Guidance

Faith New Deal Pilot Fund prospectus

Updated 23 September 2021

This guidance was withdrawn on 29 July 2022

This Fund is now closed. See the list of successful applicants.

Applies to England

1. Introduction

The Faith New Deal Pilot Fund is a new, competitive grant programme to help support faith-based organisations to use their resources effectively within their community and to build trust between national government, local government and faith groups.

Government wants to recognise the role faith-based organisations play in the resilience of our communities and the importance of local faith groups working collaboratively to respond to societal issues.

Danny Kruger’s review: ‘Levelling up Communities: proposal for a new social covenant’, acknowledges the significant contribution of faith groups and has brought into sharp focus the marked increase in scale and innovation of their work during the pandemic, but also places them in the centre of our post COVID recovery and rebuilding of civil society as part of a faith ‘new deal’.

The pandemic has seen communities working together to support each other. Faith institutions and faith-based organisations have been on the frontline working alongside local authorities and other local partners to help mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 whilst providing communities with much needed guidance and support.

The government is seeking to build on what we have witnessed in the last 18 months and embed ‘a new normal’ of national government and local government working in partnerships with faith-based groups. T he Faith New Deal pilot fund has been designed to support faith- based organisations build on and expand the good work being carried out locally and to demonstrate the important role they play in tackling and responding to social challenges.

More broadly, the concept of the ‘Faith New Deal’ will aim to reset the public sector’s mindset towards faith groups. Practically, the aspiration is that local public services routinely invite faith groups to co-design solutions to social problems and commission services with confidence. It would also mean that Faith groups are supported to enhance their particular strengths in social action by learning from the way that public services design interventions and deliver against outcomes.

In the coming months we will work with those who have already sought to set out a number of principles outlining how national government, local government and faith communities can work together – taking learning from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Faith and Society report “Keeping the Faith”, Danny Kruger’s Review ‘Levelling up Communities: proposal for a new social covenant and the forthcoming independent Faith engagement review led by Colin Bloom. Importantly the impact of the Faith New Deal pilots will also feed into this work.

2. Purpose of the fund

The core aim of the Faith New Deal Pilot Fund is to test and strengthen the nature of engagement between national government, local government and faith groups - providing proof of concept of the role faith groups play in supporting communities to solve local problems.

Through effective partnership working with public service providers, such as local authorities or public health bodies, faith groups can use their skills to deliver solutions to local problems that offer communities coherent and sustainable change.

Over the past year, the government has seen first-hand how faith groups have been instrumental in providing invaluable support throughout the pandemic - from delivering food to front line workers, supporting vulnerable members of society including people who were shielding, those who were lonely or isolated and collaborating with councils to ensure volunteers were able to provide on-the-ground support to communities in need.

The Faith New Deal Pilot fund will provide up to £975,000 for faith groups to apply for to work in partnership with local public services and philanthropists.

Funded pilots will be innovative projects to strengthen engagement between local and national government and faith groups - testing what can be achieved when they work together. The programme will fund projects to tackle social issues, including those arising from the impact of COVID-19, to support the recovery efforts of communities.

The outcomes from the pilots will be captured and fed into a Faith Compact that will be developed. This will be a set of partnership principles for sustainable collaboration between national government, local government and faith communities.

For collaboration between faith groups and public bodies to be embedded as the ‘new normal’, and for partnerships to thrive - it is necessary for clear commitment to be shown that faith groups are trusted and are viewed as key collaborators – and that the critical role they have played during the pandemic is recognised and continues.

Best practice will also be shared on the development of new partnerships, the mechanisms for delivery and the impact to local communities.

3. Strategic objectives

The Faith New Deal Pilot Fund applicants must demonstrate how they will meet all the following strategic objectives:

• Provide evidence/proof that faith groups, working in partnership, can play a significant and effective role in supporting community cohesion by solving local problems;
• Develop learning and best practice about what support faith organisations and communities need to develop effective partnership working with local public services to deliver support for their local communities
• To inform a Faith Compact, a set of principles for local and national government to work in partnership with faith groups and communities

In addition to the above strategic objectives, funding will be made available to faith groups working on community projects which also demonstrate how they will support community recovery from the impacts of COVID-19. Applicants must demonstrate how they will support one or more of the following COVID-19 recovery objectives :

(i) mental wellbeing and loneliness

(ii) debt advice

(iii) employability

(iv) food poverty

(v) increasing community engagement through volunteering

Proposals that include more than one of these objectives will not increase a bid’s score.

