What Civic Power Fund does

Civic Power Fund is a UK-registered charity (Charity number 1203784, Company number 13635441) founded in 2021 as the country's first pooled donor fund dedicated to grassroots community organising. The organisation pools capital from multiple charitable foundations — including Ellerman, Oglesby Charitable Trust, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Barrow Cadbury, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, and Unbound Philanthropy — and redistributes it as grants to community organising groups across the United Kingdom, with targeted long-term funding in three geographic areas: North Manchester, North Wales, and Hampshire and Surrey. Its grantmaking approach is explicitly trust-based and participatory, working with organisations as partners rather than through traditional competitive application processes.

The organisation's core "products" are programmatic rather than technological: the Community Action Fund (a grant programme for grassroots organising groups), the hosted Alliance for Youth Organising (an intergenerational coalition that has moved over £1 million to youth organising groups across the UK in roughly two years), and a research publication series including the Funding Justice reports (mapping 47 social justice funders and £310 million of grantmaking), Growing the Grassroots (co-produced with Labour Together on place-based movement strengthening), and Power Up (on community organising within large charities). CPF has no proprietary technology platform, no AI components, and no commercial pricing model.

Governance is structured as a pooled donor fund with a board drawn exclusively from leaders of social purpose organisations. The team includes an Executive Director (Martha Mackenzie), Director of Organising, Director of Finance, Migrant Power Project Lead, Community Fund Manager, and Grants and Operations Officer, with additional trustees providing oversight. The organisation reports modest scale — six team members and five trustees publicly listed, with broader headcount reported at 17 — consistent with a small, specialist philanthropic intermediary rather than a large-scale grantmaker.

Name

Civic Power Fund

Legal name

Civic Power Fund

Website

https://civicpower.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Civic Power Fund is a UK-registered charity founded in 2021 that pools funding from major foundations to provide trust-based grants to grassroots community organising groups, with geographic focus on North Manchester, North Wales, and Hampshire and Surrey.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Grantmaking

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE), Capacity Building & Nonprofit Infrastructure Funders (BPAGAKAO), Grantmaking & Philanthropic Funds (Institutional Donors) (BPADAOAB)

Keywords

• Philanthropic grantmaking
• Community organizing funding
• Social justice grants
• Donor fund management
• Grassroots organizing

Headquarters

HQ city

Not specified

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Grants disbursement to grassroots organisations, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Research and publications

Revenue model

1. Pooled Donor Fund: The Civic Power Fund is the UK's first pooled donor fund investing directly in grassroots organising and in the infrastructure it needs to thrive. They receive funding from multiple charitable foundations and redistribute it as grants to community organising organisations.

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Civic Power Fund is the UK's first pooled donor fund investing directly in grassroots community organising. The organisation aggregates funding from multiple charitable foundations and redistributes it as targeted long-term grants to community organising groups using trust-based and participatory grantmaking. It also hosts the Alliance for Youth Organising and publishes research publications analysing UK social justice grantmaking.

Product overview

Civic Power Fund is the UK's first pooled donor fund dedicated to grassroots community organising. The organisation does not offer a technology product but rather operates as a philanthropic foundation providing grant programs and publishing research publications. Its core offerings include direct funding to grassroots organising groups through the Community Action Fund, the Alliance for Youth Organising program, and research publications including the Funding Justice report series, Growing the Grassroots, and Power Up reports that analyse and support the community organising sector.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Alliance for Youth Organising: An intergenerational group of organisers and campaigners from across the UK working to shift power and money to young people. Hosted by Civic Power Fund.

Products and services

• Community Action Fund

Quantifiable outcome

• Moved over £1 million to youth organising groups across the UK
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• New Economy Organisers Network (NEON)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Organising partner providing movement building hub, training, coaching, and organising support for social movement groups. CPF works with NEON on movement building and capacity building for community organising.
• Citizens UKcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Organising partner, a people power alliance of diverse local communities working together for 30 years. CPF works with Citizens UK on community organising efforts and local chapter development.
• Alliance for Youth OrganisingflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerIntergenerational group of organisers and campaigners from across the UK working to shift power and money to young people. Hosted by Civic Power Fund. Since launch two years ago, moved over £1 million to youth organising groups.
• Hidden Depths Research (Liz Griffin)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCollaborated with Liz Griffin at Hidden Depths Research to explore how to understand the impact of community organising. Produced 'Evaluating Community Organising' paper.
• The Hour is Late (Jon Cracknell)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCommissioned research on social justice funding, mapping where social justice grants go across 47 known funders.
• Labour TogetherminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-produced 'Growing the Grassroots' research on strengthening movements through the power of place.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Esmée Fairbairn Foundation: Major UK independent foundation funding social change, including place-based and community organising work. Operates a comparable pooled grantmaking model with similar scale and UK geographic reach.
• Trust for London: UK foundation tackling inequality and poverty through grants to campaign, community organising, and policy work. Directly comparable as a grantmaking foundation focused on social justice with grassroots organising as a core strategy.
• The Tudor Trust: UK grantmaking charity supporting small community organisations with a relationship-led, trust-based approach. Highly comparable operating model to CPF's participatory grantmaking philosophy.
• Lloyds Bank Foundation: UK charity foundation funding small and medium charities across England and Wales. Comparable scale and focus on infrastructure support for grassroots civil society organisations.
• Barrow Cadbury Trust: UK charitable trust funding social justice, with explicit focus on power-building, community organising, and migration justice. A current CPF funder operating in the same thematic niche with overlapping grantee networks.
• Paul Hamlyn Foundation: UK foundation supporting social justice, including migration, racial justice, and community organising. A current CPF funder with overlapping thematic priorities and comparable grantmaking scale.

Emerging players

• Power to Change: UK charitable trust funding community businesses and local economic power-building. Thematically aligned with CPF's mission to build power in excluded communities, but focused on community business rather than organising.

Broad incumbents

• Joseph Rowntree Foundation: One of the largest UK foundations, focused on poverty, housing, and social justice. A current CPF funder, operating at significantly greater scale with a wider portfolio but overlapping thematic priorities.
• The National Lottery Community Fund: Largest UK community grant funder distributing hundreds of millions annually. Comparable in mission to fund community organising and grassroots infrastructure, but at vastly larger scale with broader thematic scope.
• UK Community Foundations: Network of 47 accredited community foundations across the UK distributing local philanthropic capital. Operates as a pooled, place-based grantmaking infrastructure comparable to CPF's model, but at network scale across all UK regions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/civic-power-fund

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Civic Power Fund