Fundraising for Community Assets: What to Consider

Funding
Written By Madeleine Blyth

This is a write-up of a Technical Huddle convened and supported by Footwork for People and Place 2025, where Madeleine shared insights from her experience in funding and social investment.

💡 Please bear in mind that these tips and suggestions are just a perspective, and don’t constitute financial advice.

Illustration by Visual Thinkery

You need a building for your amazing community-led idea. Whether you’re still searching for the perfect space, negotiating your first lease or purchase, or transforming an entire high street in a local property partnership, you’re likely wondering, “How do we go about funding this?” 

Here are some pointers to get started:

The funding gaps for community asset development

It’s no secret. Finding the right money is one of the biggest barriers on the journey of securing community assets. It’s not just the price of buying or leasing buildings, but also:

  • ‘Pre-development’ costs – to resource a small local team to do partnership-building, feasibility studies and business modelling for example;

  • Capital costs – to purchase, retrofit and refurbish land and buildings;

  • Revenue costs – for animating/programming/marketing the space.

So, you think you want to fundraise?

Illustration by Visual Thinkery

Securing funds can be transformative – helping bring multiple buildings into community use and ownership for local benefit.

That said, fundraising is not always the right approach. Money isn’t the only outcome to consider:

→Reputation 

  • Does the funding source align with your mission and values? 

  • How high is the risk of not meeting the outcomes or reporting requirements, and what are the terms if they’re not met? Funds being clawed back is usually much more damaging than not receiving them (to team morale, funder relationships, community trust and reputation). 

→ Team capacity

  • Do your team members / partners have time to apply for the funding? And spend and report on it effectively once received? Government grants, especially in heritage and built environment projects, often have tight timeframes that may not be appropriate for every local context. 

  • If hiring additional people to carry out the work, have you factored in time needed for that process?

→ Community benefit

  • Are you shifting too far from your mission for the sake of this funding?

  • Could this capital prevent you from being able to deliver in line with local needs?

→ Achievability

  • Is there enough time to spend the money and achieve the impact agreed? A funder’s specified timeline or budget might not be achievable in your local context.

→ Restrictions

  • Does this funding lock you into a use/purpose for a building that cannot be changed, even if the needs of the local community shift?

  • Will this specific funding source or funding round prevent you from applying for another that would be more beneficial? For example, some funds are smaller amounts in the same category as bigger amounts that aren’t open to previous/existing recipients. 

Taking all of this into account:

  • Is the need for money now greater than the challenge the funding could potentially cause in the future? 

  • Could income generation alone lead to more resilience?

Ultimately, only you will know the answers to these questions. Take regular pauses to reflect on them, as you go through the fundraising process with your team and partners.

💡 Tip:

Have you explored all avenues to form partnerships to reduce or remove the cost of the building? Have a conversation with the asset owner and/or your local authority, ideally in the spirit of a convivial ‘dinner table’. A growing number are gifting buildings to socially-trading organisations or agreeing peppercorn rent or social impact agreements. Councils can be willing to purchase and transfer assets to the local community, like in Totnes and Coventry. 

Grants and loans 101

Illustration by Visual Thinkery

Let’s look at two common funding structures for community asset development, although there are many more (see later sections).

Grant funding

The basics:

  • This is ‘free’ non-repayable funding…

  • …and, thus, it’s often quite competitive.

  • Applications and supporting document requirements can be onerous…

  • …and success can require ‘speaking the funder’s language’.

  • Time-frames from Expression of Interest to Award can be long.

  • Grants normally require frequent submissions of impact outcomes. 

Keep an eye on: measuring impact, underspend, minimum lease terms, funder strategy period, reporting requirements, opportunities for ‘back-channel’ relationship-building (especially with regional managers, to get insights beyond published funding criteria).

Jargon buster:

  • Viability grant – funding to help community organisations assess the feasibility of acquiring or developing a community asset, covering surveys, planning, legal advice, and financial modelling

  • Capital development grant – funding for physical infrastructure, property acquisition, or major asset improvements

  • Capacity-building funding – support specifically towards organisational developments (e.g. business plan or governance consultant fees) 

  • Core funding – operating funding to cover essential running costs, such as salaries, rent, utilities, and administrative expenses

  • Unrestricted funding – funding for any purpose within charitable aims

Social investment loans 

The basics:

  • This is repayable finance for impact-driven organisations with lower interest rate or more flexible terms. 