3.1 Programme Outcomes

All applicants must demonstrate the potential of their projects to deliver against all of the following outcomes:

• faith-based organisations integrating further and working in partnership with national government and local government, delivering against shared outcomes for communities
• evidence best practices that support effective partnership with faith-based groups, national government and local government.
• overcoming potential barriers preventing faith-based organisations playing an active and integral role in working alongside local public services to support communities.

All applicants must also show how their project will help deliver one or more of the following outcomes for their communities or place:

• improved community cohesion
• improve outcomes for marginalised groups
• forge a greater sense of community belonging
• build greater trust in local public services

4. What are we looking for?

We are looking to fund:

Bids from faith-based organisations, either as individual organisations or as a consortium in a partnership arrangement with a local service such as a local authority, public institution or other non-faith based Voluntary Community Sector and Enterprise (VCSE).

Bids should outline delivery plans for innovative projects to be delivered by new or existing partnerships and will be for grants up to £200,000.

Bids must include a community need that seeks to support COVID-19 recovery and solve a local problem.

Bids up to £125,000 will need to demonstrate in-kind match (non-cash) commitment from their own or wider sources (venues, volunteers or staff hours)

Larger bids for grants over £125,000, will require a match donation from a philanthropic funder.

4.1 Partnership Working

Bids are invited from faith-based organisations in partnership with local public services and for larger bids, (those over £125,000) a philanthropic match funder or in-kind match funding.

We will consider bids from newly formed and existing partnerships. Faith-based organisations in newly formed partnerships must show that they have experience of working alongside local stakeholders to deliver projects that address local needs.

Funding will provide a lever to allow faith groups to develop or enhance their work over the longer term in a sustainable way which will serve to demonstrate the impact of different partnership models, how they work and what works best.

Proposals and projects will feed into a Faith Compact, a set of principles outlining how national government, local government and faith communities can work together. The intention is to demonstrate that faith-based organisations are able to identify social challenges that they have the skills and capacity to respond to and deliver sustainable change through effective working with national and local government .

4.2 Evidencing the role and capabilities of faith- based organisations

The fund will serve to inform good practice on collaborating with faith groups to help design and focus future interventions to bring benefits to communities. Bids must include a community need that seeks to support COVID-19 recovery and solve a local problem, levering in additional philanthropic support and in-kind match funding.

Government wants to gain a better understanding of faith-based partnership working, what deliverables are being achieved and the level of investment (resources) being deployed to tackle community issues.

The aim is to bring in the underutilised capacity of the faith sector to work alongside local public services. It also aims to reduce the number of initiatives taking place in silo, and make best use of national, local and philanthropic funding.

Bids therefore require specific information on available resources, capacity and outputs with clear methodologies for capturing data and monitoring outcomes.

4.3 Match Funding

Applications will be on the basis of in-kind value from faith-based organisation’s resources and the resources of their local partners, with a match pledge from a philanthropic match funder for bids over £125,000.

The Faith New Deal pilot fund will provide up to a maximum of 50% of the delivery costs of your project.

Up to £975,000 will be available for organisations to bid within two threshold caps:

1. Up to £125,000 - in-kind match (non-cash only )

The following ‘in-kind’ match funding (otherwise known as ‘non-cash’ match funding) will also count as an eligible source of match funding:

• donations of goods and equipment

• use of venues or professional services, including from:

  • individuals
  • community groups
  • funders
  • businesses

You will need to provide:

• how much funding you are seeking from the Faith New Deal pilot fund and your full project costs
• sources of non-cash resources you have already received to develop your project so far
• sources of non-cash resources you plan to secure for your project/or a pledge from a potential funder or partners
• Sources of in-kind value from your own resources and the resources of local partners,

Applicants are not required to have all in-kind resources secured at the time of project application , however, a written agreement or pledge as applicable should be included as part of the bid

2. Up to £200,000 - in addition to a ‘non-cash’ match must also include a ‘cash’ match from a philanthropic funder or delivery partner.

