Grant guidelines

About the DWF charitable foundation

The DWF Foundation was founded by DWF. The vision is to encourage all if the people within DWF and to work
together as a catalyst for change. The DWF Foundation will provide funds, resources and support to help
communities achieve their full potential.

The DWF Charitable Foundation is a registered charity number 1191347.

Themes
To help focus our work, measure our impact and support the efforts of the business the DWF Foundation will focus
our work in the following areas. These complement our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) work.

 Education
 Employability
 Homelessness
 Health and wellbeing
 Environment and sustainability

How to apply
In the first instance please study our Grant Guidelines to ascertain if your project is eligible for funding.

Uk and Ireland

Please complete the online application form. The Grant Application Form is then available to download from our
webpages https://dwfgroup.com/about-us/dwf-foundation

International

Due to the large number of applications we received from international organisation that are not eligible for our
support, before completing the application form please contact our DWF Foundation Manager by email
[email protected] to discuss your application and eligibility. Applications from international organisation not
approved to apply by our DWF Foundation Manager will not be considered.

Please note for ALL applications that the DWF Foundation will only be able to consider grant requests
submitted using the Grant Application Form.

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If you wish to discuss your proposal at any stage, you are welcome to contact our Foundation Manager, Clare
Beavan, please email [email protected]

Application deadlines
Applications will be accepted at any time and if eligible for funding will be presented at the next Grants Committee
meeting. Please see below guidelines on timescales for applications:

Date submitted Grant committee meeting Applicants notified by end

1 October – 31 January March March

1 February – 30 April June June

1 May – 31 July September September

1 August – 31 October December December

Application review process

Who can apply

Location in which DWF Foundation welcomes DWF also has associations with other law firms in the
applications from countries in which DWF has a countries below but DWF Foundation do not currently
presence. fund in these locations;
 Australia  Singapore
 Canada  South Africa
 France  Turkey
 Germany
 India
 Ireland
 Italy
 Poland
 Qatar
 Spain
 United Arab Emirates
 United Kingdom
 United States

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The DWF Foundation will welcome applications from registered charites only. Applications are welcome from
charities working in countries in which there is a DWF presence.

N.B. On the application form please include your countries appropriate registered charity or not for profit number.

Other than by country we do not have any other geographic restricitions for example, your project does not need to
be within a certain distance of a DWF office.

Activities outside our criteria

The DWF Foundation will only fund charitable causes. We are not able to fund the following areas of work:

 Academic research  Professional fundraisers or bid writers

 Activities for which a statutory body is responsible  Professional qualifications
 Activity taking place in school time that are a  Recurrent funding
statutory responsibility.
 Redundancy payments
 Animal welfare
 Religious and political causes
 Evaluation which is not related to the funded work
 Sponsorship/marketing appeals/fundraising costs
 Every day running costs and core salaries
 Startup costs for new organisations
 General fundraising appeals
 The advancement of religion
 Individuals
 Universities/HE facilities
 Loans or business finance
 Vehicles and minibuses
 Other grant making bodies
 Work that has already taken place

Size of grants
All grants are calculated in £ sterling. For international locations the grant will be paid in the local currency.

The Foundation does not have a minimum grant size but the majority of our grants will fall under £5,000.

Due to the funds we have available the DWF Foundation will not fund multi-year grants.

Environmental impact
Climate change is a health issue, an equality issue, an educational issue, an economic issue, a cultural issue, a
scientific issue, a security issue and a local community issue, as well as an environmental issue.

We recognise that the growing climate emergency is a serious risk and we can play a part in addressing the
causes of climate change and supporting adaptation to its effects. We want to recognise and support those
organsations who are considering the environmental impact in the delivery of their work and taking appropriate
steps, this might be for example through the use of digital delivery to reduce travel and production costs.

Making an application
To support you in making an application to DWF Foundation we offer online workshops. You can book onto one of
these workshops vis the DWF Foundation website pages

https://dwfgroup.com/en-ie/news-and-insights/events/dwf-foundation-application-workshop

If you have difficulties in completing the application for or require additional assistance then please email
[email protected]

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References
Your reference is someone who is independent of your organisation and can talk about your work and/or the
project you are requesting support for.

If you know someone who works in DWF LLP then please include them as your reference on your grant
application.

If you do not know someone from within the business, then please supply us with the contact details of someone
who is independent of your organisation and can talk about the work you do.

Successful applications
You will be notified within 1 month of the Grant Committee at which your application was to be considered.

Charities receiving funding from us should allow 12 months to elapse from our last grant award before making a
new application.

Date submitted Grant committee meeting Applicants notified by end

1 October – 31 January March March

1 February – 30 April June June

1 May – 31 July September September

1 August – 31 October December December

Unsuccessful applications
Due to the volume of applications we receive unfortunately the DWF Foundation is not able to fund everyone.

You will be notified by email within one month after the deadline by which you submitted.

Date submitted Grant committee meeting Applicants notified by end

1 October – 31 January March March

1 February – 30 April June June

1 May – 31 July September September

1 August – 31 October December December

If you have not heard from us within 4 months of making your application then please assume you have been
unsuccessful. Please allow at least 12 months before re-applying.

Further information

Clare Beavan If you have any questions regarding applying for a grant
Foundation Manager from the DWF Foundation please contact Clare.
M 0151 907 3000 The DWF Charitable Foundation
E [email protected] 5 St Pauls Square
Old Hall Street
Liverpool
L3 9AE

DWF Foundation Grant Guidelines Version December 2021

dwfgroup.com

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Grant guidelines
rights reserved. DWF is a collective trading name for the international legal practice and multi-disciplinary commercial business comprising DWF Group plc and all of its
subsidiaries and subsidiary undertakings of which, the entities that practice law are separate and distinct law firms. Please refer to the Legal Notices page on our website located at
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