What John Ellerman Foundation does

John Ellerman Foundation is an independent, endowed UK grantmaking foundation established in 1971 by Sir John Ellerman II (Registered Charity Number 263207). It operates from Aria House, 23 Craven Street, London, with a seven-person full-time team and a Board of Trustees currently chaired by Hugh Raven, with Peter Kyle OBE appointed as Chair elect. The Foundation's mission is to advance wellbeing for people, society, and the natural world by funding UK charities working in arts, environment, and social action, alongside two dedicated sub-programmes: the UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs) Fund supporting environmental conservation across UKOTs, and the Museums and Galleries Fund supporting curatorial development and organisational strengthening in nationally significant museums and galleries.

The Foundation's product surface is grantmaking rather than technology. Funding is delivered through an online application portal (YourCause Grants) via a two-stage process: a two-page initial proposal with financial evidence, followed by a detailed proposal and virtual meeting for shortlisted applicants. Decisions are made at monthly Sifting Meetings and bi-monthly Board meetings, with applications accepted year-round and no fixed deadlines. Eligibility is restricted to UK-registered charities with annual income between £100k and £10m. The Foundation emphasises multi-year, unrestricted core funding and explicitly supports policy, advocacy, and campaigning work, distinguishing it from project-restricted funders.

Financially, the Foundation is sustained by an endowment of approximately £154.9m (as of 2025), managed by appointed fund managers including Fulcrum Asset Management. Annual grantmaking is approximately £5.8m, equating to a payout rate near 3.7% of endowment. The Foundation has integrated responsible-investing exclusions across 25 external managers within its Diversified Liquid Alternatives portfolio, screening out fossil fuel infrastructure, thermal coal, tar sands, and tobacco. It holds Living Wage Employer and Living Wage Funder accreditations, participates in the Funder Commitment on Climate Change, and publishes grants data via 360Giving. In 2024 it launched a Board Shadowing Scheme to broaden governance representation.

Name

John Ellerman Foundation

Legal name

John Ellerman Foundation

Website

https://ellerman.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

John Ellerman Foundation is an independent UK endowed grantmaking foundation established in 1971, distributing approximately £5.8m annually to UK charities working in arts, environment, and social action through core multi-year grants. It operates from London with a seven-person team and a £154.9m endowment.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charitable Grantmaking Foundation

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Arts, Culture & Humanities Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAJ), Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM)

Keywords

• Charitable grantmaking
• Endowment funding
• UK charity grants
• Arts social action environment
• Multi-year core funding

Headquarters

HQ city

City Of London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Endowment Investment Returns: The Foundation operates as an endowed grantmaker with an endowment of approximately £154.9m (as of 2025). Annual grantmaking of approximately £5.8m is funded through returns on the endowment managed by appointed fund managers. The Foundation invests its endowment to maintain grantmaking capacity over the long-term while aligning investments with its charitable mission.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

John Ellerman Foundation is an independent endowed UK grantmaking foundation that distributes approximately £5.8m per year in multi-year core funding to UK-registered charities working in arts, social action, and environment. It operates a General Grantmaking Programme alongside the UKOTs Fund (environmental work in UK Overseas Territories) and the Museums and Galleries Fund, awarding grants through a two-stage online application process.

Product overview

John Ellerman Foundation is an independent endowed grantmaking foundation that advances wellbeing for people, society and the natural world through charitable giving. The foundation operates primarily through its General Grantmaking Programme (offering core and multi-year funding to UK charities in arts, social action, and environment), supplemented by two dedicated sub-funds: the UK Overseas Territories Fund (environmental work in UKOTs) and the Museums and Galleries Fund (supporting curatorial development in UK museums and galleries). The foundation makes approximately £5.8m in grants annually and distributes funds through an online application portal.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• UKOTs Fund: UK Overseas Territories Fund - a funder collaboration supporting land-based and marine-related environmental work in UKOTs since 2013
• Museums and Galleries Fund

Products and services

• General Grantmaking Programme Main grantmaking fund supporting UK charities doing work in arts, social action, and environment with national significance. Offers multi-year core funding and considers project funding requests. Available to UK-registered charities with annual income above £100k and below £10m. Applications accepted year-round via online portal, with two-stage review process.
• UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs) Fund Environmental grantmaking fund supporting land-based and marine-related work in UK Overseas Territories. Distributed circa £2m in 2021-2022 across 10 of the 14 UKOTs. Provides small, medium and larger grants for up to three years. Open to charities and NGOs operating in eligible UK Overseas Territories.
• Museums and Galleries Fund Dedicated fund for museums and galleries with national significance, entering its eighth year. Has awarded 46 multi-year grants totalling £3,962,641. Focuses on curatorial development and organisational strengthening for UK museums and galleries.

