1.1 Applications will only be considered from registered United Kingdom charities, part of the application process will require applicants to provide relevant details of registration.
1.2 We are unable to award grants to individuals or organisations who are not UK registered charities. There are no exceptions to this rule.
1.3 To qualify for consideration of a grant award, your application must satisfy one of these criteria:
1.4 Charities must explain during the application process which of the grant criteria apply and how it will be met through the charity’s activities. Satisfying more than one criteria will not give a charity a higher possibility of grant award success.
1.5 Charities who apply for grants should spend no more than 20% of their overall outgoings on raising funds. The Trustees of the SMB Trust will, in some cases, make exceptions to this rule at their absolute discretion.
1.6 Any individual making an application for a grant award on behalf of a charity, must be duly authorised to do so.
1.7 Grant applicants must agree to acknowledge receipt of a grant award should they be successful. Failure to do so will render them ineligible to apply for grants in the future.
2.1 Grant applications can be made for amounts between £1,000 and £3,000. If a charity applies for a grant that is greater than the need that the charity can demonstrate, the grant will be rejected.
2.2 A Charity may apply for a grant of greater than £3,000, up to £5,000, but additional information will be sought as to why the Trustees should consider a higher amount. Greater need in the area that the charity operates is not, in itself, sufficient reason to consider a grant of a higher amount as all charities are operating in areas of great need.
3.1 Applications will only be accepted via the online application process on our website.
3.2 Applications will not be accepted via post, email, telephone or any other method; any applications that are not received via the application process on our website will be automatically rejected and will not be acknowledged.
3.3 Applications that have been successfully completed will be automatically acknowledged. Please do not contact us to verify receipt of any applications.
3.4 No guarantees are given that a successfully completed application will result in a grant award.
4.1 The trustees meet four times a year in February, May, August and November.
4.2 Applications for grants will be closed each quarter on the 20th day of the previous month. Therefore the cut-off dates for each grant award meeting are 20th January, 20th May, 20th July and 20th October; any applications received after the cut-off dates will be considered at the quarterly meeting that follows.
5.1 We will contact all successful grant award applicants and advise the amount of the grant that we are making.
5.2 We will endeavour to contact successful grant award applicants by the 14th day of the month following each grant award meeting.
5.3 If grant applicants have not heard from The SMB Trust by the 14th day of the month following the grant award meeting, then the application must be considered as having been unsuccessful. The Trustees will not enter into any correspondence with charities whose grant applications are unsuccessful.
6.1 Applicants who have successfully been awarded a grant by The SMB Trust cannot apply for further grants until 12 months have elapsed. No further grants will be awarded during this time period.
6.2 Unsuccessful applicants may apply for a grant for consideration at subsequent meetings subject to meeting all of the relevant criteria.
7.1 All payments will be made by bank transfer, we do not make payments by cash or cheque.
7.2 Successful grant payments will only be made to a bank account in the name of the charity that has applied, payments will not be made to third party organisation bank accounts or to individuals.
8.1 If an applicant provides false information for the purposes of obtaining a grant, the trustees of The SMB Trust reserve the right at their absolute discretion, to disqualify a charity from receiving current or future grant awards.
8.2 If the Trustees consider that an application has been made for a grant award by intentionally using false information, then they reserve the right at their absolute discretion, to report the organisation or individual to the Charity Commission and/or the Police.
9.1 The SMB Trust is a discretionary charitable trust and as such, the Trustees have in their absolute power and discretion the right to grant or not grant awards to any organisation that they choose. The Trustees are under no obligation to give reasons for successful or unsuccessful grants and will not give reasons under any circumstances.
9.2 The Trustees have absolute discretion in deciding the size of grants made and successful grants may be higher or lower than those applied for.
Make sure you're eligible and have read our guidelines.