  • Funding depends on the ability to prove financial sustainability — i.e. repayment through income, grants, or donations secured (but not yet received) or further investment. 

  • Some investors have managed to create funds where returns can be partly repaid in social value.

  • Social investment loans are often faster to attain and less restricted than grants (for example, by funding ‘bridging; activities or organisations that can enable rather than directly deliver impact). 

  • Loans can shift energy towards transformative and sustainable income-generating initiatives, instead of time-intensive, short-term, project-based cycles.

  • They’re often used for match funding or to provide a larger, complementary component of the building-acquisition cost mix.

  • If the property is asset-transferred to a community organisation, mortgaging it can unlock significant capital for the organisation.

  • Loan fees are increasing (arrangement fees rising from 0.5% to 3%) – organisations should factor in legal fees and early repayment restrictions. 

Keep an eye on: arrangement & non-utilisation fees, repayment schedules, legal fees for security, early repayment allowance, support package, the local and global economic outlook.

Jargon buster:

  • Operational loan – funding to expand or maintain services  

  • Cash flow loan – (generally) shorter term loan to address income fluctuations

  • Bridge loan – funding to pay immediate costs while waiting for (generally) confirmed funds

  • Catalytic capital – more patient, flexible, less risk-sensitive funds that are designed to stimulate social and environmental impact and attract a wider source of third-party investment

💡Seek professional advice and ensure you have a robust financial plan before applying to a lending institution.

Funding administered by public authorities

Illustration by Visual Thinkery

You may be able to unlock money administered by your local authority – money that comes from contributions made by property developers and businesses. Here are three examples:

1) Section 106 Agreements 

These are site-specific agreements negotiated with developers to offset the impacts (e.g. pressure on local resources) of new developments, for example in the form of funding for housing, community spaces, or infrastructure. Section 106 agreements are often time-limited with the use-type of a space negotiated into legal agreements pre-development.

How to access? 

  • Check with the local planning authority to see if funds/spaces are available or if there are any developments in the pipeline.

  • Build a strong relationship with the council over time, and show how you’re aligned with their priorities, highlighting local buy-in for your idea and the community needs your ideas address.

For example, Stour Trust secured a 999-year peppercorn lease for a community and cultural hub responding to local needs of those most impacted by gentrification. This was agreed through a Section 106 partnership with a housing developer operating in Hackney Wick and Fish Island.

Stour Trust Oriba Hub Building © Stour Trust

2) Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)

A CIL is a charge per square meter on new developments, set by local councils. Most funds support borough-wide infrastructure, with a portion allocated to local projects (usually 15%, or 25% if a neighbourhood plan is in place).

How to access? 

Contact the local authority or parish/town council to understand the bidding process and deadlines for neighbourhood CIL funding. 

3) Social Value in Asset-Based Development

Many public sector contracts require businesses to reinvest a percentage into community projects. These funds are linked to procurement agreements and local priorities.

How to access? 

Engage with council procurement teams or look on Gov.uk to identify contracts with social value funding and position your project as a potential beneficiary. Build relationships with large-scale developers, housebuilders, and civil engineering firms in your area who often work on public projects.

Other types of funding for community assets

Illustration by Visual Thinkery

What works for one community asset developer might not be right for another, so it’s worth taking the time to figure out the funding and partnership model that really fits your setup.

There are many options out there beyond grants and loans — here are a few to get you started:

  • Community shares 

  • Family office grants/investments 

    • These are typically very hard to access but can be fruitful.

  • National Portfolio/NPO-style multi-year funds 

    • e.g. Arts Council

  • Blended finance

    • This typically involves a chunk of grant funding at the start, followed by a longer-term loan.

    • e.g. the Energy Resilience Fund is a multi-round structure, starting with a grant-funded energy audit, then a loan to pay for what’s recommended.

  • Shared revenue agreement

    • Is there a way of forming a partnership where you and the funder are mission-aligned and share the income?

    • Ensure you have a solid contract with a clear shared definition of what’s revenue versus profit.

