Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Have you tried our eligibility checker?

This easy- to- use checker runs through the basic eligibility you will need to meet to be eligible to apply to any of our programmes. It covers everything from how your organisation is set up, how your finances are managed and what type of activities you require funding for.

Please note, however, that it is not specific to any particular funding programme. It only covers basic eligibility. If the checker shows you pass our basic eligibility markers, then you will need to read the more in depth, specific programme eligibility guidance and priorities available for each funding programme, to make sure the project you require funding for fits.

You can access the eligibility checker here: https://covenantfund.org.uk/eligibility-checker/

The aims and eligibility criteria differ for each of our funding programmes, so you will need to read these and decide whether the work your organisation does might fit with any of the programme’s priorities.

The Trust cannot advise you about making an application, but if you have specific questions after reading the programme guidance, then you can email us. Details of how to do this can be found in the programme guidance notes.

No. The Trust cannot award grants to individuals. We award grants to organisations and groups that support the Armed Forces community. You can find out more about the projects we’ve supported on our programme pages.

Our Board of Trustees make decisions based on assessments our grants team produce from your grant application. Our experienced grants team looks at every application we receive, and all assessments are moderated prior to board to ensure balance. Every project is considered on its own merit in line with any programme priorities, geographical location, deliverability and value for money. Final decisions will be made by the Trustees of the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust who will review the applications using balancing criteria in addition to the key criteria. The balancing criteria include the relative strength and value for money of the project when viewed as part of a national portfolio of projects. 

Funds are limited. Therefore, Trustees will use their discretion to choose which projects to fund, ensuring a good spread of funded projects and to differentiate between projects that are considered fundable. 

Our Board of Trustees makes decisions on grant applications every quarter. The length of time taken for a decision to be made on your application varies depending on the programme you’ve applied to. Either way, we’ll be in touch throughout the whole process. You can find out more about deadlines and decision making in the application guidance for your chosen programme.

Some of our funding programmes may require groups to include a new element in their project when applying for grant funding, while others don’t. Take a look at the individual programme guidance for more information. However, we cannot award grant funding retrospectively for something that has already taken place.

This depends on which funding programme you’re applying to. Each programme has its own eligibility criteria and while some may state that activities have to be new, others won’t. Take a look at the individual programme guidance for more information.

The Trust cannot recommend other funders; however, one of the following National bodies for Voluntary Organisations may have more information.

• NCVO for organisations based in England
• SCVO for organisations based in Scotland
• NICVA for organisations based in Northern Ireland
• WCVA for organisations based in Wales
• You could also visit https://www.find-government-grants.service.gov.uk/

While this isn’t mandatory in order to receive funding from the Trust, we do strongly encourage groups to consider signing the Armed Forces Covenant where relevant. Signing the Covenant shows that your organisation is committed to supporting the Armed Forces community; you can find out more about it on our Armed Forces Covenant page.

You must make sure your project isn’t doing the same thing as other local projects or initiatives that are taking place. Instead, your work should complement other local work. Working with others will help to reduce the risk of duplication.

Yes. However, different funding programmes now and in the future will have different eligibility and so this is subject to change as new programmes go live.

Yes. Our grants team produce an assessment from your application, which provides a level playing field, a standard approach to decision making, which means groups are not measured by their ability to complete an application form. Our experienced grants team ensures they gather all information from groups to ensure a fair decision can be made. It is vital that you fully read the application guidance for your chosen programme before applying, to give your application the best chance of success.

If your application for funding is unsuccessful, there is sometimes an opportunity to reapply in future rounds of the programme, or resubmit your application with further information included. However, this may not always be the case, for example, if you’ve applied to the final round of a funding programme or if the programme eligibility does not permit this.

If you apply for, or are awarded, a grant, we’ll use the information you give us to assess and manage your grant. We will hold this information securely. For more information, please read our privacy policy.

We pride ourselves on being a fair and inclusive grant maker. To give all applicants the best chance of submitting a great application for funding, we provide as much useful information as we can at the earliest stage.

We find this pre-application support to be useful in ensuring applicants fully understand the themes and priorities of a programme, why the programme has been set up, what we will be looking for when assessing an application and what comes next if you are funded. This enables applicants to make an informed decision about whether the funding programme is right for their proposed project.

The funding that we award in grants comes from public funds. We therefore do need to ensure that projects offer good value for money. The guidance also tells applicants about what they would need to undertake if they were awarded a grant, and includes information on what a strong application would contain.

We also include more standardised information about our ethical principles as a grant maker, working with other organisations and showing the change that your project will make. While this information does make our programme guidance longer to read, it is important for us to know that all our applicants understand what we see as important elements of receiving a grant, after all, if you are awarded funding, we could be working together for years to come.

Have you read your offer letter and Terms and Conditions? These documents include vital information about your award including any additional requirements and it is important you understand what you are agreeing to prior to signing and returning your grant contract.

Have you completed and returned your Offer Letter and Terms and Conditions PDF Click and Sign document and received an email receipt confirming it has been completed?

If you had to complete bank details in the form, have you also submitted evidence of your bank account to docs@covenantfund.org.uk?

If you have completed and submitted both more than three weeks ago, please contact enquiries@covenantfund.org.uk quoting your four-digit Grant Reference Number (found on your Offer Letter and Terms & Conditions email and PDF document).