You will need to provide:

• how much funding you are seeking from the Faith New Deal pilot fund and your full project costs

• sources of non-cash resources and funding you have already received to develop your project so far

• sources of non-cash resources and funding you plan to secure for your project/or a pledge from a potential funder or partners

• sources of in-kind value from your own resources and funding value from your philanthropic partner

Applicants are not required to have all in-kind resources and match funding secured at the time of project application , however, a written agreement or pledge as applicable should be included as part of the bid

5. Criteria and Eligible Projects

5.1 Criteria

Bids will be assessed on the criteria below:

1. Delivering in a partnership: applicants should demonstrate how the partnership (with local public institutions and others) will jointly work to address identified community need, evidence need/issue requiring interventions and set out clear governance for delivery. Including match funding or in-kind partnerships

2. Delivery plan: applicants should show the objectives, deliverability and proposed outcomes of the project, in line with the Faith New Deal strategic objectives and support for COVID recovery objectives. Including match funded (in-kind) resources that will be brought to the project

3. Sharing skills, impact and good practice: applicants must demonstrate how they will capture data, measure outcomes and share learning on the final outcome of their projects. This will include feeding into a Faith Compact, a set of principles for partnership working with national government and local government.

4. Value for money: applicants must demonstrate the additional value the project will bring to your communities, over and above that which already exists in your local area. Show clearly, linked to your outcomes and community benefits, the proportionality of these impacts compared to the cost of delivering your project.

Further details and guidance on the criteria and assessment process can be found at 6.3.

5.2 Eligible projects:

a) Each project must:

• Demonstrate how it contributes to the aims of the Faith New Deal Pilot Fund
• Seek no more than £200,000 and provide details of match funding proposals.
• Be based in England.
• Meet all relevant criteria.

5.3 Eligible organisations:

b) Organisations are eligible to apply if:

• They are a faith-based registered charities, exempt charities , Community Benefit or Community Interest Companies.

or

c) Faith- based organisations that meet all the following criteria as demonstrated by submitting additional supporting documents:

• they are established for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes
• they have a governing body with at least three members
• they have a governing document which they can produce
• they can provide accounts demonstrating good financial health across both of the last two financial years

If bidding as a consortium, the lead organisation must meet the above eligibility requirements.

6. How to apply – the application and assessment process

6.1 Application

To apply for the fund, please complete the application form and return to MHCLG, now DLUHC at faithnewdeal@communities.gov.uk. Please quote ‘Faith New Deal Pilot Fund application’ in the subject line. You should receive a confirmation of safe receipt.

The deadline for bids is at 11:59pm on Thursday 14 October 2021.

Please direct any queries relating to the grant scheme and the application process to faithnewdeal@communities.gov.uk

6.2 Timeline

Stage	Date
Fund formally launched	9 September 2021
Bids close	14 October 2021
Faith New Deal Fund panel review bids	October 2021
Award decisions	October 2021
Outputs due	March 2022

6.3 Assessment

The bids must meet the eligibility criteria detailed in section 5 and will first be sifted by DLUHC officials on that basis.

Scoring will be carried out on the basis of written bids. DLUHC officials may want to speak to applicants to clarify bids.

Then eligible bids will be assessed. Bids will be judged according to the criteria and weighting set out in this prospectus. The panel will recommend successful bids to the Minister for Faith and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government. The final decision on whether to provide grant funding will be made by the Minister for Faith and the Secretary of State based on the criteria and weighting set out in this prospectus.

The criteria for applications are outlined in 6.4 below.

All organisations selected to receive grant funding and, where appropriate, any delivery partners, will be subject to due diligence checks in line with HMG and DLUHC processes.

6.4 Assessment/selection criteria

There are four categories against which project bids will be assessed. The percentage assigned to each category indicates the importance that category will be given during the assessment stage.

In addition, each category has a minimum score. Only proposals which meet this score in each category will proceed to shortlisting.

1. Criterion: Working in Partnership - Weighting: 30%

Bids must set out how they plan to deliver a service, in partnership with local public institutions, local authorities and others, to address a need relating to a COVID-19 recovery objective. Bids must support communities in one of the following ways:

(i) Mental wellbeing and loneliness

(ii) Debt Advice

(iii) Employability

(iv) Food Poverty

(v) Increasing community engagement through volunteering

Bids from newly formed and existing partnerships will be considered. Organisations in newly formed partnership must show that they have experience of working alongside local stakeholders to deliver projects that address local need.

We would also expect to see details relating to working with interfaith/local VCS/other local public bodies to develop or deliver programmes to meet the needs of the community.

We want the Faith New Deal Pilot Fund projects to be ‘vehicles for better community outcomes’. It is therefore essential that proposed projects clearly detail/outline outcomes and outputs that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and anchored within a time frame (SMART and how they plan to address the strategic objectives and outcomes of the fund.

Proposals should score at least 25% of the total available score for this criterion to be considered for shortlisting.

