infact i would suggest that that is the best place to start.

Lastly you might also want to consider looking at the big lottery fund who do give grants for capital profits and do not have a stipulation that you have to be a charity to apply - however they are run by essentially accountants and fund managers who will scrutinise your application very thoroughly putting a particular emphasis on the financial part of your application and you will need to comply with some quite strict reporting requirements. Its also worth bearing in mind that they area also about to have thier funding slashed in half as most of thier budget for the next 4 years is allocate to the olympics.

If randomly you are from the states then you will need to ensure that you are 501(C) regisered with the tax department - which is the not for profit registration - and the foundation centre is your best bet for information.