If you are yet to submit either of the two requirements, please do so immediately.

Sometimes a project will need to change as it develops and we’re happy to work with you on this as long as your ideas continue to help the people from the Armed Forces community that you originally told us about in your application. Please don’t make any significant changes to your grant if awarded, until you have talked to us and we’ve agreed that you can. You can contact your Grants Officer to discuss this in more detail.

We publish lists of all grants that we award. These are categorised by funding programme and each downloadable award table is broken down into regions. Check out our grant award pages for details of projects funded in your region. Unfortunately, we cannot provide contact details for any specific project.

We welcome comments from members of the public who have concerns over an application that we’ve received or a project we’ve funded. Please read our guidance on raising a concern.

Grants Portal: Our online Grants Portal is for all grant holders to manage their reporting and view communications from the Trust. You can access the Grants Portal here.

All historical applications will be stored under your Grants Portal login, both declined and approved.

If you need to look at your original application, re-familiarise yourself with the Terms and Conditions of your award, or complete interim reports or End of Grant reports, then this is the place to do it!

As well as using the link above, you can access the portal through the Managing Your Grant section of our website.

For any queries relating to the Grants Portal, email us at info@covenantfund.org.uk

Impact Hub: The Impact Hub is a tool used to measure the impact of our funding on our grant holders and their beneficiaries. You can access the Impact Hub here.

You will receive a login to use the HUB and the information you enter into this system remains within your organisation, under your safe login. Any information shared with the Trust is automatically anonymised.

This tool is only used for the duration of your project.

For any of these queries relating to the Impact Hub, email info@covenantfund.org.uk

The positive impact of our funding programmes on the Armed Forces community is something we are immensely proud of.

We share this impact in different ways.

• We commission and publish evaluation reports for each of our programmes.
• We share learning from projects we have funded.
• We share case studies from projects.

You can find lots about the positive impact of our funding programmes in our Knowledge Network.

The Trust receives a high volume of applications for funding each year. As a responsible grant maker, we aim to keep our admin costs low to ensure as much funding reaches as many good applications, and in turn, the Armed Forces community, as possible.

This means we do not have a dedicated phone line for support with applications. It would be an additional cost and could lead to an imbalance of the support we offer to applicants. Instead, we offer support in the following ways:

1. We provide detailed programme guidance, which all applicants can access, and which contains everything you need to know about applying for a grant from the Trust.
2. We publish our assessment criteria and the application questions so you can spend time planning and considering your application in line with the detailed programme guidance.
3. We have a general info@covenantfund.org.uk email which you can use for further support should you have queries after reading the programme guidance. This email address is checked daily, and enquiries are dealt with promptly.

We find these options, together, ensure a fair and transparent application process where all applicants can access the same level of support equitably.

Our logo is available in a number of formats and we’d love you to display it where appropriate. Check out our branding page.

No, we are a charitable organisation and NDPB that funds projects that support the delivery of the Nation’s Covenant promise to our Armed Forces, Veterans and their families.

You can learn more about the Trust in our About Us section.

You can access the Armed Forces Covenant logo from the MOD’s Brand Portal. Most projects prefer to use the version called AFC POS RBG in the PNG version.

Please note: you will need to create a free account to use the MOD’s Brand Portal.

There are a number of resources available that you will find useful – these can be found on our Impact Hub page. There is the ‘User guide’, which gives step-by-step instructions on how to access the Hub and use its various features. We also have a user guide video, which will demonstrate how to access the Hub, add beneficiaries and assign surveys. 

Reaching and Supporting Armed Forces Communities and Transformational Grants grant holders will be offered training on the Impact Hub when their project is onboarded. If you have any questions or would like to arrange additional support and guidance for your staff, please contact us.

Please go to https://omf.covenantfund.org.uk/login and use the username and password you set with your original enrolment link. If you have forgotten your password, please e-mail us at info@covenantfund.org.uk and we can send you a new link to reset it. 

Firstly, make sure you are using an internet browser that is supported. Internet Explorer is not currently supported, so please use an alternative such as Edge, Chrome or Safari. If your password is not being accepted, please contact us and we can reset it for you. 

If you are not currently using the Impact Hub for your project and would like to find out more, please use the tools available in the Impact Hub section of the Knowledge Network to learn more about this resource. If you would then like to use it for your project, please contact us and we will be pleased to organise a login for you. 

If you are a VPPP Portfolio Partner and have a query about the Impact Hub, please contact your Portfolio Lead in the first instance. They have a wealth of knowledge about the Hub and will be able to advise you accordingly. They can also arrange training sessions for you if you need additional support with the functionality of the Hub.

For Reaching and Supporting Armed Forces Communities, all other or a query about using the Hub on any other programmes, please contact us. 

Following feedback from grant holders regarding the Trust’s use of wellbeing measures, the Trust has now changed its primary survey set. We now use the ONS4 Wellbeing Survey as the first choice wellbeing measure for all projects using the Impact Hub.

If you wish to carry on using another measure that you are already using on the Hub e.g. the Veterans Wellbeing Index / WEMWBS then we would be delighted for you to carry on doing this, let us know at info@covenantfund.org.uk.

Please email us at info@covenantfund.org.uk.