2. Criterion: Delivery plan. Weighting: 30%

The proposed plan for the project will be assessed by how well it demonstrates:

• Clear objectives, deliverables and outcomes- linked to the objectives and outcomes of the Faith New Deal Pilot fund
• Clear plan and timelines
• Resources – staff numbers and necessary skills / expertise.
• Budget – reasonable budget for the proposed work.
• Identification of risks and mitigation suggested.
• Assurance that equality impacts are considered

High scoring bids will clearly set out what the funding will be used for and the outputs and outcomes they are aiming to achieve. High scoring bids will clearly outline objectives to explain how the bid will be delivered through the outputs/activities proposed in line with the outcomes of the fund. Objectives will be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and anchored within a time frame (SMART) and will show a clear path to show how funding will lead to improved outcomes. Low scoring bids will show little evidence as to what the funding will go towards and will not clearly convey what the bid is for.

Proposals should score at least 25% of the total available score for this criterion to be considered for shortlisting.

3. Criterion: Sharing skills, impact and good practice. Weighting: 25%

Bids must demonstrate the potential of their projects to deliver against all outcomes set out at 3.2 and set out clear proposals for sharing skills, impacts and good practice.

Bids must demonstrate how projects will meet one or more of the following:

• Producing products and guidance on partnership working that could be shared with others.
• Detail how they will create networks for sharing good practice on partnering/collaboration
• Demonstrate how they will aim/plan to have an impact after the funded activity has concluded

The value of sharing skills and good practice work will be assessed with consideration to the:

• Number of staff/organisations this work could benefit.
• Wider application across faith-based organisations, public institutions and philanthropic organisations
• Added value (monetised or non-monetised) of partnership working with faith-based organisations on identified community issues

Proposals should score at least 20% of the total available score for this criterion to be considered for shortlisting.

4. Criterion: Value for money. Weighting 15%

Bidders must ensure value for money is considered and clearly demonstrated throughout all criteria, objectives and outcomes of your project.

Projects will need to demonstrate value for money – we are looking for additionality, beyond existing activities in the local area and we will be looking at how organisations would make the most of the grant. Costs should be reasonable and proportionate to the community benefits realised through this project.

Consideration will be given to innovative partnerships between faith groups and local public services who demonstrate project proposals designed to maximise value for money– for example, the bids should show this work will not duplicate or by-pass existing interventions in the local area, and we would not expect to see overly significant excess in benchmark rates for staffing costs to meet increased demand.

High scoring bids will also demonstrate an understanding of any potential financial and delivery risks and evidence of mitigations in place to address these. These bids will also demonstrate ways to avoid duplication of spending, opportunities for matched funding and potential savings to current delivery options, that these collaborative projects will produce.

Grant recipients will be asked to demonstrate the cost effectiveness of their interventions, for example as much as feasible of the following:

• average cost per participant;
• data from partner organisations;
• benefits reported by scheme participants, including qualitative examples where applicable.
• Match funding and in-kind value for money benefits/impacts

Proposals should score at least 10% of the total score available for this criterion to be considered for shortlisting.

6.5 Funding Methodology

Grant funding to successful applicants will be distributed to charities based on the powers granted to the Secretary of State in Section 70 of the Local Charities Act 2006. Funding will be paid directly to the account number provided in the application form.

Funding will be paid as a one-off payment in advance, and individual grant contracts will be put in place between the Department and successful applicants setting out eligible spending and expected outcomes. Applicants will be required to report back to DLUHC once the funding period is completed.

6.6 Checklist

Checklist

Required form is complete Yes/No

Bid includes a proposal to deliver a project in line with the high-level aim of the Faith New Deal pilot fund Yes/No

Bid includes proposal to share good practice across the partnership or beyond. Yes/No

Bid includes a partnership of a faith group and a local public service (and philanthropist if bidding for a larger sum - over £125,000) Yes/No

Bid is for up to £200,000 (as above noting that bids for over £125,000 require match donation from another funder) Yes/No

Partners agree to engage with monitoring, evaluation and support. Yes/No

7. Glossary of terms

Faith-based organisation

A charity or organisation (as per the eligibility terms set out in 5.3) that embodies a form of religious belief, or value arising from religious belief, in its vision or mission, founding history or project content.

Local public service

A service intended to serve members of a community. An essential service relating to, for example, healthcare, social care or education.

Philanthropic funder

A nongovernmental, not for profit trust or foundation established to provide grants to charitable organisations.