Our vision is to transform communities by making Jesus known, through providing grant funding and support to Christian charities.

Our focus is on providing support for community-focused initiatives which are taking place in areas of deprivation within the UK and are helping people to know and follow Jesus.

We are willing to fund both new and existing work (including staffing and other running costs): for a smaller charity, this may comprise its entire operation.

What we expect to see

Projects

  • Working towards the advancement of the Christian faith, transforming communities by making Jesus known
  • A project that is working in one of the more deprived areas of the UK, defined as the project postcode being in Decile 1 (most deprived) to Decile 4, out of the 10 deciles within the government Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) for England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
  • A project that isn’t about the purchase of property or building work.

Charities

  • Applications from charities registered and working in the UK and operating at grassroots level
  • A charitable object with a Christian purpose
  • With clear management and governance structures in place, and at least 3 trustees
  • Small to medium-sized with an annual income of £1m or less

Applications

  • Seeking between £10,000 and £50,000 a year for a maximum of three years
  • Seeking a maximum of 50% of project costs
  • Other funding already raised, or clear plans in place as to the funding pipeline

For some examples of the kinds of projects which The Lauderdale Trust is currently funding, please see our case studies.

The Lauderdale Trust is committed to engaging in meaningful relationships with the charities with whom we partner. For us this means:

  • Being willing to fund with larger amounts (between £10,000 and £50,000 per year)
  • Offering multi-year funding (for up to three years)
  • Allowing budgets to incorporate inflationary increases
  • Allowing successful applicants to re-apply once their award has ended without requiring a gap
  • Asking for regular but light-touch reporting and prayer points
  • Engaging with the charity during the lifetime of the award, including visits where that is possible without disrupting the work

That said, only a limited amount of funds may be deployed for grant support within any given financial year: this means that, unfortunately, we are unable to fund more than 50% of project costs in relation to any individual application; in addition, a significant number of applications will not receive grant funding even if they fit within the priorities and criteria of the Trust. We will always keep projects informed about the outcome of their application.