What we do
The Wolfson Foundation is an independent grant-making charity, based in central London but funding across the UK. At the heart of what we do is an emphasis on education and research.
Funding for places and people
Since 1955, the Wolfson Foundation has awarded over £1 billion (£2 billion in real terms) to projects across the UK, from Cornwall to the Shetland Islands.
Around 95% of our funding is in the UK. Most of our grants are for capital infrastructure — buildings (new build and refurbishments) and equipment. We run a small number of proactive programmes outside the UK, but these are not open to applications.
We also provide education and research grants for individuals. These programmes are administered and/or co-funded by our partner organisations.
Our aims and approach
We want to contribute to the health, resilience and variety of our society. We believe that supporting education — in its broadest sense and across the life course — is a key way to do that.
Our aim is also to promote excellence in the areas we fund. We often make grants to act as a catalyst to generate more support and help to attract funding to areas that may otherwise be under-resourced.
We are keen to encourage applications from parts of the UK where we have traditionally received fewer applications or where there are few other sources of funding.
We want to understand the experiences and perspectives of our applicants and partners, and so we regularly commission independent reviews and publish the findings.
Our application process
Our decision-making is rigorous and we award grants based on expert peer review. However, we aim to run a relatively light-touch application process which allows you to present ideas in a way that brings your project to life. You don’t need to be a large or well-known organisation to apply.
We pride ourselves on a friendly and helpful staff team, so we are always happy to discuss questions during the application process. All applications receive a formal response.
Partnerships and professional engagement
Awarding grants to excellent projects is central to what we do. But we also take part in activities beyond grant-making, including policy and research work, building partnerships and directly engaging with our grant holders.
Partnerships are at the heart of our grant-making. Across all our funding areas, we collaborate with other funders or expert bodies. Recent examples include joint funding programmes with the Royal Society, the British Academy, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Hospice UK.
We are keen to share experiences with others as part of a wider philanthropic community. We are therefore part of several forums, including the Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF).
- The traditions of the Wolfson Foundation, I think, are valuable for all of us. The idea of operating in partnership … and that through different elements of a healthy society – medical health, education, and a proper engagement with the past and with the world around us – we can create the kind of citizen that we want. Not just health in the medical sense but health in the civic understanding: access to education, access to knowledge, but above all understanding of how we might function together.
Neil MacGregor OM (former Director of the British Museum)