  • Service-based payback agreements

    • Can you work with the local authority to receive a building and ‘pay back’ the cost by administering services that the local community needs?

  • Long-lease service payments 

    • Barking and Dagenham Council partnered with Habitat for Humanity GB, to renovate empty council-owned properties into shared housing for care leavers.

  • Rent-to-buy with a private asset owner

    • These are cases where the private landlord take a property off the market, accepting peppercorn rent for 2 years, with the understanding the community organisation will fundraise to buy the building at a fixed rate.

  • 0% interest loans

    • High-net-worth individuals may be willing to provide repayable finance interest-free to support socially-trading organisations.

  • Outcome-based reducing interest loan

    • Social investors typically offer fixed interest rates, but some are offering a model where interest rates are cut if impact outcomes exceed expectations.

💡 Stay tuned for more explainers, tips & case studies by signing up to the Platform Places newsletter. 

Sources of funding for community assets

See Platform Places’ brief overview here of possible grant and loan sources. There are many regularly updated directories such as:

NEW: 

  • →Architectural Heritage Fund has just launched a £5 million fund to enable communities to breathe new life into historic buildings.

  • → Social Investment Business is inviting applications for £17 million of funding in the Community Builders Fund

Remember, fundraising is highly dynamic and funders can change their approach from year to year (or more!). That includes major government funds; for example, the Community Ownership Fund has ended with no clear replacement yet.

Take care to stay up to date, by attending webinars and events, signing up to mailing lists, and building valuable direct relationships. Find out where the funder is in their (likely 5-year) strategy cycle. 

How else can funders support you?

Relationships with funders can become strong partnerships that extend beyond the grant or loan, supporting local leaders to scale up community asset development and shift the property system to work better for everyone. 

Illustration by Visual Thinkery

Many funders can be willing to support with things like:

Technical support:

  • Pre-application guidance 

  • Letter of recommendations (to strengthen property negotiations and further grant applications)

  • Funded or lo-bono consultancy/legal support

  • Templates 

Introductions to:

  • Other funders

  • Peer-to-peer networks and other community asset developers

  • Corporate partners, providers, council leaders

Advocacy:

  • Engaging with policymakers around challenges 

  • Leveraging their platform to showcase successes/blockers

  • Data analysis for systems-change

For example, Architectural Heritage Fund run a capacity-building programme as part of their Heritage Impact Fund.

💡 Have a chat with the funder: if they don’t mention or advertise this kind of support upfront, you can start the conversation by openly sharing your needs: ‘We’ve got these 3 areas we could do with support on; we wondered if you had advice, referrals or experience?’

What to ask yourself when writing funding applications

  1. Can we save time by repurposing information and text we’ve already used elsewhere? If doing so, are we adapting the voice and content to suit this particular funder?

  2. Is there any way our governance structure could be interpreted as one that enables private individuals/companies to profit or unduly influence decision making?

  3. Is raising all the money at once the best strategy for us? Could / should our project be broken down into disparate chunks – to phase the building work, and provide space for our team to support the community and test our model? 

  4. Do these chunks have the ability to be ring fenced as separately fundraise-able elements? Could I phase this project to align with different funders’ priorities?

  5. Am I assuming the funder understands the community impact – or have I ensured I’ve clearly articulated it and walked them through it? 

  6. Am I making clear enough the risk to my community if the project doesn’t proceed?

💡 Tip: Ask an ally in your network for an example of a successful application to that funder. A growing number of community asset developers are building deep reciprocal connections, and sharing their knowledge and resources, like the Mycelial Network, to re-shape funding systems together.

A balancing act for community asset developers

Fundraising is so critical when getting incredible ideas for community assets off the ground. 

At the same time, it's important to stay wise about funding sources: the different models of finance, how you choose them and what you're committing to, in order to stick to your values, avoid repayment risks and protect the capacity of your team or community.

Not every application will be successful. Perseverance is key. That’s made easier by remembering you’re not alone, but part of a country-wide movement of people working to put town centre buildings in their community’s hands.

And to meet that ambition and scale — to resource communities around the country to convene local partnerships, and acquire entire areas of their neighbourhoods to meet local needs – we need a funding ecosystem that’s more local, patient, relational and long-term, normalising investments for social, not just financial, return.

Madeleine Blyth