Grants are one route to funding your project, but they are not the only one. Many small charities and community groups combine grant funding with other income streams. Those might include a local lottery, a crowdfunding push, a coffee morning, or a regular-giving page on a donation platform. This page signposts the main other funding routes that sit alongside our grants directory. None of them replace grants. Together they can make a project happen sooner, top up a partial grant award, or build a steadier base for the year.
Our main funding directory is the place to start for grant programmes. This page covers the other funding routes that sit alongside it.
Start here — Redcar and Cleveland Community Lottery
The Redcar and Cleveland Community Lottery is a joint project of Redcar & Cleveland Voluntary Development Agency (RCVDA) and Tees Valley Rural Action (TVRA). The same two organisations run Redcar Fundseekers. The lottery runs weekly online for the borough. Top prize £25,000; tickets £1 a week. 60p from every ticket goes to good causes in Redcar and Cleveland. The rest covers the prize pot and operating costs.
Of that 60p, 10p comes to the partners supporting services like this funding directory — a sustainable loop. Playing the lottery helps fund the work that helps you find funding. We mention this openly rather than burying it. The arrangement shapes why we recommend the lottery alongside the other options, and you should know.
Registering your group as a good cause is free and takes a short online form. After you register, supporters can pick you when they buy a ticket. The model works because supporters keep paying week after week without you asking each time. The lottery markets the platform; you market the link. A modest base of fifty regular tickets a week brings in about £1,300 a year for your group. Once you have it set up, there is no ongoing admin.
Eligibility. Constituted not-for-profit groups whose work benefits people in Redcar and Cleveland can register. Your group does not need to be a registered charity.
| Best for | Not for |
|---|---|
| A steady, low-effort income stream once your supporter network is signed up. | One-off project capital, urgent funding needs, or groups without an active local supporter base — crowdfunding earns its keep there. |
Crowdfunding platforms
Crowdfunding gathers small donations from a large number of people, usually toward a specific target. It works best when the project has a clear local story. Share it widely on Facebook, WhatsApp groups, and community noticeboards. Pick a realistic target — for grassroots projects, anything between £300 and £2,000 tends to land well. Bigger targets are possible but need a longer campaign and more outreach.
JustGiving Crowdfunding
JustGiving Crowdfunding covers personal causes, community projects, and groups without registered-charity status. Supporters give what they choose. You keep what you raise. There is no all-or-nothing target to hit. Pages run for 120 days by default and you can extend them up to a year. No upfront fees apply; a small transaction fee comes off each donation.
| Best for | Not for |
|---|---|
| Community groups and individuals raising for a specific, time-limited cause without a registered charity behind them. | A long-term donation home for a registered charity — JustGiving’s charity-pages product fits that better. |
GoFundMe
GoFundMe is the largest crowdfunding brand by recognition. Most of its UK traffic covers personal causes — medical bills, memorials, emergencies. It also offers a charity-fundraising route. Anyone can start a fundraiser for free; transaction fees come off each donation.
| Best for | Not for |
|---|---|
| Personal causes, emergency appeals, and fundraisers that benefit from broad brand recognition. | A charity’s primary, long-running fundraising tool — better-fit UK platforms exist for that. |
Crowdfunder UK
Crowdfunder is the UK platform that does the most with match funding. It hosts named “Funds” alongside your own supporter donations. Partner funders top up eligible campaigns by a fixed amount, or by a fixed proportion of what the crowd raises. The current list of Funds lives on the platform’s own Funds page and rotates over time. Partners include national charities, sector bodies, and government programmes.
| Best for | Not for |
|---|---|
| Community projects that can pair their own supporter campaign with a match pot from a relevant Crowdfunder partner — see the match funding section below. | Quick one-off appeals — campaigns need time and supporter outreach to qualify for and unlock a match pot. |
Spacehive
Spacehive is the civic-focused crowdfunding platform. It specialises in place-based projects like parks, public spaces, high-street fixes, and community buildings. Campaigns run on an all-or-nothing basis. Hit the target and you keep the funds; miss it and donations go back to the supporter. Spacehive’s strength is its match-funding network. Councils, mayoral funds, and place-based partners regularly add match pots to eligible projects.
| Best for | Not for |
|---|---|
| Projects with a physical, place-based outcome — parks, community buildings, public realm — where a local authority, parish council, or place partner might match-fund. | Causes without a tangible place outcome, or campaigns where missing the target would be a disaster (Spacehive runs all-or-nothing — miss the target and donations are returned). |
Match funding — making the most of what your community raises
Match funding tops up the money your community raises, usually pound-for-pound up to a cap. Crowdfunder and Spacehive both run match-funding programmes. Eligible campaigns earn a match pot once they hit a minimum supporter target. The platform vouches that the local interest is real; the funder commits the top-up. For village halls, community transport, social-enterprise projects, and place-based work, this is often the strongest single route. It combines local buy-in with bigger funding in one campaign.
