Grant-making Policy

Author:

Alok Bhatia

Table of Contents

1. Purpose
2. The Objectives of ServePlanet
3. Priorities for support
4. Governance
5. Grant-making principles
6. Grant-making criteria
7. Grant-making processes
8. Monitoring, Reporting and Publications
   
9. Variations

I. Purpose

a. The purpose of this policy is to set out the principles, criteria and processes that govern how the ServePlanet make grants across all fund types across ServePlanet's priorities. It complements the Programme Partnership Policy and Ethical Donations Acceptance Policy, which defines the basis on which ServePlanet accepts donations into funds and draws its synergy from the Compliance Toolkit: Protecting Charities from harm, Chapter 2: Due diligence, monitoring and verifying the end use of charitable funds assisting ServePlanet and its Trustees in identifying good practices to carry out its legal duties diligently

b. A grant is defined as a financial award ServePlanet makes from its funds to support charitable activities, primarily to registered charities or charitable community groups, but sometimes to other bodies or individuals authorised by the Board of Trustees.

II. The Objectives of ServePlanet

Under the terms of the constitution, the Board of Trustees will apply funds to fulfil ServePlanet's stated objectives:

a. To promote for the benefit of the public the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment, in particular (but without limitation) (i) by carrying out removal of litter and plastic waste from water bodies (ii) by reducing the entering of litter, plastic and micro-plastic waste into water bodies and (iii) by undertaking innovative research and technology advanced approaches to mitigate the effects of plastic pollution; &

b. To prevent or relieve poverty or financial hardship, sickness and distress among the individuals from socially and economically disadvantaged communities by providing or assisting in the provision of food, grants, education, training, healthcare, emergency aid and all the necessary support with a view to empowering beneficiaries to generate a sustainable income, be self-sufficient and/ or to integrate in society.

III. Priorities for support

The number of projects which can be supported is limited by the amount of funds available for distribution in any year. The priorities will be reviewed every year (or more often if deemed appropriate by the Trustees), and may be changed in accordance with the Trustees' view of the most effective application of available funds at any point in time.The Board of Trustees have determined that the priorities for funding the projects over the next two years will be concentrated on:

a. The removal of plastic and micro-plastic debris from various domestic and international water bodies; (For instance ServePlanet's Project Trawl and Project Organic)

b. The advanced research of creating non-toxic, bio-degradable plastic replica from plants and other natural ingredients with an aim to substitute the plastic currently in use (For instance ServePlanet's Project Augury)

c. Preventing or relieving poverty (or financial hardship), sickness and distress in UK, Europe, Asia and Africa among the individuals from socially and economically disadvantaged communities by providing:

- food            (For instance ServePlanet's Project Elixir)

- grants         

- education  (For instance ServePlanet's Project Underdog)

- training 

- healthcare 

IV. Governance

ServePlanet is governed by a board of trustees and led by the Information Catalyst who delegates day-to-day activities to volunteers and other staff. The Board of Trustees govern ServePlanet's grant-making by setting the:

- Grant-making principles which ensure that decisions are ultimately made by the ServePlanet's Board of Trustees. These principles, together with the Ethical Donations Acceptance Policy, Anti-Slavery Policy and Philanthropy Service Agreements, clarify that funds given are ServePlanet's asset, and that, where they are involved, donors are recommending grants, not awarding them.

- Grant-making criteria which publicly state the activities the Board of Trustees wish to support in furtherance of ServePlanet's exclusively charitable objects. The criteria also include those activities which they do not currently wish to support because the Board of Trustees do not consider them to be in line with ServePlanet's purpose. However, the Board of Trustees accept that there may be occasions when grants are made outside the published criteria, but that in all such cases the activity supported will be charitable in law.

- Grant-making processes which set out in comprehensive terms how decision making is carried out for ServePlanet's funds.

An excellent research governance is at the heart of our research decision making. All the research funding decisions are discussed by Board of Trustees and they rank the applications for funding.  The Board of Trustees thereafter follow the guidelines laid down in this policy and release the grants accordingly.

ServePlanet adheres to the the "know your" principle as laid down in Compliance Toolkit: Protecting Charities from harm, Chapter 2: Due diligence, monitoring and verifying the end use of charitable funds, which complements and is in line with internationally recognised standards set out in Financial Action Task Force Special Recommendation VIII (FATF SR VIII): "charities should make best efforts to confirm the identity, credentials and good standing of their beneficiaries and associates undertake best efforts to document the identity of their significant donors"

ServePlanet has also adopted the principles laid down in the Guidance on Collaborative working and mergers: an introduction, for considering all it's collaborations and grant-making.

