Fundraising and Grants
Raising funds for a musical playground, music park, or musical play equipment can be a project in itself, and it can take several months to come to fruition. Unfortunately, there is no magic wand that you can wave to immediately gather the required funds, but we hope that this page will help guide you in the right direction.
Grants
Playground grants are just one way to obtain the funds needed for your project and are a great starting point. Grants are non-repayable funds provided by corporations, non-profits, and foundations for specific projects. They can range from a few hundred to several thousand pounds or dollars, helping to get you closer to your funding goal.
There are plenty of resources available to help find the perfect grant for your school, community, church, or organization. Below are a few to get you started. We can't list all the granting sources for every country, state, or region, so be sure to also check within your area for a state or private organization knowledgeable about funding sources.
Fund Raising
So, you’re ready to start fundraising for your new musical garden or music park, but you're not sure what to do next. Fundraising events are a popular, time-tested way for organizations, places of worship, and other groups to raise money. Check out the following sites that offer charity fundraising ideas, hints, and tips to help you get started:
The Directory for Social Change has a great website to help you with the ‘where from’ as well as the ‘how to’. This is a great article from SALSA 10 Outstanding Online Fundraising Ideas to Try. Better Fundraising Ideas has some no-nonsense fundraising advice for individuals, organizations, and charities with a website is packed full of novel ideas for great fundraisers.
We are constantly searching for new ideas. If you know of a great fundraiser or have access to a grant that is not listed here, we would love to hear about it and share it on these pages.
A grant search engine identifies grants for universities, hospitals, government agencies, schools, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, research institutions, and some small businesses and individuals.
T-Mobile Hometown Grants Program
T-Mobile is committing up to $25 million over the next five years to support small towns across America by funding community projects. The T-Mobile Hometown Grants program will help fund projects to build, rebuild, or refresh community spaces that help foster local connections across town.
Walmart Foundation - Community Grant Program Awards grants of $250 to $5,000 through Walmart stores, Sam's Clubs and Logistics facilities. Eligible nonprofit organizations must operate within the service area of the facility from which they are requesting funding. Awarded grants range from $250 to $5,000.
Current NRPA Grant Opportunities
The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) periodically posts information about grant and fundraising opportunities that are available for park and recreation agencies.
ABC Fundraising® provides fundraising products that have helped groups raise over 50 million dollars. If you’re looking for Non-Profit Fundraising Ideas then read their post specifically written for Non-Profits trying to raise money.
KaBOOM! This national non-profit organization dedicated to bringing balanced and active play into the daily lives of all kids, helps groups find corporate sponsors for playground projects. In many cases, corporate sponsors listed on their website offer money to child-supporting nonprofit organizations, which means places of worship and YMCA may be able to find grants through its database.
Active Living Research has funded over 230 projects examining environmental and policy strategies that can promote daily physical activity for children and families across the United States.
Finish Line Youth Foundation strives to make a difference in the lives of youth in the communities where employees and customers live, work, and play. The Youth Foundation is a philanthropic outlet for Finish Line to make a difference in the lives of youth in the communities it serves. To date, the Youth Foundation has awarded more than $19 million in funding to support youth, Special Olympics athletes, and 'Boys & Girls' Clubs nationwide.
Wells Fargo welcomes applications year-round from qualified nonprofits and educational institutions. They support thousands of national and community-based nonprofits annually to help revitalize and strengthen communities.
Founded in 2000 by a high school teacher in the Bronx, DonorsChoose.org empowers public school teachers from across the country to request much-needed materials and experiences for their students. Teachers from every corner of America create project requests, and visitors can give any amount to the project that inspires them.
The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation welcomes requests for support from community-based non-profit organizations located in the United States and typically range from $1,000 to $20,000. Grants are awarded by the Foundation in the Spring and Autumn of each year.
The Foundation will consider requests to support museums, cultural, and performing arts programs; schools, hospitals, educational and skills training programs, programs for youth, seniors, and the handicapped; environmental and wildlife protection activities; and other community-based organizations and their programs.
Ford Motor Company Fund supports initiatives and institutions that enhance and improve opportunities for those who live in the communities where Ford Motor Company operates. They support not-for-profit organizations in three major areas: Education, Auto-Related Safety Education, and Community Development.
