How we work?

The Robertson Trust aims to be a flexible and helpful funder that builds relationships with the organisations we fund. We have a small staff team who work hard to provide the support required by charities that wish to make applications. We recognise that charities are often dealing with complex issues and we try to provide as much advice and support as we can in addition to donations. We are always happy to answer telephone and e-mail enquiries and to give pre-application support as appropriate. We will only meet with potential applicants once we have received an application.

We want to fund effective people and organisations that can make a difference. We are an independent grant-maker and we are willing to take risks and support new ideas; however, we will also fund ongoing work which can show it makes a difference. Donations can take the form of core funding including salaries and general running costs, project grants or capital grants for building or equipment.

How to apply?

The Robertson Trust does not have an application form. We invite application by letter to enable applicants to express themselves in their own words without the restrictions of set questions. However, there are certain details which you will need to include in your application to enable the Trust to make an informed decision on whether or not to fund your organisation. These are detailed in the guidelines.

In addition applicants are requested to complete an Organisation Information Sheet which asks for basic factual information about the charity.

The Trustees introduced new guidelines in early 2007.

The four priority areas are now Care, Health, Education and Training and Community Art and Sport.

The Trustees have identified a further 7 categories for support which are: Animal Welfare, Civil Society, Communities, Culture, Heritage and Science, Environment, Saving Lives and Young People and Families.

Four types of donation have been established; small, main, major capital and development.

Small and main donations form the bulk of the donations made by the Trust and are assessed on a rolling programme with recommendations made to the Trustees six times a year.

Major capital donations which are likely to be for capital developments where the total value is in excess of £1M will be considered twice a year in August and March.

There are a number of areas of charitable work which the Trust does not support and these are detailed in our guidelines. A new addition was made to these in early 2007 when the Trustees decided that that they will no longer give donations to organisations and projects who primarily provide a counselling, advice and/or information service.

Full guidelines and the Organisation Information Sheet can be downloaded in Word or PDF format on the navigation to the left.