Youth Endowment Fund

Our targeted projects funding is for programmes that don’t fit into our themed rounds or place-based funding, but are widely used or promising with the potential to scale. We’ll provide the resources to fund, evaluate and learn from them.

We are only likely to make up to five targeted project grants each year. Applications will be therefore assessed both individually and competitively against other proposals submitted during the same rolling period.

We will prioritise applications from organisations that:

• Are reaching, or have the potential to reach, the highest number of children across multiple regions.

• Are ready for large scale trials earlier.

• Have the greatest potential to achieve change at scale. This could be through you directly scaling up your programme, others learning from what you do or by your programme leading to a change in the system.

• Have secured significant match funding.

Eligibility

Organisations can apply for targeted projects funding against two strands of activity. Across both strands there is a requirement for organisations to have significant match funding. This can include in-kind contributions or previously secured grant funding.

Strand one
To fund and evaluate popular and commonly used interventions and approaches to better understand their effectiveness. Projects applying under this strand must:

• Be able to clearly explain what the project involves and how the activity achieves its intended impact. This is sometimes called a theory of change, which is a method to help describe long-term goals and map backwards to explain how an intervention will get you there.

• Be actively reaching hundreds of children each year in England and/or Wales.

Strand two

To fund and evaluate promising interventions and approaches that draw on good evidence and have the potential for impact at scale. Projects applying under this strand must:

• Be able to draw on evidence to clearly explain what the project involves and how the activity achieves its intended impact (a theory of change).

• Be willing and likely to deliver to hundreds of children within two years in England and/or Wales.

To find out more about our targeted projects, please read our guidance.

How to apply

Due to our approach to evidence and understanding, the application process can take up to six months to complete. If your project is time sensitive (for example, if you’re only applying for evaluation costs for a programme due to begin within the next six months), please email us to arrange a call to discuss your proposal before applying.

Step 1: Confirm eligibility

Read the targeted projects guidance.
Complete the online targeted projects eligibility checker to confirm you are eligible to apply.

Step 2: Initial proposal

If eligible, send a proposal (no longer than one page) setting out which strand you are applying for, your funding request, proposed timeline of activity and how you meet the programme assessment criteria to targetedprojects@youthendowmentfund.org.uk.
We will email within six weeks to confirm if you have been successful at the initial proposal stage.
If you are successful, we will send you guidance to complete a full application.

Step 3: Full application

Complete the full application.
We will email within eight weeks to confirm if you have been successful at this stage.
If you are successful, we will be in touch to arrange for any further information required to take your proposal forward to our Grants and Evaluation Committee.

Step 4: Committee Review

Successful applications will be taken forward for review at our quarterly Grants and Evaluation Committee. We will let you know the date your application is due to be reviewed and will update you on the outcome within one week of that date.

Step 5: Evaluation design

All YEF funded programmes must be independently evaluated. We will work with all applicants to design an evaluation which works for you and your project. Designing an evaluation normally requires your proposed project plan to be adapted in some way. We don’t expect you to have a clear idea of how your programme could be evaluated when you apply. But you will have to work with us to shape your project so that it can be robustly evaluated by one of our approved evaluation partners.
This may involve, for instance, adjusting some elements of delivery, or delivering your programme on a larger scale than you initially proposed. To enable this to happen, programmes will need to engage in an extensive co-design process which may take up to three months (depending on the size and complexity of your programme).
We’re looking to work with partners who are committed to understanding more about their programme, and who are collaborative about working with us and an independent evaluator. It’s important that everyone’s happy with the agreed project and evaluation design before any delivery starts. We wouldn’t be able to go ahead with the project otherwise.
We will also try to understand how your programme works. Alongside the impact evaluation, the independent evaluation team will conduct a detailed process evaluation. This usually involves speaking to participants in depth, conducting surveys, interviews, and case studies to learn as much as possible about your approach.

Step 6: Committee final approval

Once you, your appointed evaluator and us are happy with the evaluation design, we will make a final recommendation to our YEF Grants and Evaluation Committee for approval.
The Committee may come back with clarification questions which we will work through with you and your appointed evaluator.
If the Committee approves your grant award and evaluation design, we will share a draft grant agreement for your review and signature.

Check your eligibility today!

Targeted projects guidance

Please read our guidance carefully before applying.

Download here.

Next steps

To find out whether our targeted project funding is right for your organisation, please complete our online eligibility checker.

Contact us

If you would like to talk to a member of our targeted projects team, please click here.