We don’t have an open application process, which means we don’t make grants directly in response to unsolicited applications or appeals.
Only a small proportion of the grants we make are to organisations we don’t already know and we usually find new organisations to work with through our own research or by referral from trusted partners. We like to spend time getting to know potential partners before deciding if we will work together.
You can get in touch if you think we would be interested to know about your work by sending a short email to foundation@wgrant.com but please read about our interests in the Our Themes section of this website before getting in touch.
We’re always happy to hear from organisations about the work they’re doing. Learning from others and building connections is really important to us.
Every enquiry that comes into our inbox is carefully reviewed. If there’s clear alignment with our interests, we may explore it further to learn more and we do sometimes invite funding proposals from organisations that contact us like this. (But note that in 2024, only five of the 129 grants we awarded were to organisations that had contacted us in this way.)
At the same time, we want to be clear: us reaching out doesn’t always lead to funding. Unless we explicitly say we are considering a grant, our conversations are primarily about understanding the landscape and sharing learning.
We know this can be tricky – especially when funding is needed – but being upfront helps us build honest relationships and allows us to learn more about the work happening in the fields we’re interested in.
We are committed to learning out loud. That includes sharing reflections on how and why we fund in the ways we do.
A good place to start is the ‘Latest’ page on this website, where you can keep up to date with our activities and learning. In our blog, you’ll find posts where we share what we’re noticing and how our grant-making is evolving.
This blog about our approach to new funding partnerships is one example.
By being open about our approach, we hope to spark conversations, share learning across the sector, and keep improving the way we work.
Yes, we publish full details of all our grants using the 360Giving data standard. This means data about our grants can be easily shared, analysed and compared with other funders.
Read more about how to view or download details of the grants we’ve made.
We also present a summary of our activity each year in our Annual Review. Read our Annual Reviews archive.
Our Feedback and Complaints Policy provides details on how to give feedback or raise concerns.
We welcome feedback, both positive and negative and are committed to continual improvement.
If we are recruiting, any vacancies will be advertised in our News page and on Goodmoves.
Learn more about our small staff team.
You can find advice about reporting and other aspects of how we expect to work together with our funded partners on our Guidance and Resources page.
No, we are a grant-maker providing direct support to selected charities and other organisations in line with our philanthropic aims; the Foundation doesn’t make donations in return for sponsorship benefits and operates at arms’ length from the commercial interests of the Company. We are unable to pass on sponsorship requests to the William Grant & Sons brand teams.
The Foundation is not a registered charity and does not have trustees. Decisions about our grant-making are made by members of the William Grant families. Read more about our structure on the About us page.
Foundation staff are employed by William Grant & Sons. The Company’s gender pay gap reports are available on its website.
