The Randal Foundation Small Grant

The Randal Foundation works to deliver the vision of Founders, Dr Nik and Moni Kotecha – saving and significantly improving the lives of 1 million people, across the UK and globally. We work in partnership with inspirational organisations, bringing support and essential funding to both create opportunity and foster hope, for those in greatest need.

In partnership with the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland we will offer grants to support grassroots activity that directly save or significantly improve lives, in line with the Randal Foundation’s mission.

Purpose of grants

Projects must address the following priority areas:

• Poverty alleviation
• Support for women and children at risk of immediate harm

Grants available

• Small grants of up to £3,000 will be available through an open call.
• Funding is for project costs only, and not to support core organisational overheads or capital campaigns.

Eligibility

• Applicants must be registered charities, community groups, or not-for-profit organisations operating in Northern Ireland.
• Organisations should have a turnover of less than £50,000p/a.
• Organisations must demonstrate a clear track record of delivering impactful work in one or more of the following areas:
• • Poverty alleviation
  • Support for women and children at risk of immediate harm
• This strand will focus on supporting projects addressing violence against women & girls and projects supporting refugees & asylum seekers and include proposals more broadly focused on alleviating poverty in general.
• Preference will be given to grassroots and smaller organisations, especially those with lived experience represented in their governance or delivery teams.

Assessment Criteria

• Clear demonstration of how the project will save or significantly improve lives.
• Evidence of community need and how the project addresses this need.
• Inclusion of monitoring and evaluation plans to measure outcomes.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, including representation of lived experience in project design or delivery.
• Ability to deliver the project within the grant period and report on outcomes.

What we can’t fund:

The Community Foundation will not fund organisations or activities which promote causes that are contrary to our purposes. Causes and activities that are contrary to our purposes include, but may not be limited to, those outlined in our investment policy. We will not therefore fund organisations or activities which we determine are linked to the promotion of armaments, alcohol, human rights abuses, tobacco or pornography.

In addition, there are some general things that our grant aid cannot be used for: 

• The advancement of religion. This includes organisations whose purposes include the advancement of religion
• The establishment of endowment of any school or institution providing further education within the meaning of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1972
• The provision of assistance to any Housing Association within the meaning of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1976
• Promotion of religious or political activity, including any flags and emblems that may deem to be associated with such
• CIC Companies Limited by Shares, or CICs without an asset lock clause. Eligible CICs must have at least three unrelated committee members, and/or the majority of the committee unrelated
• Trips outside of Northern Ireland
• Applications from individuals
• Applications from statutory organisations
• Projects lasting longer than twelve months
• Purchase of vehicles
• Holiday schemes
• Parties and shopping trips
• Activities that duplicate existing services
• Grants will not be made to individuals, or for-profit organisations.
• Funding is not available for capital or building campaigns, advocacy programmes, or fundraising events.

Reporting and Monitoring

• Successful applicants must agree to provide comprehensive monitoring and reporting within agreed timescales, including data, stories, and evidence of impact.
• The Foundation may request participation in beneficiary spotlights or thematic highlights for communications purposes.

Please read the following text before beginning your application. 

• You are a locally based not-for-profit, voluntary or community group working in Northern Ireland to improve the quality of life for local people
• You have an active management committee, with no two related cheque signatories
• You have a governing document, i.e. Constitution in the name of the applicant organisation
• You have a current bank account in the name of your organisation
• You have up to date annual accounts
• You have complied with the conditions of previous grants including submission of monitoring returns.

Please note: 

• This is a rolling fund and it is expected that applications received by Thursday 15th January 2026 will be assessed in February 2026.
• We do, however, expect a high level of interest in this fund. Depending on funding available, we therefore may decide to close for applications within a relatively short space of time, if we do not have enough funds to meet the demand for support. 

Please note: The Community Foundation now uses a new Fundseeker Portal for all applications and monitoring. If this is your first time applying, or your first time accessing the portal, we recommend reading the ‘How to Apply’ guide before starting your application.

If you are unsure about any of the above text or have any other queries then please contact the Grants Team on 028 9024 5927 or via e-mail: applications@communityfoundationni.org.