About Course
Fundraising from Trusts & Foundations
CPD Accredited – July 2026 Edition
A comprehensive, UK-focused training course on winning grants from charitable trusts and foundations, from creating genuinely fundable projects through to strategic research, persuasive applications and lasting funder relationships.
Who Is This Course For?
This course has been designed for anyone involved in raising money from charitable trusts and foundations for a UK charity or voluntary organisation. Whether you are a:
- Fundraiser or bid writer who wants to raise more from the UK’s largest grant funding source
- Trustee or CEO responsible for building a reliable trusts and foundations income stream
- Volunteer taking on trust fundraising for a small charity or community group
- Finance lead wanting to understand how trust funding, budgets and reporting fit together
- Small charity generalist who wears every hat and needs a dependable, repeatable approach
- New entrant to the sector who wants to master trust fundraising from first principles
This course will take you through the complete trust fundraising cycle, from shaping a fundable project to sustaining the funder relationships that deliver repeat grants. No prior trust fundraising experience assumed.
Course Overview
6 modules · Average 3 to 4 hours to complete · Work at your own pace
The Trust & Foundation Landscape
Charitable trusts and foundations are the largest source of grant funding for UK charities, and the most accessible for small organisations. This module maps the trust and foundation landscape: what grant-making trusts are, how they are legally constituted under the Charities Act 2011, how their governing documents shape what they can fund, and how the trust funding cycle works from application window to decision. You will learn what trustees of grant-making charities look for and how the Code of Fundraising Practice frames your approach.
Creating Fundable Projects
Trusts do not fund organisations, they fund projects that deliver their charitable objects. This module shows you how to shape your work into genuinely fundable projects: how to define the need with evidence, distinguish outputs from outcomes, show how your project meets your charitable purpose, and package what you already do in ways that match how funders think. You will learn why some worthwhile activities struggle to attract funding and how to reframe them so they can.
Developing Project Plans
A fundable idea needs a deliverable plan. This module covers how to develop a project plan that stands up to funder scrutiny: SMART objectives, realistic timelines, delivery and risk planning, and a budget built on Full Cost Recovery principles so every grant contributes fairly to your organisation’s running costs. You will learn how strong project plans make applications faster to write and far more convincing to assess.
Strategic Funder Research
With a strong project in hand, research becomes decisive. This module is a practical guide to finding the trusts and foundations most likely to fund you, using the Charity Commission register and funder accounts, 360Giving and GrantNav, and structured peer research. You will learn how to assess eligibility and fit quickly, read between the lines of funder guidelines, and build a prioritised shortlist of high-probability prospects.
The Art of Application Writing
The application is where your project, your evidence and your story come together. This module covers the craft of persuasive trust applications: how to structure responses so an assessor is guided to a yes, how to deploy your case for support within tight word limits, how to present budgets credibly, and how to avoid the common mistakes that get otherwise strong applications rejected.
Sustaining Funding Relationships
A first grant should be the beginning of a relationship, not the end of a transaction. This final module covers grant reporting and stewardship: how to thank funders well, report on outcomes honestly, handle changes and underspends compliantly, and turn one-off grants into long-term funding partnerships that support your organisation year after year.
What You Will Learn
On completion of all modules, you will be able to:
- ✓ Understand the UK trust and foundation landscape and how grant-making trusts operate and decide
- ✓ Shape your organisation’s work into fundable projects with clear need, outcomes and public benefit
- ✓ Develop project plans and Full Cost Recovery budgets that stand up to funder scrutiny
- ✓ Research trusts and foundations strategically using the Charity Commission register, 360Giving and GrantNav
- ✓ Write persuasive, well-structured trust applications that avoid the most common rejection triggers
- ✓ Deliver reporting and stewardship that turns one-off grants into repeat, long-term funding
Benefits for You and Your Organisation
✓ Win Grants from the UK’s Biggest Grant Source
Trusts and foundations are the most accessible major funding source for small and medium charities. This course gives you the complete cycle, from fundable project to funded project.
✓ Create Projects Funders Want to Fund
Funders say most applications fail before they are written, because the project is not fundable as framed. This course shows you how to shape projects that match how trusts think.
✓ Write Applications That Stand Out
Assessors read hundreds of applications. This course teaches you the structure, specificity and evidence that make yours the one they remember, and recommend for funding.
✓ Protect Your Organisation’s Reputation
Repeat grants cost a fraction of new ones to win. This course shows you how excellent reporting and stewardship convert first grants into lasting funding partnerships.
✓ A Resource You Will Keep Using
Download and save the course for future reference. Return to it whenever you are shaping a new project, researching funders or preparing your next application.
✓ Recognised Achievement
Complete all six modules and receive a personalised, printable CPD-accredited certificate of completion to support your continuing professional development.
– Amie Elliott, GeckoFundraising Ltd
How It Works
Complete your purchase using our secure online card payment. Access to the full course is granted immediately upon payment being received, no waiting, no delay.
Work through the modules online at any time, at your own pace. Your progress is saved automatically in your browser, so you can dip in and out across multiple sessions to fit around your work. Please complete the course on the same device and browser throughout, as your progress is stored locally and will not transfer between devices.
Once complete, save the course as a PDF to keep on your desktop. Return to it whenever you need it, a practical reference resource you will use again and again.
Complete all modules and generate your personalised, printable CPD-accredited certificate of completion instantly, at no extra cost, a record of your professional development to share with trustees, employers or commissioners.
Course Investment
One-off payment including VAT · No subscription · Instant access on payment
- Complete online at your own pace, 3 to 4 hours on average
- Full course available to download and save for future reference
- Links to authoritative UK legislation and official guidance throughout
- Personalised, printable CPD-accredited certificate of completion on finishing all modules
- Course content covers the legal framework for charities in England and Wales · Also available in course bundles and the Full Catalogue (£649 including VAT)
Access to the course content is granted immediately upon receipt of your completed online card payment. You will be able to start learning straight away.
Important: complete this course on one device
Your progress, knowledge-check answers and certificate details are saved locally in the browser you use to open the course. They are not stored on our server and will not transfer to another device, or to a different browser on the same device. Please start and finish the course using the same device and browser. Clearing your browser history or site data, or using a private or incognito window, will also erase your progress. Your downloadable copy of the course is unaffected and can be opened anywhere.
Course Content
Fundraising from Trusts & Foundations
Fundraising from Trusts & Foundations