Types of Digital Marketing Grants Available To Charities
Digital marketing grants represent a way for charities to potentially fund their branding efforts but there are different types of grant opportunities available.
What are they? Which one is most suitable for your charity branding project, and what are the challenges of securing funding? Here's a run down of the different types of digital marketing grants and how to overcome any blockers to accessing them.
What types of digital marketing grants are on offer?
#1 - Capital Support Grants
Capital support grants provide funding for a one-time investment in digital infrastructure, charity branding projects, equipment, or technology upgrades.
The purpose of capital support grants is to equip your charity with digital capabilities by investing in resources such as building a website and ongoing website development.
The Tech for Good Fund offers capital support grants to charities in the UK for technology projects aimed at driving positive social change.
#2 - Restricted Funds
Restricted funds are grants that come with specific usage restrictions, typically designated for a particular project - for example rebranding, a campaign or an initiative.
Charities can use restricted funds to finance targeted digital marketing projects including social media campaigns, email marketing, and website rebrands.
The Google Ad Grants program is an example of a restricted funds grant, allowing you to promote your mission and initiatives on Google Ads, subject to certain eligibility criteria and usage restrictions.
#3 - Unrestricted Funds
Unrestricted funds give you greater flexibility over allocating resources, allowing you to tackle your most pressing needs, including charity branding initiatives.
Your organisation can use unrestricted funds to support a wide range of digital marketing activities, from hiring charity branding specialists to investing in training and capacity-building efforts.
#4 - Capacity-Building Grants:
Capacity-building grants focus on helping your organisation to strengthen its internal capacity and capabilities, including its branding skills and resources.
The purpose of capacity-building grants is to invest in training, mentorship, and professional development opportunities for your team and volunteers, getting them involved in your charity branding efforts.
The Charity Digital Fund offers grants and support to small and medium-sized charities in the UK to help develop digital capabilities, including funding for digital marketing training programs and workshops.
Which type of grant is right for your charity?
Different types of digital marketing grants suit different types of charities depending on different needs, priorities and objectives. Here's a breakdown of which grant types could be suitable for different types of charities:
#1 - Health and Medical Charities
As a health or medical charity, chances are you need investment in branding digital infrastructure, whether it's patient portals, telemedicine platforms, or health education websites.
Restricted funds might represent the best option if there are branding requirements for specific health awareness campaigns, funding drives for medical research, or community health initiatives.
If you need to enhance your digital capabilities internally, a capacity-building grant is your best bet. This type of grant can be used to train healthcare professionals on digital branding.
#2 - Environmental Charities
If you're an environmental charity organisation you might want greater flexibility over allocating resources to support a variety of branding activities for awareness campaigns, fundraising appeals, and advocacy efforts, in which case unrestricted funds could benefit you most.
For specific branding projects focused on environmental conservation projects, restricted funds can help you to support targeted branding campaigns.
If the aim is to amplify your impact, capacity-building grants can help you to train staff and volunteers in digital storytelling and online branding strategies.
#3 - Education and Youth Development Charities
Several grant options could be the right fit for your charity if you operate in education and youth development.
Capital support grants will equip you to invest in branding e-learning platforms, educational apps, or digital resources for students and educators.
Restricted funds give you the option to designate grant money to youth empowerment programs, literacy campaigns, or educational outreach initiatives, supporting your branding efforts aimed at engaging young audiences.
If you're looking to expand your digital outreach, you can use capacity-building grants to provide digital literacy training for students, teachers, and parents, as well as professional development for staff in digital content creation and curriculum development.
#4 - Social Services and Community Development Charities
If your charity operates in the social services and community development spaces, unrestricted funds represent the best option to support your branding activities, whether it's raising awareness of social issues, promoting community events, or mobilising volunteers.
To target specific community needs, such as homelessness prevention, food insecurity, or mental health support, restricted funds can help you to fund charity branding activities targeting these issues.
Capacity-building grants can help you to strengthen your branding expertise internally by training staff and volunteers in all things branding.
#5 - Arts and Culture Charities
Capital support grants represent the best funding route if you're an arts and culture-based charity organisation.
Funds can be used to invest in branding digital platforms that showcase artistic content - for example virtual galleries, online exhibitions, or streaming services for performances.
Restricted funds can help you to focus on branding initiatives for specific programs such as cultural preservation, arts education, or promoting diversity and inclusion in the arts.
If the aim is to expand your digital presence, capacity-building grants can be used to provide training for artists and cultural professionals in digital content creation, social media marketing, and online branding.
By aligning grant types with your organisation's mission and objectives, you will be well positioned to build an impactful brand using funding wisely.
What are some of the barriers to grant funding?
Applying for a grant is not without its challenges, which can include:
Making an application for the wrong grant: If you don't know what your organisation's eligibility is for a grant, you could end up applying for the wrong one. Applying for grants is time-consuming and complex, get it wrong and you could end up going down all sorts of rabbit holes. To prevent this, do your research and know which grants best fit your needs.
Ineligibility: Your charity must meet specific criteria to qualify for a grant. For example, your tax-exemption status, the purpose for which you want to use the grant, and your geographic location will all have a bearing on your eligibility. Make sure you review the eligibility criteria carefully to avoid applying for grants you will never get.
Financial instability: The grant application process is rarely fast, which could prove difficult for your financial planning, especially if you're relying on grant funding. Getting a grant is also highly competitive, and proves to be more challenging if your organisation is smaller or newer. Good financial stewardship will demonstrate to grant providers that you will use the money wisely.
Funding amount: Depending on what you plan to use grant funding for, be prepared that the money might not cover the full cost of your objectives. You should have additional funding sources in place to cover any shortfalls.
What's a wise way to use a digital marketing grant?
Partner with a charity branding agency. The best way to invest your digital marketing grant is to work with a branding consultant that specialises in Third Sector marketing.
This gives you access to the support, expertise, technology, and tools you will need to build a brand that inspires trust and action.
Invest your digital marketing grant with Sodium & Co.
We're not your typical branding agency, we're a charity sector specific agency that gives you virtual support at your fingertips.
We understand the Third Sector space more than most branding agencies, which is why we're the ideal collaborators to give you the long-term brand management support you need.
Everything you need from a branding company for your charity can be found under our roof. We are a collective of hybrid branding and marketing specialists that build brands with staying power.
We are the creative force to champion your cause.
Let's talk brand consultancy. Book your FREE, 30-minute call with Navi Aulkh, for a detailed discussion about your organisation, branding requirements, our prices and packaging - and how to get the most out of working together.