What Point North does

Point North is a UK-registered community foundation (Charity No. 1047625, Company No. 03072153) founded in 1995 as County Durham Community Foundation and rebranded to Point North in 2024 to reflect an expanded geographic remit covering County Durham, Tees Valley (including Darlington, Hartlepool, Stockton-on-Tees) and the wider North East. The organisation operates as an intermediary between donors (individuals, businesses, and institutional philanthropists) and grassroots community groups, charities, and individuals in need, awarding grants to fight poverty and enrich lives across five UN Sustainable Development Goals (No Poverty, Good Health and Well-being, Reduced Inequalities, Sustainable Cities and Communities, and Climate Action).

The core offering is a portfolio of grant programmes. These include the Community Grants Programme (up to £7,000, 12-week decisions), the Care Leavers Fund for individuals aged 18–25 (up to £1,000), the Youth Opportunities Fund (up to £500), the SWEF Business Grant (£500–£2,000), the Christine Carter Creative Arts Fund (up to £250), and a suite of Wind Farm Community Benefits Funds (up to £30,000). Layered on top are multi-year strategic programmes such as the Care Leavers Programme (£7m total programme value; £1.7m from Henry Smith Foundation over three years), the Enriching Later Lives Programme (£500k+ from Varley Family Foundation over three years), the High Sheriff Youth Awards (120+ organisations and 46,000+ young people since 2012), and the Changemakers regular-giving programme for businesses. Underlying technology is non-proprietary and centred on a WordPress/Elementor website with an online grant portal, a Salesforce-based fundholder login, and AI tooling used to summarise applications and check eligibility while keeping humans as the final decision-makers (per the Human-First Responsible AI Pledge).

The business model is donation-mediated grant-making, not commercial SaaS or product revenue. Revenue is the inflow of charitable contributions and restricted/specified funds from individuals, businesses, and institutional funders (e.g., Henry Smith Foundation, Varley Family Foundation, Banks Group, EDF/ESB/RWE wind farm operators). Distribution combines a self-serve website grant portal, a telephone helpline (0191 378 6340), funding-surgeries (1:1 applicant support), and field-based partnerships with the High Sheriff of County Durham, UKCF, LAMIT, and CCLA. The customer base is therefore dual-sided: donor-side (wealth individuals, corporate CSR, foundations) and grantee-side (community groups, charities, care leavers, young people, and over-55 cohorts).

Name

Point North

Legal name

Point North

Website

https://pointnorth.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Point North is a UK community foundation founded in 1995 (rebranded from County Durham Community Foundation in 2024) that connects donors with grassroots groups across County Durham, Tees Valley and the wider North East, awarding grants through more than ten programmes covering community projects, care leavers, young people, older people, and wind farm community benefits.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Foundation and Grant-Making Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Corporate Foundations & CSR Grantmaking (BPAGAKAC), Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK), Arts, Sports & Recreation-Based Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAJ)

Keywords

• Community foundation
• Grant making services
• Charitable giving
• Donor fund management
• Community grants

Headquarters

HQ city

Durham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Point North raises money from individuals, businesses, and philanthropists who want to make a difference in County Durham, Tees Valley and the wider North East. They serve as an intermediary that pools charitable donations and distributes them as grants to community organisations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Point North is a registered charity and community foundation that raises money from individuals, businesses, and philanthropists in County Durham, Tees Valley and the wider North East, and redistributes it as grants to community groups, charities, and individuals in need. Its core activities include managing multiple grant programmes (community grants, care leavers, youth opportunities, wind farm community funds, creative arts, cancer awareness), operating a regular giving programme for businesses (Changemakers), and supporting grassroots organisations tackling poverty and social isolation.