The Big Give is a non-profit, charitable website that enables donors to find and support charity projects in their field of interest. Supporting charities by showcasing their work to supporters and philanthropists, allowing them to take online donations, increasing their online visibility, and offering opportunities to take part in match funding campaigns. Since 2007, they have helped UK-registered charities to raise over £90 million.
No-nonsense fundraising advice for individuals, organizations, and charities. The website is packed full of novel ideas for great fundraisers.
National Lottery 'Awards for All'
National Lottery 'Awards for All' offers funding from £300 to £10,000 to support organizations with great project ideas that:
- Shape the places and spaces that matter to communities
- Bring more people together and build strong relationships in and across communities
- Enable more people to fulfill their potential by working to address issues at the earliest possible stage
FundEd is a membership service that provides inspiring case studies, expert guides, and access to the very latest school grants.
They aim to support schools by providing them with the inspiration and expertise to embark on a successful fundraising journey. Securing grants, developing regular giving campaigns, planning a fundraising strategy, or accessing business support, FundEd is able to help.
By becoming a FundEd member you will have access to their sector-leading grants database and receive regular funding alerts.
Schools can apply for funding towards the cost of musical resources. The Universal Music UK Sound Foundation provides instrument and/or equipment awards that allow schools, music teachers, and individuals in full-time education to apply directly to the Foundation for assistance with the purchase of musical instruments and/or equipment.
The Garfield Weston Foundation is a family-founded, charitable grant-making foundation, which supports a wide range of causes across the UK, donating over £62 million annually.
Biffa Award gives grants to community projects near landfill sites to help build communities and transform lives. The project site should be within five miles of a significant Biffa operation or within 10 miles of an active Biffa Landfill site. A useful postcode checker is available from their website.
Veolia Environmental Trust support a wide range of community and environmental projects throughout England. The money used for grants is made available through the Landfill Communities Fund.
You'll need to submit an application that does justice to your project and highlights how it is going to make a real difference to people’s lives or the environment.
The Bernard Sunley Foundation are a family grant-making foundation that supports charities in England and Wales working to raise the quality of life and provide greater opportunities for the young, the elderly, the disabled and the disadvantaged. The Foundation has awarded over £118 million in grants since it was established in 1960. Each year they give just over £3.5 million to capital projects that deliver a real community focus or provide facilities to support those in need.
The Aviva Community Fund offers you the chance to get funding for causes important to your community.
Eligible causes will be able to submit their projects to the Aviva Community Fund through Crowdfunder. Funding applications are open to projects looking to secure up to £50,000.
If your project gets enough votes and wows the Aviva employees, it will be in with a chance of getting those much-needed funds.
BlueSpark Foundation is a registered charity which supports the education and development of children and young people by providing grants for educational, cultural, sporting and other projects.
Tesco Bags of Help offers grants to support projects that bring benefit to the community.
Grants are available for any nonprofit making group or organization including community groups, charities, schools, health bodies, NHS trusts, local authorities, parish councils, and social housing providers.
Three community projects in each local area will be voted on by customers in Tesco stores throughout Britain, with projects changing every other month. Following the vote, the project that received the most votes in its area will receive a grant of up to £4,000, second place receiving up to £2,000, and third place up to £1,000.
As a grant-making charity, they provide support to National or West Midlands charities. Included in their concentrated areas of activity are charities working in the fields of countryside matters, drug prevention, education, job creation, population control, deafness, blindness, cultural and conservation causes, and the provision of treatment and care for the disabled and handicapped.
BBC Children in Need Projects they fund make differences in children’s lives that help prevent or overcome the effects of the disadvantages they face. Projects achieve these differences by either working directly with children or seeking to improve their social and physical environments.
In the Small Grants program, they are looking for projects where a relatively small amount of money can make a big difference for children and young people.
If your organization is a registered not-for-profit, and the project you would like to fund will benefit Severn Trent customers, you may be eligible for a grant from the Severn Trent Community Fund. From 2020, they’re going to be giving away £10million over the next five years to support local projects, charities and community groups in the Severn Trent region - helping to make a real and tangible difference in the community.
GRANTfinder is the UK’s most comprehensive funding repository that offers information on thousands of funding programs including grants, loans, and awards from local, regional and national UK government, European funding, charitable trusts, and corporate sponsors.
People's Postcode Trust provides project based funding ranging from £500 - £20,000 to organisations within Great Britain.
