Pride in Place funding: how to set up a match fund

“To maximise the impact of the Pride in Place Impact Fund and broaden its reach, local authorities are encouraged to explore opportunities to leverage funding and/or seek match funding for initiatives. Where possible, this may help to unlock additional support and accelerate progress on shared priorities for local pride.”

Pride in Place Impact Fund prospectus

This is the government’s own steer, and it is why so many local authorities are exploring new ways of working.

Crowdfunder has been distributing local authority funds as match funding for years, from Community Chest to Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). With around 200 projects going live every day, we have a whole host of community-led projects that need funding right now.

Delivering a project by offering your funding as a match fund will not only amplify your funding by combining it with contributions from the public and our wider partner network, but also create a transparent, participatory budgeting programme and give local organisations the visibility they need to reach supporters.

Why offer your allocation as match funding

On average, funds on Crowdfunder are amplified by 159%. As your money is only unlocked when someone donates, every pound you put in arrives alongside money from the crowd, so your contribution at least doubles, and often goes much further. Every fund is set up differently, which is why the amplification varies, but the direction is always the same. If your fund is not on the platform, local organisations are left to follow a more isolated grant route, invisible to the network of public supporters and partners looking to help.

It does more than raise money, too. Each fundraiser is public, so the programme becomes a visible show of civic pride that reaches groups who never knew support was there for them. The crowd’s response is a live read on what local people actually want, giving you a participatory budgeting effect without the heavy process. And because you manage the whole thing through one dashboard, with due diligence built in throughout, the admin drops dramatically.

Match funding does not just stretch your funds further, it makes fundraising easier. Our data shows the average donation on Crowdfunder is £45 without a match fund and £75 with one. That is roughly two-thirds more, a clear sign of how powerful the promise of matching is.

How to set up a match fund with Crowdfunder

Setting up a Pride in Place match fund is more straightforward than most councils expect, and we are with you at every step. Just follow these steps:

1. Identify your pot: with Pride in Place you will be splitting your work into projects, so start by choosing one with strong community participation to put behind a match fund. A small grants fund is the perfect pot, though the possibilities are almost endless: green space regeneration, youth engagement, sport and physical activity, arts and culture, tackling social isolation and more.
2. Get in touch: reach out to receive a demo of the platform, walk through your options and an indicative programme summary.
   Email: [email protected]
3. Present the proposal to your board: a member of our team can dial in if needed to help explain how everything works and how it will boost your funding.
4. Launch your programme: we will create a branded fund page, eligibility criteria and a custom application form with you.
5. Review your applications: our automatic matching system cross-references your eligibility criteria with every new project. When there is a match, the project can apply, and everything you need lands straight in your application management dashboard.

From there, simply watch your contribution bring in donations. Each project you support appears on your page, creating a transparent programme the whole community can see. See our current live local authority funds.

What it looks like in practice

The amplification adds up. Over time, the donations your fund unlocks let you support more projects with the same resources, and reach bigger goals than your allocation could on its own. There are thousands of brilliant projects out there. Here are just a few that local authority partners have helped bring to life:

• Save Sennen Cove recreation centre
• Build a new community skatepark
• A new lease of life for Elie Kirk community hub
• She Plymouth, a women’s project
• The Pearl Exchange, a hub for young adults

Different places, different needs, held together by local people putting their weight behind something they wanted to see happen, with a council pound helping them get there.

Frequently asked questions

Can Pride in Place funding be used for match funding? Yes. Match funding is not required, but both the Pride in Place Programme and the Impact Fund actively encourage councils to bring in further investment to maximise impact. A match fund is one of the cleanest ways to do that.

How quickly can we get a match fund running? Faster than a traditional grant round. Once you have set your criteria and budget with us, projects can be live and raised within weeks, with vetting and reporting built in from the start.

Does the fund need to be always on? No. You can leave it open all year, as many of our local authority partners do, or run it within a set window. The choice is yours.

How much flexibility do we have? Complete control. You review every application and can set conditions, for example that a project must hit its target, or reach 25 individual supporters, before it receives the funds. You can also cap the amount any one project draws.

Talk to us about your allocation

If your Impact Fund allocation needs to be committed by March 2027, or your Neighbourhood Board is shaping how to spend its Programme funding, the time to design a match fund is now. We would love to show you what your allocation could unlock.

Email us at [email protected]