How we work with funders and partners

Funder +

Funder+ programmes combine funding with support for maximum impact. We work with grantees to embed digital in their organisational strategy, culture and services. We provide hands-on support and leverage our network of trusted partners to help nonprofits supercharge their progress within a funding period.

Find out more about our successful programmes with Deloitte and Sport England, as well as our Tech for Good work with Comic Relief and Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

GrantAdvisor UK

GrantAdvisor UK is a free platform designed to facilitate dialogue between grantseekers and grantmakers. Funders are invited to add their organisation to the GrantAdvisor UK site, in order to gather insights that will help refine their systems in line with applicants’ needs.

We communicate directly with funders to help them navigate the GrantAdvisor platform and make the most of the insights and feedback available. We also collaborate with organisations such as IVAR to synthesise key themes and needs - and ensure that the latest best practice advice is made available to funders.

AI for Grantmakers - peer group

An opportunity for funders of all sizes to come together and explore the opportunities and challenges of AI. The group - which includes more than 300 people from 220 Trusts and Foundations - is open to all UK funders, of any size. With the support of our partners at IVAR, the learning from the group feeds into the development of Open and Trusting use of AI in grantmaking. The next meeting will take place in September 2025 (exact date TBC) - to register your interest in joining this (and future meetings), please fill in this short form. Participation is free.

Open IP and Reuse

Reuse is where one organisation uses a tool, service, process, asset or standard (or something else) developed by another organisation.  We’re particularly championing reuse of elements that are ethically produced and sector-owned. Where we can align reuse, we save money individually and collectively; speed up social innovation and can create better impact.

CAST works in collaboration with Catalyst on the Open IP and Reuse for Funders initiative, which supports funders to implement open IP standards within their work, and to encourage reuse amongst the charities they support. The initiative is open to all UK grantmakers, free of charge; please contact [email protected] to become involved.

One output from this ongoing work is a set of best practice guidance for grantmakers, comprising internal and external policies for Open IP, and best practice Terms and Conditions for grant agreements. These are open for all funders to access via this Google Drive Open IP and grantmaking guidance folder.

Consultancy

We provide a range of bespoke consultancy services which include modular support on project management, ways of working, MEL (monitoring, evaluation and learning), user-centred research and design, co-production, service delivery - and much more.

We also have extensive experience helping funders in assessing and supporting digital projects and applying digital technology to improve their assessment, monitoring and management of grants.

We're currently working a number of organisations, including:

- The Clothworkers' Foundation: Providing support on all applications for digital infrastructure grants, both Large and Small, under the Open Grants Programme.
- British Cycling: Helping to shape their Youth Development Awards.
- Refugee Council: Exploring a practical way to support practitioners and young people navigating age disputes.
- Lucy Faithfull Foundation: Supporting them in the delivery of their groundbreaking Intercept project.
- Prudence Trust: Supporting organisations that are using digital technology to support young people’s mental health.
- Trades Union Congress (TUC): Delivering transformative digital change leadership modules as part of the TUC's prestigious flagship leadership development programme, empowering union leaders with cutting-edge digital transformation skills.
- The Digital Services Consortium (DSC): As a learning partner to the DSC - an alliance of 12 leading UK charities - we are working to embed shared principles, establish robust learning loops and impact measurement, and ensure true collaboration and evolution across the programme as they create and grow the digital and hybrid services.

We are also currently partnering with Deloitte and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to explore how the LTA can support their volunteers with digital skills and employability.

Network of support for nonprofits

With funding from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, CAST is currently convening a new network of support for nonprofits. This will be in place in its current form for at least two years (until mid-2026), although we hope and expect to be connected for much longer.

The network comprises seven initiatives: Agencies for Good, Design Hops, Digital Candle, Digital Leads Network, Digital Trustees, Dovetail and The Curve - as well as a reuse infrastructure strand, providing support to enable reuse of open, sector-owned technologies. We will be working together to align activities so that as many people as possible can benefit from all initiatives.

We'll post updates on our comms channels; please do get in touch if you'd like further info.

Charity AI Task Force

The Charity AI Task Force has been set up to champion the responsible, inclusive and collaborative use of AI across the social sector, for maximum impact and collective benefit. Co-chaired by Dan Sutch (Director of CAST) and Zoe Amar, the collective currently consists of 50 member organisations, including The National Lottery Community Fund, Access Social Care, Big Give, London Funders, King’s College London, Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales, Muslim Charities Forum, Charity Digital and Shelter.