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Small Organisation Tender Fund   Back to product menu

The Small Organisation Tender Fund offers grants to small third sector organisations who need small sums of money to help them tender successfully for specific public sector contracts. Grants are invested in amounts up to 10% of the contract, with a maximum investment of £15,000.

There is a limited pot of £220,000 for this Fund, £150,000 of which has been contributed by the National Programme for Third Sector Commissioning.

Eligibility criteria

  • You must be preparing to tender for a specific public service contract worth a minimum of £30,000
  • You must have a good chance of winning the tender
  • You must be a third sector organisation with a turnover of less than £250,000 in the last financial year
  • You must have been incorporated for a minimum of one year
  • You must deliver a high quality service and have the potential of significantly increased returns on it in the future
  • The ultimate beneficiaries of your project must live in England
  • You must not have received more than a £130,000 subsidy from public sources in the previous three years
  • You must not have received a Small Organisation Tender Fund grant in the last 24 months

In addition to the above, we will also consider:

  • The track record of the organisation involved 
  • The strength of the business case
  • The organisation’s existing reserves and what it is prepared to contribute to the development project
  • The abilities of key individuals
  • Whether an investment could potentially breach State Aid regulations

What can you use Small Organisation Tender Fund grants for?

You can use the grant to meet any cost that you see as important in putting together a good tender. Some examples might include:

  • Legal costs 
  • Advice from procurement specialists 
  • Financial expertise 
  • Bidding staff costs or backfill

We expect you to have a particular contract in mind when you apply to us – the Fund is not intended to increase tendering skills in general, but to help third sector organisations win specific contracts.

How to apply

There is no application form for this fund. If you want to find out more or apply for an investment:


What we need from you

We will assess your application mainly by phone. In all cases, we will ask you to:

  • Be available to discuss the application on the phone
  • Provide historic financial information quickly (annual accounts and up to date management accounts) 
  • Provide details about the specific public service contract you are tendering for
  • Provide a breakdown of the costs the grant is needed to cover 
  • Provide contact details for your potential purchaser

During the phone conversation we will ask you to:

  • Explain how your organisation is constituted
  • Explain why you need a grant and what costs you need the grant to cover 
  • Explain the details of the activity to be funded and how you have started developing a business plan in relation to it


What next?

Get in contact to find out more about how Futurebuilders could help your organisation:

Need business plan guidance?

Futurebuilders needs to be sure that your organisation is ready to take on an investment by looking at your organisation’s business plan.

If you don't have one, why not read our business plan guidance?

New to loan funding?

Loan funding is new to many third sector organisations and many of the organisations that come to us has never borrowed before. But it has many advantages.

Find out the benefits of loan funding.