Fund Administration

What difference do you want to make in Gloucestershire?

Let us take care of the administration for your funding, so you can focus on the big questions that will make a difference to peoples' lives in Gloucestershire.

Talk to us about your fund

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We take care of the process, so you can focus on impact.

Funders need time and space to decide where their funding can make the greatest difference and to build strong relationships with the organisations they support.

But setting up and running a funding programme can be time-consuming and resource intensive. Application forms, eligibility checks, due diligence, applicant communications, grant agreements, payments and reporting can all take time away from the decisions and relationships that matter most.

Our Fund Administration Services

Our Fund Administration Services involve clear and proportionate application processes that give funders the information they need to make informed decisions, and VSCE and community groups a better experience of applying.

The process is simple. We start by understanding what you want your funding to achieve.

We then build the application process around your requirements, including your eligibility criteria, due diligence requirements, timescales and decision-making process.

Where useful, we can also advise on application questions and reporting requirements, drawing on good practice to keep them clear and proportionate to the funding available.

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How it works

1. Set up your fund

We work with you to understand your priorities, criteria and decision-making process.

We upload your funding opportunity to the platform, drawing on your criteria, priorities and timescales, and setting out a clear process from application through to decision and reporting.

2. Receive applications

Applications are checked against eligibility requirements before reaching you.

Our platform carries out automated checks of applicant organisations against your eligibility criteria.

Where you choose to use them, our optional AI-supported checks can also review supporting documentation for due diligence requirements and assess applications against your defined criteria. These checks support the administrative process and help organise the information you need - they do not make funding decisions.

If information is missing or you want to clarify something with an applicant, you can ask a supplementary question directly through the platform.

3. Review & make decisions

You decide who receives funding.

You retain full control of all funding decisions.

Applications and supporting information can be viewed on the platform or downloaded for consideration elsewhere - for example by a board, funding panel or group of people with lived experience.

You choose the level of Fund Gloucestershire's involvement at every stage.

4. Keep applicants informed

Applicants can track progress and receive feedback.

Applicants can track the progress of their application on the platform, to facilitate their operational planning and reduce uncertainty while decisions are being made.

Feedback can also be shared with applicants directly through the platform, making it easier to communicate outcomes clearly and consistently.

5. Manage grant payments

Funding can be distributed directly by you or administered on your behalf.

Once decisions have been made, you can distribute the funding directly or ask Fund Gloucestershire to prepare grant agreements and administer payments on your behalf.

If you also need us to hold funds securely before they are distributed, this is available through our separate Fund Stewardship service.

6. Collect impact information

Simple reporting helps demonstrate what funding has achieved.

Post-grant impact reporting can be requested and managed through the platform, giving you a consistent way to view and understand what your funding has achieved.

We will support funders to set simple and proportionate reporting requirements, so organisations can spend more time delivering their work and less time reporting on it.

A proportionate approach to charges

We charge funders for Fund Administration through an agreed deduction linked to the fund we administer. The level of the deduction is proportionate to the value and complexity of the fund and the services you ask us to provide, and is agreed with you in advance.

As a registered charity ourselves, our charges help Fund Gloucestershire provide a sustainable funding service for the county, while enabling VCSE and community groups to use our Fund Stewardship services free of charge wherever possible.

Your fund. Your decisions.

You retain control of your funding decisions and the relationships with the organisations you support.

Our role is to make the process around those decisions simpler, clearer and more manageable for everyone involved.

Get in touch to launch your funding programme

If you have an idea for distributing funding in Gloucestershire, whether you're considering a small local fund or a larger strategic programme, we'd love to discuss how we can help.

Contact our team