The named partner programmes change over time. Rather than list partners that may have moved on by the time you read this, check the live Funds pages on Crowdfunder and Spacehive. Both publish the current list with eligibility criteria.
Local authorities occasionally run their own crowdfunding programmes too. The council itself adds the match pot rather than a national funder. These programmes usually run for a limited time and surface through council press channels. Set up a Google alert or watch your council’s news feed if a match-funded crowdfunding window would suit your project.
Community fundraising ideas — non-digital
Traditional community fundraising still works well alongside digital tools. For some groups it works better. It builds relationships. It gets your project in front of people who would never see a crowdfunding page. It brings in income that does not depend on any platform.
Some ideas that still work well for small charities and community groups:
- Coffee mornings, quiz nights, and raffles run from a community venue.
- Donation collection tins in local shops, cafés, and the leisure centre.
- Sponsor-a-seat, sponsor-a-brick, or sponsor-a-trip campaigns where supporters give toward a named element of a larger project.
- Business sponsorship from local trades, shops, and professional services.
- Membership schemes or “friends of …” groups that ask supporters for a small annual subscription.
Most cost almost nothing to set up. They scale to the time you have available. They tend to bring in money from people who would not otherwise donate.
Other funding tools for ongoing giving
For a long-term home for one-off and regular donations — distinct from a time-limited crowdfunding campaign — these are the main UK options.
Localgiving
Localgiving suits small charities and CICs. It handles Gift Aid claims for you. It runs periodic match-funding campaigns for members. It bundles fundraising tools with grant-application support. Localgiving works as a membership platform; small charities pay a fee to be listed. It accepts organisations with charity numbers and qualifying CICs.
| Best for | Not for |
|---|---|
| Small charities and CICs that want a fundraising home designed for their size, with Gift Aid handled and a peer community around it. | Unconstituted community groups, or organisations not willing to pay an annual membership fee. |
Enthuse
Enthuse puts your charity’s branding on donation pages, event sign-ups, and supporter journeys rather than the platform’s own brand. It also serves as the official donations partner for several mass-participation events, including the London Marathon Events series. Pricing works on application — Enthuse runs a demo-led sales process rather than a self-service signup. Only registered charities can sign up.
| Best for | Not for |
|---|---|
| Registered charities that want supporters to land on a page that looks like the charity’s own site, and that run challenge events. | Unregistered groups, or charities wanting a no-cost, self-service signup — Enthuse is demo-led and priced on application. |
JustGiving charity pages
JustGiving is the long-standing UK donation platform with the highest brand recognition. The charity-pages product differs from JustGiving Crowdfunding listed above. Charity pages handle Gift Aid automatically. They support peer-to-peer fundraising. They integrate with most challenge events. Only registered charities can sign up.
| Best for | Not for |
|---|---|
| Registered charities that want a high-recognition donation home with mature peer-to-peer and Gift Aid handling. | Unregistered groups (use JustGiving Crowdfunding above instead), or charities that want their own branding on every donation page (Enthuse fits that better). |
Easyfundraising
Easyfundraising differs from the others on this page. It is not a donation platform. It is an affiliate-commission platform. Supporters install easyfundraising’s browser plugin or use its app. They shop online with over 8,000 partner retailers as usual. The retailer pays a commission, and easyfundraising forwards it to the supporter’s chosen cause. Donation rates vary by retailer — typically a small percentage of the purchase, or a fixed amount per booking. Registering a cause is free. Charities, CICs, schools, community groups, and sports clubs can all sign up.
| Best for | Not for |
|---|---|
| Groups with an engaged supporter network who would be willing to start their online shop from the easyfundraising link — passive income with zero ask of the cause itself once supporters are signed up. | Groups without an active supporter base — donations need shoppers to drive them, so there is no income if no one is using the link. |
Where to get help
To talk through which of these routes suits your project, contact Redcar & Cleveland Voluntary Development Agency (RCVDA) or Tees Valley Rural Action. Both support local groups with fundraising advice as part of their wider development services. Email [email protected] and we will point you to the right person.
The Redcar Fundseekers funding directory remains the place to start for grant programmes. This page sits alongside it, not instead of it.