The Foundation offers various grant programmes. We also try to assist voluntary organisations looking for funding in other ways. We have connections with a number of organisations and trusts which hold charitable funds, which prefer to give privately to particular causes or areas of interest. If a charity contacts us with a specific need, which we aren’t able to meet through our grants programme, we can sometimes use our network to explore whether there are any opportunities for that need to be met through private funding.

Volunteer Matching

We offer a Volunteer Matching Programme, connecting people with professional skills to charities who need them. We aim to give volunteers the opportunity to make a useful and fulfilling contribution to the local community, through interesting and relevant placements across the voluntary sector, especially in senior Committee roles such as Treasurer, Secretary or Chair. Although we specialise in matching people to specific positions there are opportunities to suit any schedule and skillset.

If your charity needs new Committee members, or if you are looking for one-off advice or assistance with a specific project, please contact us – we may be able to match the right person to your needs. We have access to accountants, HR professionals, secretaries and administrators, IT experts, and many more. Please contact us on joni@foundation.gg or call 259523 during office hours to find out more or to register your organisation’s requirements.

Skills Development

We offer training courses and bespoke consultancy to local charities that are seeking to improve their skills or expand their services. We have recently offered free workshops and short courses on Managing and Leading Volunteers, Charity Communications and Providing Excellence in Customer Care for Charity Shops, all delivered by our training partners The Learning Company and Orchard PR. In 2015, we partnered with Chris Atkinson to provide consultancy on teamwork and leadership, and Organization Development Legacy for consultancy on organisational development, including strategy, governance and people. For more information about the available courses and support, please visit Our Services page or contact us on info@foundation.gg for more information.

Build new partnerships

The Community Foundation aims to act as a trusted partner and adviser to the States of Guernsey on development of many of its Social Policy work streams. More information on our social policy work can be found on our Projects & Policy page. As well as this direct involvement, we also offer advice and support to voluntary organisations wanting to develop relationships with the States, or helping to deliver vital community services which contribute to social policy goals. For example, we seeded the development of the Guernsey Employment Trust as part of the Disability and Inclusion Strategy; and we provided funding to Guernsey Mind, enabling their Manager to take a lead role in developing the island’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy. If you would like to understand more about the world of social policy in Guernsey, or you want to build your relationship with the States or contribute to its strategic goals, we may be able to help. Please get in contact on info@foundation.gg or call 259523 during office hours.

Practical advice

If the kind of support you need is not covered above, we may still be able to help. Between us, our staff and Board members have extensive local knowledge and expertise about a range of strategic and practical matters, in relation to the local community and the voluntary sector in general. If you need advice or want to pick our brains, we are here to help and are happy to receive your call. If we can’t help you, the chances are we will know someone who can. Please get in touch on info@foundation.gg or call 259523 and we will do our best to assist you.

The majority of grants will be directed towards charities that assist low income families, children, older people, people affected by disability or ill-health, community projects and medical research.