Please note this fund is open twice per year for spring and autumn funding rounds - see the About page for more information on the next deadline.

The Cotswold Community Fund is a budget to support Community Activity that makes our district special. This fund is set up to support community groups that:

• Improve the mental and physical health and wellbeing of your local community
• Projects that directly address climate change
• Enhance lives through events and activities
• Support young people’s ideas and ambitions
• Help to tackle the barriers and challenges many of us experience in life, such as poverty, ill health, distance from services, social isolation/loneliness
• Cultivate Food equity- projects that support building a fair food system for everyone
• Protect and enhance our natural and built environment
• Invest in and maintain the facilities we rely on for these activities to take place.

Create your project on Spacehive and pitch to this fund by 26th April 2023 and you could get a pledge of up to £10,000 (max 50% of target) towards your crowdfunding campaign. 

• Community led change
• Improved health and food equity
• Well connected and resilient communities
• Improved mental and physical well being across all age groups and backgrounds
• Improved essential local infrastructure that facilitates rural living
• Environmental: Improved environmental outcomes, such as carbon reduction, improved biodiversity or green infrastructure

In addition to the above fund criteria, projects should showcase community support for the idea, in the form of pledges from local people, prior to project assessment, 6 weeks after the fund deadline. The Spacehive team is on hand to share lots of advice on how to run a brilliant crowdfunding campaign. 

To get started, create your project on Spacehive and get your project verified. You will then submit your pitch to the two Crowdfund Cotswold funds via the Spacehive platform and launch your campaign.

To be considered by the council for a pledge, you should:

1. Launch your crowdfunding campaign on Spacehive by the fund deadline: 26th April

2. Showcase local support for your project in the form of backers.

Pitches to the fund will be considered typically 6 weeks after the fund deadline. If successful, you will receive a pledge towards your live crowdfunding campaign. The Spacehive team is on hand to share lots of advice on how to run a brilliant crowdfunding campaign.

Join the Spacehive team at our upcoming workshop on 1st March at 12:00 for more information (see News & Events page) and read the steps below to learn how to get involved.

1.    SHARE YOUR IDEA + ATTEND A WORKSHOP

Complete our Project Idea Form ​​​​as soon as possible to tell us about your idea and register for a workshop (see News & Events tab for more information).

2.    CREATE YOUR PROJECT ON SPACEHIVE

Create your project page on Spacehive which will match you to the fund name. You are encouraged to create your project early, to unlock support from the Spacehive team. 

3.    GET YOUR PROJECT VERIFIED

The project costs and necessary permissions will be checked by Spacehive's verifiers before you begin crowdfunding. Submit early to ensure you’re verified before the deadline. Verification takes an average of four days where project creators have the relevant documents to hand. 

Before you submit for verification, make sure that you have:

• Proof of permission (e.g. event license, council agreement, landowner consent). Read more about permissions.

• Evidence of costs (e.g. building work quotations, links to online shop listings)

• Relevant insurances, policies, or qualifications (e.g. organisation constitution, safeguarding policy, certifications)

• Evidence of any funds that you have received for this project that you would like to have shown on your campaign (e.g. grant agreement, scan of a cheque, bank statement). 

4.    LAUNCH YOUR CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN AND PITCH TO THE FUND BY 26TH APRIL 

Once verified, launch your crowdfunding campaign, no later than 29th March. Ensure you have submitted your fund pitch by the deadline too, to be considered for a pledge from the council.

Please note: the council will not be the first organisation to pledge to your project and will first want to see community support and backing, in the form of pledges from local people towards your campaign.

Start by getting lots of small pledges from the community to show local support for your project. This will help unlock bigger pledges.

Please note: a typical crowdfunding campaign should not exceed three months.

 5.    ASSESSMENT AND PLEDGE

The council will review all projects typically 6 weeks after the deadline and successful projects can expect to receive a pledge of up to a combined £20,000 (max 80% of target) during their live campaign. For example, a £10,000 campaign could get up to £8,000. 

6. HIT YOUR TARGET AND DELIVER YOUR PROJECT 

You need to hit your target in order to receive the funds you raise. Please allow up to three weeks to receive funds once your campaign ends. Once you deliver your project, you can update your backers by completing a colourful impact report on Spacehive. 

To learn more about crowdfunding on Spacehive, visit the Help Centre. 

For any additional questions, please contact Spacehive on support@spacehive.com.

Eligibility will principally be determined by the aims of the project.  The following are able to apply:

• Public bodies, such as Parish Councils and schools – where they are delivering or hosting community projects -  mainstream expenses such as salaries or replacement street furniture will not be supported
• Registered charities and excepted charities
• Charitable Incorporated Organisations and Community Interest Companies
• Social Enterprises
• Unincorporated community groups
• Individuals- for community projects - not individuals for individual endeavour/benefit.  Under 18s can create projects, but the project will need a project delivery manager - who takes responsibility for its delivering - over 18.

We cannot fund: 

• Commercial activity – activity delivered for private profit.
• Commercial organisations and exempt charities
• Activity that is more properly the responsibility of other statutory organisations (eg social care; bus subsidies).
• Party political promotion or activities.
• Activities related to religious worship. Faith groups may apply for non-religious activities but will need to demonstrate that the activity does not promote a religious view in any way and is inclusive.

For feedback on eligiblity and for support to get your idea ready for crowdfunding, share it with the Spacehive team via our Project Idea Form.
 

Phased projects, annual events and repeat applications.
Our funding is designed to support projects, not ongoing costs. Projects may be broken down into different phases, where each individual phase can be delivered independently of the other. Annually occurring activities, such as annual events, are eligible, where each year is dependent upon securing funding.

Where a project is broken down into phases, pledges from this fund will not usually exceed £10,000 in a single year, nor £15,000 over three years. For events, applications for activity in consecutive years will be considered, but project creators should seek to increase their pool of supporters, and investigate alternative means of sustaining activity. Projects contributing significantly to the Council’s priorities or demonstrating innovation will be looked upon favourably.

Pledges to an individual organisation is not capped at the project maximum – creators are welcome to propose multiple projects, although such projects should be clearly discreet activities

(PLEASE NOTE: we do not recommend project creators propose more than one project per funding round, in order to focus backers towards one funding goal).

Where projects are part of a larger scheme, the Council reserves the right to view such activity in the round, and pledge accordingly.

All projects seeking support will be expected to complete a set of questions when pitching to the fund to determine the eligibility of their projects. The deadline to create your project and pitch to the fund on Spacehive is 26th April. 

Typically projects can expect a pledge of up to £10,000, max 40% of the target, but the Council will consider applying a premium to projects which are seeking to directly address climate change, the ecological emergency or providing direct support to vulnerable groups, up to a total of 50%. 

Cotswold District Council will consider these responses to determine if activity is eligible. Projects will also need to demonstrate that they have local support for the activity proposed prior to project assessment, 6 weeks after the deadline. This will be through pledges offered on its Spacehive campaign. You are therefore advised to start your campaign as soon as possible after the deadline.  Projects are also able to upload funds raised offline, and upload funds raised pre-campaign to evidence existing support.

Projects will need to evidence both fund eligibility and local support to be considered for a pledge by Cotswold District Council.

The District Council has committed the the following principles in all its work:

• rebuilding trust and confidence in the council by promoting a culture of openness and transparency
• providing value for money for our residents and businesses by using our resources wisely and investing in the district’s fabric and future
• listening to the needs of our community, and acting on what we hear.

The Council retains its discretion to choose not to pledge against a project, or to pledge a higher or lower sum.