THE NUFFIELD FOUNDATION OPEN DOOR GRANT PROGRAMME – Grants up to £150,000 for innovative projects that advance social well-being (first stage application deadline 5 March 2015)

The Nuffield Foundation’s Open Door Grant programme, featured in a GRIN bulletin last November, has re-opened to applications with a first stage application deadline of Thursday 5 March 2015. .

The scheme is aimed at offering financial assistance to projects of exceptional merit which do not fall under one of the Foundation'sareas of special interest (but which are based on the idea of the advancement of social well-being), or which span more than one area of interest, as listed by the Nuffield Foundation.

Grants are mainly for research but are also made for practical developments or innovation. Grants range in size from £5,000 to £150,000. The Foundation also considers larger grants but makes only a handful each year. Capital projects are not supported.

Non-profit organisations and other charitable groups based in the UK are eligible for funding from the Open Door Programme..

Projects should meet the following criteria:

• Be innovative.
• Aim to have an impact beyond its immediate beneficiaries and should be more than local or regional interest.
• Have outcomes which will be of interest and use to policy makers.
• Include follow-up plans to assess the success of the project and whether the desired impacts were achieved.

Projects focused on the following subjects are eligible for funding:

• Poverty.
• Disadvantage.
• Social welfare.
• Disability.

Work covering more than one of these subjects is also of interest to the Foundation.

Eligible costs include travel, consultancy fees, essential equipment and office expenses.

The deadline dates for 2015 are as follows:

• Outline applications: 5 March 2015
• Full applications: 7 May 2015

An outline proposal of no more than three sides of A4 must be submitted to the Foundation for consideration by the Trustees who will decide whether the project is suitable for a full application.

The outline application should describe:

• The issue or problem you wish to address.
• The expected outcome(s).
• How the aims will be achieved.
• (For research projects) an outline of the methods involved.
• An outline of the budget and timeline for the project.

For further information, visit the Nuffield Foundation website.

Contact details for the Foundation are:

Sharon Witherspoon
The Nuffield Foundation
28 Bedford Square
London WC1B 3JS
Tel: 020 7631 0566
Email: opendoor@nuffieldfoundation.org

(Source: GRIN)