The Money Saving Expert (MSE) Charity was established as a registered charity in October 2007.
Funded by Money Saving Expert, the MSE Charity is designed to try and break the cycle of debt. The Charity aims to fight financial and consumer illiteracy and is dedicated to educating and informing adults and children about consumer and debt issues.
Following a strategic review earlier this year, MSE Charity has announced that from June 2024, the funding approach is changing from two themed grant rounds per year to two grant rounds with no specific themes.
Instead of a specific theme, all applications must be aligned with MSE Charity’s vision of funding activities which make a lasting impact on the way people think, behave and manage their money.
The funding is intended for a wide range of not-for-profit organisations in the UK for activities related to increasing personal financial capability.
MSE Charity defines financial capability as the ability to manage money well – both day-to-day and through significant life events, such as: having a baby; moving home; unexpected job loss; bereavement; major illness or injury. It gives people the confidence and knowledge to make the most of their money and improve their lives. This means addressing all the factors that influence people’s behaviour around money: skills and knowledge, attitudes towards money, motivation to take action, and accessibility to financial services.
The maximum grant is £10,000 (an increase of £2,000 from the previous round).
It is anticipated that between six to nine projects will receive funding each grant round.
The MSE Charity will consider full project cost recovery, but costs must only relate to the project itself and not the organisation’s core funding.
Applications will be accepted from UK registered charities, community interest companies (CICs), credit union, not-for-profit companies limited by guarantee, and social enterprise companies.
To be eligible, applicants must be based in the UK, looking for funding for UK based activities, and have:
- An annual income of less than £750,000 and less than six months free reserves.
- Been established and active for at least 18 months.
- Unrestricted reserves that are less than six months of their running costs.
- A governing document (a constitution, rules, or articles of association)
- A governing body of at least three unconnected individuals
- A bank account in the group’s name with at least two unconnected signatories required to authorise payments.
- An Equal Opportunities Policy
- A Child Protection Policy or Vulnerable Adults Policy, as appropriate.
Eligible expenditure
The funding can be used for all sorts of activities related to increasing personal financial capability. Some examples include:
- Money management workshops – understanding the basics, how money works in the UK, online banking, staying financially safe, household budgeting, how to generate and supplement low incomes.
- Training volunteers to deliver workshops or to provide peer-support to others.
- Upskilling existing staff to access financial capability training to support their end-users directly.
- Provide access to financial inclusion activities for people who are disadvantaged in anyway such as by age, disability, ethnicity or gender.
- Project activity costs must relate to future service delivery, that is pro-active in delivering financial life skills, money management education and or debt avoidance.
The funding is to be used for specific activity costs related to financial capability projects only.
Up to £500 per application can be used for essential IT equipment for project delivery.
Full cost recovery is supported. Consideration will be given to requests for direct project costs and for a proportionate share of the organisation’s overheads (core costs) up to a maximum of 15% of their project budget.
The funding can be used for training costs for money advisors if the training is providing direct support for delivery to end users, for example ‘train the trainer’ but not general CPD training for practitioners.
How to apply
A new staged application process is being introduced with the Summer 2024 round:
- Pre-Application – Grant Eligibility Quiz – a self assessment tool to determine if the organisation and project meets MSE Charity’s general grant criteria. If successful, applicants will unlock access to the Stage 1 form.
- Stage 1 – Outline Proposal – a brief application that enables applicants to tell about their organisation and the activities they would like funded. This should provide sufficient detail for the Grants Advisory Panel (GAP) to assess if it would be suitable for The MSE Charity to consider funding.
- Stage 2 – Full Application – invited short-listed applicants are sent a link to complete a full application form with approximately one month to complete. This will require more detailed information to be provided about their organisation; evidence of need, the project activities; the team’s experience; the outcomes they are hoping to achieve; a detailed project budget; and submission of supporting documents including their Accounts and a recent bank statement.
The timeframe for the Summer 2024 grant round:
- 19 June – opens for Eligibility Quiz and Stage 1 Outline Proposals
- 31 July – closes for Stage 1 Outline Proposals. Please note the closing date may be earlier if too many Stage 1 proposals are received.
- August – assessment of Stage 1 proposals
- 30 August – notification of Stage 1 outcome (successful applicants will be invited to submit a full application).
- 4 October – deadline for full applications.
- Mid November 2024 – notification of funding decisions.
The timeframe for the Winter grant round:
- 25 November 2024 – opens for Eligibility Quiz and Stage 1 Outline Proposals
- 15 January 2025 – closes for Stage 1 Outline Proposals (may close sooner if too many proposals are received).
- 31 January 2025 – notification of Stage 1 outcome (successful applicants will be invited to submit a full application).
- 28 February 2025 – deadline for full applications
- Late March 2025 – notification of funding decisions.
All relevant documents are available on the MSE Charity website.
Applications are only accepted electronically and only within the grant round dates.