Quantifiable outcome

• 85% of grant-holders felt Foundation was living up to values of responsive, discerning, connected, flexible and personal touch (2023 perception audit)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UKOTs Fund CollaborationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFunder collaboration supporting environmental work in UK Overseas Territories. Distributed approximately £2m across 10 of the 14 UKOTs in 2021 and 2022. Collaboration includes pooled funding and shared funding guidelines.
• nfpResearchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConducts independent perception audits of the Foundation's application process, grantees, and unsuccessful applicants. Provides benchmarking data against other funders. Conducted surveys in 2020 and 2023.
• Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember organisation providing sector support and networking. Involved in Origins of Wealth Group guidance development. ACF manages Funder Commitment on Climate Change.
• Environmental Funders Network (EFN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK-based network of foundations supporting environmental causes. Co-convenor of Climate Funders Group. Provides research and guidance on environmental funding.
• Climate Funders GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint initiative co-convened by EFN and Climate Change Collaboration. Focuses on climate action and decarbonisation among funders.
• DEI Data GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndependent working group developing DEI Data Standard taxonomy for funders. John Ellerman Foundation is a member along with other funders including BBC Children in Need and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
• Arts Funders GroupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGroup of trusts and foundations in the arts convening regularly since April 2020, convened by Moira Sinclair at Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
• 360GivingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublishes grants data to 360Giving platform for transparency and data sharing in the charitable sector.
• UK Philanthropy ArchiveminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with University of Kent for transfer of organisational archival material, demonstrating commitment to transparency and historical research.
• Funder Commitment on Climate ChangecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommitment signed in December 2019 with 50 UK charitable foundations. Six commitments: educate and learn, commit resources, integrate in all work, steward investments for post-carbon future, decarbonise operations, and report on progress.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Association of Charitable Foundations: UK membership body that Ellerman is a member of; an industry-association peer representing the foundation sector and supporting grantmakers on policy, climate and practice issues.
• Environmental Funders Group: UK network of environmental grantmakers in which Ellerman actively participates; comparable as an ecosystem peer supporting collaborative environmental philanthropy.

Direct peers

• Tudor Trust: UK endowed foundation providing core, unrestricted grants to smaller charities and community groups. Directly comparable as an endowed, multi-year core funder focused on UK civil society.
• City Bridge Trust: London-based endowed grantmaking charity (funded by City of London Corporation) supporting disadvantaged communities through multi-year grants. Directly comparable UK grantmaking foundation with multi-year core funding model.
• Garfield Weston Foundation: One of the largest UK endowed family foundations supporting arts, education, environment, health and community. Comparable independent endowed grantmaking model with similar eligibility scale.
• Paul Hamlyn Foundation: UK family-founded grantmaker offering multi-year core support to arts, education and social justice organisations. Comparable funder profile and grant-making approach to Ellerman.
• Lloyds Bank Foundation: UK grantmaking foundation funding smaller charities tackling disadvantage. Comparable UK grantmaking model supporting charities within an income band similar to Ellerman's £100k-£10m range.
• Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch): UK branch of a global endowed foundation supporting arts, education, social welfare and environmental causes with strategic, long-term grantmaking. Comparable endowed, multi-pillar UK grantmaker.
• The Henry Smith Charity: Historic UK endowed grantmaking charity providing grants to organisations working with disadvantaged communities. Directly comparable endowed, multi-sector UK grantmaker.
• Esmée Fairbairn Foundation: UK endowed grantmaking foundation of comparable size funding arts, environment, social change and education, focused on multi-year core grants for UK charities. Direct peer in mission, scale and applicant base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/EllermanUK
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/john-ellerman-foundation

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about John Ellerman Foundation