Support for charities
We made it easier for charities to apply for grants from the MCF
Every year we receive around 1,000 applications from charities seeking funding for projects for either isolated older people, or disadvantaged children and young people. Up until the beginning of this year, charities had to apply before a deadline and were required to complete an application before knowing if they were eligible for the grant.
Our Charity Grants team reviewed its application process and successfully built a newer and more efficient one which went live in February. Now, charities can apply at any time and are only asked to submit a short enquiry form, followed by a decision on whether the team would like the charity to complete a full application.
The new process follows policies that were set by MCF Trustees and Freemasons, with the valuable input of Provinces and Provincial charity representative who have such a great insight into their local charities, and the social issues faced by their local communities.
The aim of this new process is to ensure applicants spend less time filling out forms and that the process is as effective as possible. After receiving the enquiry form, the Charity Grants team follows up with phone calls so that the charities can explain more about their projects and the work they do. This is a chance for the MCF to get valuable information about the impact potential of the grant on the communities.
We found the MCF’s application process very straightforward and easy to complete. The initial online application form did not involve huge amounts of writing, and it was a lot less stressful not having an application deadline to adhere to. Once submitted, we were kept informed regularly of what was happening. The following virtual meeting with Vicky, one of the MCF Grants Officer, was friendly, non-intimidating and useful for us as a charity because we could ask questions about the MCF and feel thoroughly informed
This process not only has improved the application journey, but also allowed the our Charity Grants team to select the strongest applications quicker. This change is a result our research, which involved: identifying issues with the previous process, reviewing challenges in society and in the charity sector, and finding innovative ways to support charities.
Charities have received the changes positively and we will continue to gather feedback over the next few months.
