FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS!

We don’t want you wasting your time putting together an application that is unlikely to succeed, so we like to check that your proposal is something our trustees might consider before sending you a link to complete an online application form. You can call JMF’s office in Merseyside on 0151 707 6077 or in Northern Ireland 028 2888 6161 (please leave a message) or e-mail us at info@johnmooresfoundation.com with a brief outline of your project.

We don’t have a limit for the amount requested; however, it may be useful to have a look at our Merseyside and Northern Ireland funding sections or the grants list in our annual accounts to see examples of grants made in the last financial year. The average grant in Merseyside in 2024/25 was £6,810 and £2,990 in Northern Ireland. But bear in mind, that even if the Trustees do make a grant it may not be for as much as you applied for.

You are welcome to telephone JMF’s office in Merseyside on 0151 707 6077 or in Northern Ireland 07415 447 910 and we will be happy to answer your questions.

Although, we are happy to answer any questions that you may have regarding applying for a grant from us, we do not offer help with completing applications.

There are no set deadlines for applications, JMF operates a rolling system. Same policy applies for Northern Ireland.

In a first instance we would like you to submit the following information:

• completed online application form (can be requested from Merseyside or Northern Ireland office)
• project budget (as an attachement to your online application form)

If your application is shortlisted after the first stage of decisions, we will ask you to submit the following information within 7 days:

• latest annual accounts
• latest annual report

• minutes from board meetings
• list of current members of management committee
• equal opportunities policy
• job description (when applying for wages)

• copy of bank statement in organisation’s name
• signed grant conditions form

As a general rule you should allow up to 6 months in Merseyside and 5-6 months in NI for a decision to be made. JMF operates a two stage process and you will hear from us within three month to inform you about an outcome of the first stage, if appropriate, you will then be visited by a member of our staff. You are welcome to phone or e-mail us anytime and ask for an update.

JMF asks groups to apply via an online application form for both Merseyside and Northern Ireland grants. If you find it difficult to submit your form online, please contact the relevant office to discuss other options of submission. Please don’t send your application as a zip file or other compressed format as our antivirus programme will stop the file before it can reach us.

We would recommend not reapplying within 6 months, but it’s worth speaking to us first to find out if there were any specific reasons for being turned down.

No, we support both new and existing projects.

No. Groups can only have one running grant with JMF. However, you may be able to apply again few months before the end of your existing grant, as the decision process can take up to 5 months. Yes, we accept requests for up to 3 years of funding when salaries or running costs are required. However, we will ask you to not to apply to JMF for another grant for 12 months after the 3 years of funding have come to an end. For example if you had grants paid in Sep 2022, Sep 2023 and Sep 2024, you will not be able to apply again until Sep 2026.

Yes, we accept requests for up to 3 years of funding when salaries or running costs are required. However, we will ask you to not to apply to JMF for another grant for 12 months after the 3 years of funding have come to an end. For example if you had grants paid in Sep 2022, Sep 2023 and Sep 2024, you will not be able to apply again until Sep 2026.

No, we do not require groups to be registered charities (Except in Northern Ireland, where you must be registered or in the process of becoming a charity) . In Merseyside, Trustees prefer for the organisations to be a registered charity where possible, for reasons of accountability, transparency and legal restrictions. All organisations must produce annual accounts (if over one year old), have a written set of rules and a bank account in the name of the group which requires at least two signatories. Please make sure that your project falls within the criteria.

If your group is not a registered charity (e.g. a CIC), you may apply for funding as long as the work you do is charitable in law (applies to Merseyside only). However, we prefer that your organisation has a minimum of three Directors, with the majority being unpaid in any capacity within the organisation and that it produces accounts that detail its sources of income and breaks down its expenditure.  No applications will be accepted from CICs limited by shares.

In 2024/25,in Merseyside 66% of applications received were shortlisted. Out of the shortlist, 90.7% of applications were funded, although this may not have been for the full amount requested. In other words, 60% of all applications in Merseyside received were funded in 2024/25. In Northern Ireland, John Moores Foundation awarded grants to 80% of the organisations that applied for funding.

We understand that it helps organisations to receive feedback from funders. We are receiving a rapidly increasing number of funding requests and, as much as our Trustees would love to, the Foundation can’t meet them all.

We can provide more meaningful feedback on applications that were rejected in the final round. Applicants are welcome to email us after they receive their decision letter, and we will do our best to provide a response. For any applications rejected in the first round of decisions, the shortlisting stage of applications is conducted solely by the trustees, and JMF’s office staff, including the Grants Director, are not part of these discussions. Therefore, it is often not possible to provide any feedback, and if we do, it will be merely an indication.