Please note this is a match-funding initiative delivered in partnership with Crowdfunder and thus not a traditional grant scheme (funds awarded are conditional upon applicants first securing crowdfunding via Crowdfunder’s platform).
Objectives of Fund
The Communities Fund offers the opportunity to receive match funding through a crowdfunding platform.
The funding supports organisations and projects that focus on either:
- Financial wellbeing – helping people feel more secure and in control of their money. This could include budgeting support, debt advice, financial education, or money management.
- Climate action – helping communities prevent, prepare for, and adapt to the impacts of a changing climate. This might involve restoring nature, improving access to green spaces, or providing education and skills for a sustainable future.
More than £2 million will be available annually through the Communities Fund, comprising:
- Up to £1.5 million in match funding, helping organisations amplify the impact of their crowdfunding efforts.
- Aviva employees shape where a further £500,000 in donations goes through vouchers.
Organisations approved to take part in the Communities Fund can receive up to £25,000 in match funding per calendar year, with a maximum of £250 matched for each unique donation.
Who Can Apply
Applications will be accepted from one of the following types of organisations:
- Charity
- Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
- Community Interest Company (CIC)
- Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG)
To be eligible, organisations must:
- Have been operating for at least 12 months.
- Have an annual income of no more than £1 million averaged over two years.
- Be UK registered with a UK bank account in their own name.
- Have an active board of trustees or directors or management body.
- Focus on activities that support financial wellbeing or climate action in their local communities.
Faith-based organisations are welcome to apply, but projects must benefit the wider community, not just a single faith group.
Eligible Expenditure
The Communities Fund supports projects that address financial wellbeing and climate action in local communities.
Climate Action
This can include initiatives such as:
- Creating or improving green spaces and community gardens.
- Using nature-based solutions to increase shade, reduce flooding, and improve water quality.
- Supporting biodiversity through activities such as wildflower meadow restoration, tree planting, and beach cleans.
- Educating and engaging local communities in climate action, volunteering and awareness-raising.
- Installing renewable energy systems or energy-saving measures to reduce an organisation’s carbon footprint (where the building is owned).
Financial Wellbeing
This can include initiatives such as:
- Budgeting support, debt advice and money management services.
- Education focused on financial skills and money management.
- Increasing access to food banks, clothing and essential household items.
- Projects that build life skills such as planning, managing income and expenditure, saving, and understanding financial protection.
Where an organisation’s core mission aligns with either priority area, it may apply for core running costs. Where it does not, organisations may apply for project-specific funding provided the proposed activity clearly addresses either climate action or financial wellbeing and links meaningfully to their wider work.
How To Apply
Applications are accepted throughout the year until the annual cap is reached, at which point the fund will close to applications.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.
Full details and the online application can be found on the Aviva Foundation website.
The application form will direct applicants to the Communities Fund platform, administered by Aviva’s partner Crowdfunder UK.
Full details and the online application can be found on the Aviva Community Fund crowdfunding page.