Crowdfund Salford

Eligibility Criteria

Version dated: 22 October 2024

Introduction

Crowdfund Salford: Supporting ideas that create a brighter future for Salford

The funding partner is Salford City Council.

Once the Fund has been allocated no further applications will be accepted. The Fund maybe closed at any time. 

Eligible organisations

To be eligible to apply, organisations must be one of the following:

- Charity (including charitable incorporated organisation),
- Constituted organisation
- Community interest company
- Other community voluntary or social enterprise sector organisation not constituted but deemed appropriate by Crowdfunder under this Programme provided it has appropriate endorsement from the statutory body, charity, parochial church council or community foundation etc.

Eligible organisations must:

- Be local to the city and benefit people who live or work in Salford
- Be inclusive and accessible
You will be required to provide the following documentation and evidence of your organisation’s eligibility:
- Governing documents (such as constitution or Memorandum & Articles of association);
- Bank account in the name of the organisation;
- Published accounts to demonstrate the organisation is over 12 months old; and
- Safeguarding and/or child protection policies where relevant.

Your project must also reflect one of the Council's key priorities:

- Good growth
- A good home for all
- Tackling poverty and inequality
- Creating places where people want to live
- A child friendly city
- Healthy lives and quality care for all
- Responding to climate change

The following organisations are not eligible

Organisations which have:
- made a successful application to Salford City Council for match funding in the past 12 months; or have already received grant funding from Salford City Council’s Devolved Community Budget,
- Individuals or sole traders
- For profit businesses or partnerships
- Schools, colleges and universities
- Organisations where funds are solely for the provision of bursaries to individuals or families
- Organisations without a UK registered address
- Organisations without a named UK bank account
- Organisations that have been operating for less than 12 months

We are also not able to support the following

- Projects that are managed by groups that have had previous public funding which has not been managed satisfactorily,- Organisations seeking to distribute grants on our behalf
- Projects that are raising funds for works or equipment already committed, bought, completed or having taken place (including trips),
- Applications that include unspecified expenditure,
- Projects that promote specific political views/ parties or religious beliefs/ faiths,
- Applications that request on-going commitment, such as for salaries, rent, utility bills, insurance and annual running costs (aka ‘business as usual’ costs),
- Projects that interfere with Council business,
- Projects that have an unauthorised financial implication on the Council, 
- Any costs incurred in putting together an application for this crowdfund,
- Contingency funds to cover unforeseen or up-coming general organisational running costs,
- The cost of fundraising activities for your organisation or others,
- Items that are purchased on behalf of another organisation,
- Costs for the repayment of loans/ interest or for the payment of fines,
- A project or activity that cannot be completed within 12 months of receiving the Salford Crowdfunder Project monies, 
- Alcohol or political related projects.

How to apply

Applicants should create a project on Crowdfunder and if the information matches with the fund the project will be invited to apply through the Crowdfunder platform.

Applications will be reviewed alongside project pages. Please consult the Crowdfunder Knowledge Hub to learn how to create a strong project page.

How much can you apply for?

If your application is approved, you’ll be offered match funding of up to 50% towards your initial crowdfunding target, up to a maximum of £20,000

Selection process

All projects that meet the criteria set out above will be assessed to determine which projects will be selected for the fund. Project owners will be notified whether their application has been successful or not. The offer of match funding will be valid for 8 weeks after the date of notification, if you do not launch your crowdfunding campaign within this period, the offer will be rescinded.

We will focus on ensuring funding is distributed equitably, particularly in terms of geographic location and types of beneficiaries. A range of projects will be selected to achieve this.

Live match funding

The following criteria applies to live match funding:

a) All Pledges made by supporters will be matched pound for pound up to £2000. This means that if a Project receives a Pledge of £50, Salford City Council will donate £50. If a Project receives a Pledge of £5000, Salford City Council will donate £2000.

b) The maximum live match funding a Project can receive from Salford City Council is the lower of £20,000 or 50% of your target.

c) Live match funding will be given on the first pledge made to a Project by a supporter.

d) Your project must receive pledges from at least 10 unique backers.

e) The following Pledges will not be matched:

i) Pledges made before a Project is accepted to participate in the Fund or after a Project’s initial fundraising period ends.

ii) Second (2nd) and any subsequent (3rd, 4th, etc) pledges to the same Project by the same supporter.

iii) Pledges made by Organisations to their own Projects.

f) Pledges will not be matched where a project is “always on”.

g) The live match fund will be distributed on a first come first serve basis. Being approved for match funding does not guarantee you will receive any live match funding.

h) Live match funds will count towards your Project’s target.

i) Rewards will not be eligible for match funding if the value of the reward (or a significant proportion) is to be passed to a third party. If rewards are provided by third parties they should be donations to qualify for match funding. If in doubt, please ask for clarification.

Additional Requirements

You will be ineligible for funding from the Council at its sole discretion if it is not satisfied that all the supporter pledges on your project are genuine pledges.
Where projects or pledges are identified as fraudulent, potentially fraudulent, or demonstrative of manipulating the pledging on a project in order to obtain match funding, this is taken very seriously. Where appropriate, the police or other relevant authorities will be informed. In addition:
- Your application for funding will be refused and any existing commitment for funding will be withdrawn.
- Your Crowdfunding project may be cancelled and you will be ineligible for future applications or projects.
- Action will be taken to recover funding which has been paid out.
Note – The Council reserves the right to vary these criteria. Projects will be notified if their criteria will vary from the stated terms above.

Projects will be required to agree to the Terms and Conditions.