Grants

The Vegan Society Grant (previously the Engaging New Audiences Grants Programme) originated in 2013. It is aimed at small to medium sized grassroots not-for-profit projects that encourage people to go vegan and stay vegan. We are particularly looking to fund new or innovative projects.

Recently we have funded a range of exciting projects and events. These have included an interdisciplinary research conference at Glasgow University, an event to engage Christians with veganism, an art exhibition with a focus on activism, and a vegan food bank project. 

As a recipient of a grant, you are required to acknowledge the Society on all promotional materials and in any media coverage. A file containing the Vegan Society logo will be sent to all successful applicants.

All projects must be completed within 12 months of receiving the award.

Copies of promotional material and any press coverage of your project should be included with your final report. Photographs of the event or project in action are also required. If these are of high quality they may be included on our website or in our magazine, The Vegan.

A Vegan Society representative may attend your event.

You must submit your report and invoice for the final 25% of your grant within two months of the completion date of your project, otherwise this will not be awarded.

Originally, awarding funds to worthy projects was an informal arrangement which was managed by the society’s trustees. In 2010 a more structured grants application process was developed under CEO Nigel Winter. In recent years the programme has been refined to focus on projects that introduce the concept and ideals of veganism to those who may not have encountered them before.

The scheme was then named the Engaging New Audiences Grant in 2013. In 2021 the decision was then made to change the programme name to The Vegan Society Grant, and to adjust our budget to around £1000 per project - this was to better reflect the aims and goals of the programme. In 2024 the grants programme offer was updated to range from £1000 to £5000 to allow us to support fewer but  larger projects. 

• If you are holding an event, ensure that it is accessible to disabled people.
• Avoid charging people to engage with your project (or if charging is deemed essential then offer concessions).
• Demonstrate that your project is welcoming and inclusive to people of all genders, races, sexualities, abilities and religions and ensure that everyone running your project is aligned with this message (it is possible to focus on a specific religious group whilst still being welcoming to others).

We work to encourage a diverse range of applicants by:

• Promoting the programme on relevant platforms.
• Reaching out to relevant organisations and inviting them, or projects with which they are affiliated, to apply.

We also give priority to applications from groups of people who are considered to be marginalised. For example, we prioritise applications from people of colour and members of the LGBTQ+ community. We are particularly interested in prioritising applications from groups of people underrepresented in the mainstream vegan movement.

From a Charity Commission perspective, organisations like The Vegan Society must have a mechanism in place to ensure charitable money is put to good use. This includes money awarded for grants. We need to know that the activities funded from our grant scheme complement the larger aims and important work that The Vegan Society does.

The Vegan Society Grant can only be awarded to projects that align with our values. This means using peaceful and non-confrontational tactics and working to create an honest and open dialogue with non-vegans, without assigning blame to people who do not share our views.

Planning your project for a specific audience will increase your project's chance of making an impact on the participants. Projects or events that are aimed at a generic group of people, e.g. ‘residents of Leeds’ or ‘families’, are unlikely to be successful in their application as this indicates that the applicant has not considered their audience when planning their project. Examples of a good target audience to plan your project around are ‘academics studying philosophy’, ‘people who follow Hinduism’, ‘parents of vegetarian children’ or ‘people who are passionate about their companion animals’.

This means not reproducing the work already done by The Vegan Society or other similar organisations. A good way to avoid doing this is to familiarize yourself with our campaigns and the work we are already doing. For example, The Vegan Society already collaborates with farmers to support them in transitioning away from animal farming as part of our Grow Green Campaign. This means we are unlikely to fund a project which replicates this work. It is helpful to apply the knowledge that you have of your own community. You are the expert on your local area and you will be best placed to identify where there is an openess to veganism in your community.

The grants panel is made up Vegan Society staff from across the organisation. To ensure we have a balanced perspective and a range of experience amongst the panel, we include members of staff from every team. There are typically around five to six staff members reviewing a grant application.

