It’s amazing what can be achieved on a shoestring budget! But a little bit of money to help your activities along can be a great help.
There are many different ways to approach funding for your group’s activities, and what you decide to do will depend on the way your group is formed (informally or constituted) and the kind of fundraising your members want to do.
Fiscal Hosting
If you are not formally constituted, and don’t have a way to receive or hold funds, you could consider a fiscal hosting partner. Fiscal hosting is where an organisation holds money on behalf of community groups, grassroots organisations and other (usually) unregistered non profits. This allows you to accept donations, apply for more funding opportunities and gives you a simple, transparent way to manage your money. We recommend the Social Change Nest.
The Social Change Nest system also makes it really easy for your community and local businesses to make one off or regular donations to your group, and gives you access to their Community Nest, a space for changemakers to connect, learn, share skills, and support each other.
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Tips and Guidance
The RHS offers some excellent guidance on their website for community gardening projects on securing funding. Getting in touch with other community projects in your area to ask about their funding can be helpful, and you can also seek guidance from your local council.
Many Incredible Edible groups host fundraising events in the summer, such as plant sales, bake sales and other community events, while others have been successful in applying for funding through the National Lottery Community Fund.
Some groups have also received sponsorship from local businesses, who might donate as part of their CSR policy, or who might donate in exchange for having a sponsorship sign placed at the garden site.
Supermarkets often have programs in place to support community projects. Coop and Tesco both have programs that have supported Incredible Edible groups, and do a whole range of big corporations like Biffa and Aviva support community gardening projects.
Donations in-kind
Remember, that getting hold of resources for your project doesn’t have to mean securing monetary funds. You can get all sorts of other resources to help your project!
- You could apply for free trees from the Woodland Trust
- Contact local tree surgeons to ask for free woodchip
- Get in touch with your local garden center to see if they will donate seeds or compost
- Engage your community to help fill raised beds with free compost
- Contact local DIY shops to ask if they can donate tools
- and go searching around industrial sites near you to see if there are companies that might be able to donate useful materials such as containers for raised beds.
With a bit of resourceful thinking and making connections with your community, there’s no end of opportunity!
Want to learn more about fundraising for your group?
Watch our masterclass webinar below. You’ll hear from:
- Rufaro from Social Change Nest on transparent fiscal hosting and how Social Change Nest can support your fundraising efforts
- Celia from Incredible Edible Conwy on small-scale collections in the community and National Lottery community grants
- Mark from Incredible Edible Prestwich and District on Local Authority funding, 1% for the Planet and other private company-led funds