Product overview

Point North is a community foundation (formerly County Durham Community Foundation) offering a portfolio of grant programmes to fight poverty and enrich lives across County Durham, Tees Valley, and the wider North East. The core offering consists of grant programmes for community groups, charities, and individuals, including the Community Grants Programme (up to £7,000), Care Leavers Fund (up to £1,000 for individuals aged 18-25), Youth Opportunities Fund (up to £500), and various Wind Farm Community Benefits Funds. Additional programmes include the High Sheriff Youth Awards, SWEF Business Grant, Community Cancer Awareness & Screening Fund, and Christine Carter Creative Arts Fund. For businesses, Changemakers provides a regular giving programme. The Change Tomorrow Fund offers flexible giving for donors. All programmes support the foundation's mission focused on five Sustainable Development Goals: No Poverty, Good Health and Well-being, Reduced Inequalities, Sustainable Cities and Communities, and Climate Action.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Community Grants Programme Grant programme supporting community groups and organisations in County Durham and Darlington with funding up to £7,000 for projects sustaining health and wellbeing and reducing inequalities; decisions within 12 weeks.
• Care Leavers Fund (Individuals) Individual grant programme providing up to £1,000 for care leavers aged 18-25 in County Durham and Tees Valley to reduce barriers facing young people leaving care.
• Youth Opportunities Fund Grant programme supporting talented young people to achieve their potential with funding up to £500.
• SWEF Business Grant Business grant programme helping young people grow their businesses in County Durham, Gateshead, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside, Tees Valley, and Tyne and Wear, with funding between £500 and £2,000.
• Christine Carter Creative Arts Fund Grant fund supporting talented artists in County Durham and Sunderland with funding up to £250.
• Community Cancer Awareness & Screening Fund Grant programme supporting projects that increase cancer symptom awareness and screening uptake, with funding up to £2,500 in specified North East locations.
• Wind Farm Community Benefits Funds Multiple community benefit funds associated with wind farms (including EDF Butterwick Moor, EDF Walkway, EDF Trimdon Grange, ESB West Durham, Lambs Hill, Moor House, RWE Butterwick Moor, Banks Community Fund, and Banks Kype Muir) benefiting specific geographic communities near wind farm sites with grants up to £30,000.
• High Sheriff Youth Awards Annual awards programme organised by Point North for the High Sheriff of County Durham, awarding funding to organisations helping young people; since 2012 funded over 120 organisations benefiting more than 46,000 young people.
• Changemakers Regular giving programme for businesses of any size that want to support local community projects and see the difference their giving makes.
• Change Tomorrow Fund Flexible fund allowing donors to direct their giving to where it can make the most difference in fighting poverty and enriching lives across County Durham, Tees Valley and the wider North East.
• Care Leavers Programme Multi-year programme supporting care-experienced young people aged 16-25 through university bursaries, driving lessons, home equipment, and career coaching; expanded to 14 UK areas with £1.7m Henry Smith Foundation donation over three years.
• Enriching Later Lives Programme Three-year fund supporting people aged 55 and over in County Durham and Darlington through digital training, exercise programmes, and community engagement, funded by the Varley Family Foundation (£500,000+).
• Giving Coalition Network of businesses and philanthropists committed to supporting young people, raising funds for grassroots youth organisations across County Durham, Darlington, Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 120 organisations awarded funding benefiting more than 46,000 young people since 2012
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 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

AI capability1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• High Sheriff of County DurhamcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 July 2026High Sheriff of County Durham partnered with Point North to launch the Giving Coalition, raising funds for grassroots youth organisations across County Durham, Darlington, Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees.
• LAMITcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025LAMIT collaborated with UKCF and CCLA to launch the Care Leavers Programme in 2024, now expanding to 14 new areas with Henry Smith Foundation funding.
• UKCF (UK Community Foundations)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025UKCF collaborated with LAMIT on the Care Leavers Programme, which has supported over 2,000 care leavers in its first year through 59 organisations.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Community Foundation Tyne & Wear: A fellow UK regional community foundation operating in the same North East England geography with overlapping donor and applicant bases. It uses the same UKCF network infrastructure and competes for many of the same corporate and individual donors.
• Northern Ireland Community Foundation: A UKCF member covering Northern Ireland with comparable mission (fighting poverty, enriching lives), grantmaking structure, and donor cultivation approach. Useful benchmark for cross-UK peer comparison.
• Heart of England Community Foundation: A mid-sized UK community foundation distributing grants across the West Midlands with a comparable portfolio of community, youth, and hardship funds. Same UKCF affiliation, same community-led grantmaking model.
• Wiltshire Community Foundation: A regional UK community foundation of similar size, distributing community, youth, and welfare grants with comparable governance and funding model. Representative of the typical mid-sized UKCF peer profile.
• Two Ridings Community Foundation: A UK Community Foundations member serving North and West Yorkshire with a near-identical grantmaking model (community grants, youth, older people, hardship funds). Directly comparable in scale, governance, and operating model to Point North.

Broad incumbents

• Charities Aid Foundation (CAF): A national charity providing donor-advised funds, payroll giving, and grantmaking services to individuals and corporates. Competes with Point North for high-net-worth and corporate philanthropic capital in the UK.
• The National Lottery Community Fund: The UK's largest community grantmaking body, distributing National Lottery proceeds across the UK. Overlaps with Point North on community, youth, and hardship funding but at vastly greater scale and with national remit.
• UK Community Foundations: The national membership network of which Point North is a member. It sets standards, pools resources, and runs national programmes (e.g., Care Leavers Programme with LAMIT) that Point North delivers at a regional level.

Others

• CCLA: The UK's largest charity investment manager, currently managing funds for Point North's Care Leavers Programme. A service provider and ecosystem participant rather than a direct competitor, but a key operational dependency.
• Henry Smith Foundation: A major UK grantmaking foundation that has committed £1.7M to Point North's Care Leavers expansion. A current donor and sector peer, but also a strategic upstream funder whose continued support is material to Point North's growth.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/PointNorthCF
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/CountyDurhamCF
• Facebookfacebook.com/PointNorthCF
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pointnorthcf
• Instagraminstagram.com/pointnorthcf

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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 Point North