Get in touch with the Philanthropy Team
We are happy to hear from charities looking for support, so please feel free to get in touch if your organisation is making a difference and you think Baillie Gifford could help.
What we are looking for
Our aim is to support initiatives where we can truly make a difference. We support a very broad range of projects, spanning arts and culture, community initiatives, education, environment, social causes and charities working internationally.
Other than our international giving, all our philanthropic support is targeted to charities headquartered in and working in Scotland.
Our support is purely philanthropic, so we are not looking for any sponsorship, marketing, branding or PR benefits.
We do not support conferences, student societies, one-off events like fundraising galas, or individual fundraising appeals, and prefer to support long-term projects making a difference.
While we do not have a set income threshold, if you are a charity or community organisation with an income of less than £250,000, it is less likely that your application will be successful. Instead, we would encourage you to explore funding available through our partner, Foundation Scotland, which specialises in funding for local charities and community groups.
If you are unsure whether your charity meets our remit, feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to advise.
Our approach to philanthropy
Before you submit an enquiry or proposal, it’s worth reading our introduction to Philanthropy at Baillie Gifford, which gives an overview of our approach and why we donate.
Asking for support
Our preference is to receive a brief summary (one page) of your initiative and an indication of the level of funding you are looking for. If you have videos or photos that help bring your project to life, please feel free to include these too. If this is of interest, we would then invite a full proposal and can avoid taking up too much of your time if your charity is not the right fit for us.
If you are confident your charity meets our remit and would like to send a full proposal in, you may do so, but please ensure it is no more than four (A4) pages long, including a budget.
We encourage you to think about the following questions when telling us about your activity:
Are you a registered charity?
We only support organisations with charitable status, such as registered charities, SCIOs and CICs.
Are you headquartered and working in Scotland?
Our main focus is supporting charities who are headquartered and operating in Scotland.
If your charity is based in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, we can only consider an application if you work internationally in areas of humanitarian aid, education, or environmental causes. You are welcome to contact us directly, or apply via our Foundation Scotland International Fund.
If your charity is based outside the UK, unfortunately we cannot consider an application.
Why are you requesting a donation?
We are interested in your aims and objectives, and why you need support. Tell us about the difference your project will make. It is also helpful to know if there is a long-term plan and how you plan to fund this in future.
What level of donation are you looking for?
Please be clear in asking what financial support you need. We prefer to fund activity with multiple income sources, and not be the only funder for the project. We are open to requests for staff and core costs, and are happy to consider requests for multi-year funding.
Meet our team
Meet the team working on your proposals.
Examples of our charitable engagement
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