V. Grant-making principles

The principles which underpin the trustees' governance of ServePlanet's grant- making take into account the scale and range of its grants and strike a balance between proper oversight of decision-making and responsive customer service for both applicants and donors. The grant-making will be governed by the following principles:

a. Applications from UK and EU registered charities are eligible for consideration and all applications will be considered on merit alone.

b. Applications for new project funding will be considered on their own merit.

c. All applications from previous recipients of grants or from previously unsuccessful applicants will be considered by the Trustees on their own merits. Although the Trustees will have regard to the outcome of the previous grant, any new application will in no way receive preferential or adverse consideration.

d. ServePlanet will work in partnership with other organisations where appropriate to fund initiatives beyond the financial scope of a single organisation. Trustees reserve the right to request information on other donors.

e. The Board of Trustees have ultimate responsibility for all grant-making decisions in line with ServePlanet's charitable purposes and any restrictions agreed with donors and funding partners.

f. The Board of Trustees also reserve the right not to approve any recommendation or nomination if they determine that the resulting grant would not be charitable, or would conflict with ServePlanet's stated policies or damage its reputation.

g. In most cases, the Board of Trustees will only authorise funding of up to 25% of a project and the grant amount is capped at £15,000 a year.

h. Where an applicant is notified an award, the grantee is expected to provide any outstanding/necessary documentations including proof of match funding and complete all the relevant paperwork (e.g. agreement) within three months of the date they are notified of the grant award. Otherwise the Board have a right to annul the grant after the three months' grace period.

i. Trustees reserve the right to apply conditions to any grant.

j. The Trustees strongly encourage applicants whose work falls outside the London area.

k. The Board of Trustees will not normally approve/support applications for:

- purposes for which the government has a statutory responsibility to provide;

- large, well-funded national charities i.e. those with an annual income more than £5 million or with more than £50 million of assets, or charities dedicated to issues deemed by the Board of Trustees to be already well funded;

- general appeals, fundraising appeals, or marketing appeals;

- one-off conferences or events, except where these events fall within a wider project context that aligns with our funding priorities, the impact and connections to these priorities being clearly demonstrated;

- activities which appear to, or actively seek to, influence public opinion in favour of a particular political party or promote political partisanship.

VI. Grant-making criteria

a. All the grants made by ServePlanet shall only be for its exclusively charitable objectives to support the charitable activities and outcomes stated below in Clause VI(g)

b. The aim of the grant-making criteria is to provide clear information from the Board of Trustees to those individuals and organisations who want to apply for grants.

c. Clear guidance on criteria for applications from individuals and groups is a part of this policy. The Board of Trustees review these criteria from time to time and, if necessary, amend or update them.

d. The Board of Trustees wish to make grants to a wide range of organisations. While not excluding large UK-wide charities, ServePlanet will normally only make grants to such organisations where the proposal and outcomes have potential to achieve a substantial impact as per ServePlanet's objectives.

e. As a charity, ServePlanet can only make grants to support activity(s) which is charitable in law. Organisations do not have to be registered charities to be benefitted, but ServePlanet will only make grants to charities or to individuals on merit basis.

f. Trustees are particularly keen to help grassroots communities and small-to-medium-sized voluntary organisations however grants will always be restricted for a specific charitable purpose.

g. Trustees expect that grants will normally support one or more of the following outcomes:

-  Removal of plastic waste from domestic and international water bodies;

- Reduction of litter, plastic and micro- plastic waste from entering into domestic and international water bodies;

-  Concluding research on creating non-toxic, bio-degradable plastic replica from plants and other natural ingredients with an aim to substitute the plastic currently in use; &

- Attaining self-sufficiency, generating sustainable income and reintegration in society of socially and economically disadvantaged individuals by providing food, grants, education, training, healthcare facilities and/ or emergency aid.

h. Grant requests which the trustees will not normally support are:

- Contributions to general appeals or circulars;

- Religious activity which is not for wider public benefit;

- Public bodies to carry out their statutory obligations;

- Activities which solely support animal welfare;

- Activities which have already taken place;

- Privately owned and profit-distributing companies or limited partnerships.

i. A limited amount of funds are available to support individuals, and the Board of Trustees have resolved to only accept applications from individuals for these funds as advertised or, exceptionally, on the basis of recommendations. With regards to making financial grant to an individual, the trustees should be mindful of an average grant size which shall be released to extremely poor individuals and households on the basis of the data collected from national surveys; subjective assessments and a wide range of other targeting approaches including community-based methods, points-based systems such as the Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI) and the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). The recipient individuals are selected using a systematic and proactive set of criteria that vary from country to country.

j. Grants cannot be made retrospectively. Therefore, applicants should only apply for funding for projects that will start after or still be running after the outcome of the application has been received.

VII. Grant-making processes

All grant requests go through a three-stage process as summarised below:

STAGE 1- Application

1. All applications for grants must be made via ServePlanets' website. Potential applicants will receive (via e-mail) an eligibility test which they are required to submit back (via e-mail). This is done to ensure they are eligible for funding. If found eligible, applicants will be sent a form in conjunction with this grant making policy.
2. Information required in the initial application:

- Organisation/ Individual name and contact details

- Purpose and aims of the organisation/ Individual

- Details of which of ServePlanet's aims the project fulfils

- Geographical location of project or beneficiaries

- A summary of the application including the purpose for which funding is requested, timeline for the project and expected outcomes

- Total amount requested and the organisation's charitable income and assets

STAGE 2- Assessment

All grant applications will be subject to initial assessment to ensure they meet the basic criteria for funding and therefore for consideration at the next meeting of the trustees. All grant applicants will then be notified by email as to whether or not their application will proceed to be reviewed by the trustees.

