Fidelity UK and International Foundations
The Foundations have, for many years, been supporting non-profit organisations to maximise their impact.
Fidelity International Foundations
The international Foundations comprise of the Fidelity Asia Pacific Foundation, Fidelity Bermuda Foundation and Fidelity Europe Foundation. All are independent grant-making Foundations that strengthen the capacity of non-profit organisations to enhance impact, sustainability and/or efficiency, so charitable organisations are in a stronger position to fulfil their mission and achieve their objectives.
Reflecting the distinctive contexts in which the international Foundations operate, programmatic priorities include: education, health, tackling disadvantage, and arts, culture and heritage, environmental conservation.
Priority geographic interests for the international Foundations include: France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Bermuda, India, Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, and Australia.
The international Foundations are all independent charitable organisations that are proudly supported by Fidelity International.
Edward C. Johnson III, Founder Chairman
What we fund
The Foundations’ grant-making aims to help strengthen the long-term impact, efficiency and/or sustainability of charitable organisations. As such, the Foundations have a focus on the capacity of charities, by which we mean the capability, knowledge and resources that non-profit organisations need to be effective. The Foundations therefore support activity that significantly enhances an organisation’s ability to achieve its mission.
We appreciate that every organisation’s capacity building needs differ and seek to understand what will have the most impact, which may include funding for organisational/strategy development, investment in leadership development, enhancing impact measurement, the application of technology, or activity to enable efficiency, support growth or enhance financial sustainability.
The Foundations focus on supporting organisations that have annual budgets of over US$1m/€1m. Most organisations funded by the Foundations have regional/national reach. The Foundations also support carefully selected field-building organisations that offer capacity-building programmes that benefit multiple charities active in our priority programme areas.
Our approach to grant-making
The Foundations do not seek unsolicited proposals and have an invitation-only application process. The Foundations' team pro-actively identifies organisations that we would like to learn more about through research, seeking insights from funders who have shared interests, and insights from the organisations we support. Where appropriate, organisations are invited to submit a short concept note, which we aim to respond to within four weeks. If a concept note is approved, a full application is invited at which point the formal application process begins. This two-stage process is designed to help ensure the application process is efficient for everyone involved.
Grants are considered on a rolling basis throughout the year. Several factors influence the timeline for the application process. As the process is highly interactive, the Foundations team will communicate with applicants throughout regarding anticipated timelines.
During the due diligence process, we seek to understand an organisation as a whole, including its leadership and governance, impact, strategic plans, how it engages with the communities it seeks to serve, its approach to collaboration, operations and financial management - and importantly how the project proposed will enhance capacity. Where possible, we look to make site visits to all organisations prior to a grant being made.
We ask all organisations that we support to report on progress towards their goals. We appreciate the value of learning from grants made and use this to inform our future grant-making. Where helpful, we also connect grantees to learn from each other.
The Foundations have a small dedicated team led by Lenka Setkova, Chief Executive of the Foundations, and Trustees are actively involved in grant-making decisions.
Contact information
Fidelity UK and International Foundations
Beech Gate
Millfield Lane
Lower Kingswood,
Tadworth
Surrey KT20 6RP
United Kingdom
Email: foundation@fil.com
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