Previous recipients of Vegan Society grants are welcome to apply for funding, but the assessment panel will look for significant development of the idea or activity in the new application. Completed final reports from previous projects will be used by the panel during the assessment process. The idea is for projects to become self-sufficient so a successful project should not be reliant on ongoing funding.

No, we welcome applicants from long term members or from people who are new to our work, and no preferential treatment will be given based on this, although joining as a member is a great way to support our work.

Unfortunately, we are not able to contribute funding towards PhD projects. This is because we need to be able to measure the impact of our funding within a reasonable time frame (all projects must be completed within 12 months of receiving the award). We are also unlikely to award funding to projects where our contribution is small in comparison to the overall budget. 

The Vegan Society's contribution to any project or event must be a direct contribution towards the aims and goals of the project being met. This means that the grant cannot be used for general running costs such as accommodation, subsistence or travel.

We like all of the projects that we fund to be volunteer run, as this helps to ensure that as much of the grant as possible is spent on achieving the goals of the project.

To ensure that your project is accessible to as many people as possible it is important not to charge individuals to access or partake in your event or project. The objective should always be to allow people to engage with veganism, therefore any obstacles such as cost will likely work against this aim.

• The Vegetarian Charity awards grants to projects aimed at young people. A typical award is no more than £500.
• The Cyril Corden Trust provides grants to organisations with a focus on the environment or conservation issues, heritage projects, overseas aid, famine relief and the advancement of health.
• Vegfund supports a variety of vegan outreach projects globally. Applications for this grant are divided into three categories: community events, special projects and online campaigns.
• ProVeg is an international plant-based food awareness organisation. It typically awards grants ranging in value from $10,000 to $30,000.
• Vegetarian for Life is a charity for older vegetarians and vegans which has a fund specifically for people who are aged 60 or over.
• AgDevCo provides funding and investment to African agribusinesses to deliver jobs, incomes and food. They have a presence in Africa and can be contacted here.
• GAFSP is a global funding organisation which has small-scale grants. Its aim is to fight hunger, malnutrition and poverty through strengthening agriculture and food systems. More information on these initiatives can be found here.
• IFAD invests in rural people with agricultural needs. They have a large range of grants available which can be searched through here. Find the grant applicable to you and select the grant ID, you then complete this form with all the information required to apply. They also have a contact page for more information.
• The OPEC Fund is open for grant applications using this application form. They work with economically developing countries to fund essential needs such as food, energy, infrastructure, employment, clean water, sanitation, healthcare and education.
• S.H.A.R.E. is an agricultural foundation which supports projects that contribute to economic, social and environmental development and sustainability. You can contact them here to find out more about the funding they may offer.

The best way to judge the likelihood of your application being successful is to read the criteria and the FAQ’s carefully and ensure that you make clear links to the criteria in your application. The Grants Officer is unable to advise on the probability of your project being awarded funding without you completing and submitting the application form, which will be reviewed by the Grants Panel. This is to ensure that the process is as fair as possible to all applicants.

Our panels are held on a quarterly basis and they can be delayed due to internal changes. Panels are usually held in January, April, July, and October. If you apply shortly after a panel has taken place, then you may to have to wait three months to find out the outcome of your application. That is why it is important to apply well in advance of the start date of your project.

If you are successful, we will send you a grant release form to complete, this will be sent to our finance team who will send 75% of your grant to your preferred account. In order to receive the remaining 25% of your grant you will need to complete your project and send a completed report to [email protected].

Visit and check the venue well in advance: Is it easy to reach, near public transport and with parking facilities? Where are the toilets and emergency exits? Does the audio-visual equipment work? Are there any council restrictions on the provision of food?

If you don’t have insurance, you should speak to us about whether you can use our Public Liability Insurance. This will depend on the conditions of our insurance agreement and will be conditional on event holders completing a risk assessment.

Reaching out to local media is a great idea. Our Media and PR Officer has put a helpful page together on working with the media.

There is no maximum grant, but a typical award is no more than £5000. The more detail you can give us about how this money would be spent, the better.