STAGE 3- Decision

A. Applications which meet the basis criteria will be reviewed by the Trustees. Applicants may be contacted at this stage for further information. This can include:

1. Further details of the purpose of the application, the project, the way in which the grant will be used and how it will be managed effectively for its intended purpose;
2. The names of those who are to be involved with the project/work to be carried out and the identity of the person(s) who will be responsible for the administration of the grant;
3. Adequate information regarding the identity and financial status of the applicant and/or of the status of the person(s) who will carry out the project/work;
4. Details of previous projects and work conducted by the applicant;
5. Evidence that the recipient has and will be adequately insured both in relation to any equipment and facilities purchased by the grant but also in relation to any risk of injury arising by reason of the project or purposes for which the grant is awarded including injury to those participating in that project or those purposes.
6. In addition, applicants for grants to carry out research may be asked to:

a. Provide assurances to ServePlanet which are confirmed in writing by the grant recipient that the grant project and the applicant:

(i) Is fully authorised by the organisation in which the research will be conducted and the grant recipient accepts full responsibility for its proper management;

(ii) Will disseminate the results of the research to the widest possible audience as required by ServePlanet;

(iii) Will comply with all relevant statutory legislation and other; and

(iv) Has obtained all of the necessary consents and authorities required to carry out the research.

B. Once all the further information requested by Trustees has been received, applications will be put forward for consideration at the next Trustees meeting.

C. The Trustees will aim to write to all applicants informing them of the outcome of their application for funding within a month of the Trustee meeting.

D. Successful Applicants- Successful applicants will be required to comply with terms and conditions contained in a letter of grant between ServePlanet and the grant recipient and agree to be bound by them, including monitoring of mutually agreed targets or milestones. Successful applicants must work with the Trustees to co-ordinate grant payments and fulfil audit expectations.

E. All applicants should note that, as with many other charities, ServePlanet always receives far more applications than it has funds to support. Even if a project fits within the criteria and priorities of ServePlanet and a detailed assessment has been made, ServePlanet may still be unable to provide a grant. The Trustees will not be obliged to provide an explanation to the applicant should their application be unsuccessful.

VIII. Due- Diligence, Monitoring, Reporting and Publications

a. Serveplanet adheres to the "know your" principle as laid down in Compliance Toolkit: Protecting Charities from harm, Chapter 2: Due diligence, monitoring and verifying the end use of charitable funds, which complements and is in line with internationally recognised standards set out in Financial Action Task Force Special Recommendation VIII (FATF SR VIII): "charities should make best efforts to confirm the identity, credentials and good standing of their beneficiaries and associates undertake best efforts to document the identity of their significant donors".

b. Before a grant can be confirmed, conditions will be stipulated appropriate to the work to be carried out and establish agreed targets and/or milestones. If the grant is payable in instalments, then payment of subsequent grant instalments will be dependent on satisfactory progress having been demonstrated and the Board of Trustees reserve the right to withdraw the grant on receipt of unsatisfactory progress reports. Failure to submit reports at the time specified by the Board of Trustees may also jeopardise the continuation of ServePlanet's support. In addition to reports detailing progress, grant recipients will be expected to provide:

- A statement of how ServePlanet's monies have been spent for the year; and

- Details (where appropriate) of any other funds applied to the same project.

c. Monitoring visits by representatives of ServePlanet may be expected during the period of a grant.

d. Grantees may be asked to take part in any publicity for the promotion of ServePlanet and its work which may include - but is not restricted to - their name and photograph being used and publishing their work in the anthology and excerpts on ServePlanet website.

e. Individuals and organisations cannot publicly use ServePlanet's name to acknowledge ServePlanet's funding until this has been approved / agreed in writing with ServePlanet.

f. Where the purpose of the grant is to fund research, then the Board of Trustees may also stipulate how the results of such research should be published and how ServePlanet's contribution should be acknowledged in any such publication. The Board of Trustees may require the grant recipient to publicise ServePlanet in any of its publications relating to the project/work funded by the grant in the manner stipulated by the Board of Trustees at the time of making the grant.

g. The Board of Trustees also expect to receive copies of any published articles, papers or other outputs which may result from the project. This is subject to prior approval / agreement with ServePlanet.

h. Following the conclusion of the project, the grant recipient will (where appropriate) be expected to submit a final report, normally within one month of the end of the grant, detailing the full results and outputs from the project. The grant recipient should inform ServePlanet of any extenuating circumstances whereby the submission of the final report is delayed, to allow a mutually acceptable date for submission to be agreed.

IX. Variations

The Board of trustees may vary the terms of this policy from time to time.

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