Since 2009, People’s Postcode Trust has awarded more than £12m to over 1800 projects across Great Britain and receives all of its funding from players of People's Postcode Lottery.
The Morrisons Foundation supports charities making a positive difference in local communities. Since launching in 2015 they’ve donated over £18m to help good causes across England, Scotland and Wales.
Grant Funding - They have grants available to support good causes and charities that help others and make local communities better places to be.
Match Funding - They support the charities that Morrisons employees spend time fundraising for and provide a cash boost to their efforts.
The Utley Foundation is a private family charitable trust, established in 2014. The Foundation exists to advance social causes close to the heart of the trustees and is spearheading a nationwide campaign to make music available for everyone living with Dementia by 2020. Believing the value and power of music is clear, and The Foundation has been exploring a wide range of musical options from music therapy and live music to personalized playlists, cementing their place as a pioneering philanthropic financier in this emergent space.
The #iwill Fund is an England wide joint investment that brings together £40 million in funding from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and The National Lottery Community Fund, creating a central investment pot.
The #iwill campaign wants to make participation in social action the norm for young people under 20 - encouraging young people to take small positive actions to improve their home, school, or local community including volunteering, fundraising, campaigning, or supporting peers.
The Edward Gostling Foundation (formerly the ACT Foundation) has the overall aim of enhancing the quality of life for people in need, specifically the mentally and physically disabled or those with long-term illness.
Edward Gostling Foundation offers grants via two different funding streams:
- Fast Track Grants of less than £5,000 are available to charities with an annual income of less than £ 3 million.
- Capital Grants of more than £5,000 are available to charities with an annual income of less than £ 5 million.
The Foundation only accepts applications from registered Charities, and you need to have been registered for a minimum of three years. Charities requesting over £10,000 may be visited as part of the Foundation’s due diligence.
Asda Foundation as a charitable corporate foundation, they give independent grants and support locally relevant projects throughout the UK. Whether it's helping charities, local good causes, or community activity, all make a real difference to the local community.
Community Matters is a charitable giving scheme that runs throughout John Lewis & Partners shops with a similar scheme at local Waitrose & Partners.
Every 3 months each shop selects 3 community groups or charities to help. Customers are directly involved in deciding how much each nominated group receives, by using a token to vote for the organization they'd like to support.
Each shop has £3000 per quarter to donate, which is shared between the charities according to the proportion of the vote they've received from customers
Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts is the operating office of 20 independent grant-making trusts and charitable companies established by members of three generations of the Sainsbury family.
Each trust and charitable company is an independent legal entity with its own separate and autonomous board of trustees, actively led by an individual member of the Sainsbury family. Each trust’s charitable giving follows the family member’s own interests and priorities.
The trusts only fund registered charities or activities with clearly defined charitable purposes. They do not make grants directly to individuals.
Lidl Community Grants support local charities and community groups who promote social inclusion, health and wellbeing and environmental programmes.
Comic Relief believe specialized projects are best placed to address community-level problems. They invest in unsung heroes and medium-sized organizations that share our vision for change.
To apply for a Co-Op Community Fund for a local cause and you must be part of a not for profit group and run a project that will benefit your local community.
B&Q Foundation has donated over £1.3million, supporting more than 250 projects and helped over 200,000 people since it launched in June 2020. It supports UK-registered charities with a combination of grants, volunteering time, and home improvement resources.
Homebase Foundation gives back to the communities in which their employees live and work. From outdoor plants to tins of paint and the tools to help get the job done, they’re passionate about playing their part in local communities nationwide.
Contact your closest store for local charity and community engagement opportunities.
The Wicks Community Program is a dedicated product fund to support local initiatives in helping them maintain and renovate community areas.
Looking for concrete to install your instruments in with? The fund is open to all local community groups and charities seeking help for improvement projects, you can enquire via your local store or contact them on social media.
Screwfix Foundation is a grant-giving charity with a clear purpose to support projects that improve, repair, and maintain homes and community facilities used by those in need throughout the UK.
The Screwfix Foundation currently offers local registered charities and not-for-profit organisations funding up to the region of £5,000. All applications are reviewed individually by the team on a quarterly basis, the review dates are in March, June, September, and December.
Squires Garden Center love getting involved in projects that benefit the whole community. They support and participate in many local activities and events and could help beautify your musical project.
Lloyds Bank Foundation partner with small and local charities across England and Wales, helping people overcome complex social issues.