AB Charitable Trust – Open Programme

This is unrestricted trust funding in its purest form. The AB Charitable Trust’s Open Programme backs charities defending the rights of marginalised and excluded people, and gives unrestricted grants wherever possible. There is no digital-project case to write: if you are funded, you decide how the money is spent, and a website is as legitimate a use as anything else. The test is who you are, not what you want to buy.

• What they fund: Unrestricted, multi-year funding for charities working in four priority areas: the human rights framework, access to justice, the criminal legal system and penal reform, and migrants and refugees. Core and project applications are equally welcome, and the Trust is clear that applying for a project rather than core costs does not improve your chances.
• Typical grants: £10,000 to £40,000 per year, awarded for one to three years, with most grants made multi-year.
• Who can apply: UK registered charities with an annual income between £150,000 and £1.5 million, at least a year of operation and a full year’s audited or independently examined accounts, working mainly in England, Scotland and Wales. The Trust usually funds single-focus organisations working solely in its priority areas, so if your rights work is one strand of a broader charity you are unlikely to be prioritised.
• The angle: Because grants are unrestricted wherever possible, a website can simply be part of core investment. A full rebuild, multilingual advice content for migrant and refugee audiences, accessible self-help resources for people navigating the courts, or secure and confidential contact routes for people seeking legal help would all sit comfortably inside the spend.
• Worth knowing: It is competitive, with only around a third of eligible applicants funded. Deadlines are quarterly, and applications go through a two-stage longlisting, then shortlisting with trustees and a phone call before final decisions, so allow months rather than weeks. You apply through an online form, with a separate form for each priority area, and a guidance PDF lets you preview the questions first. The Trust says it is sometimes possible to apply by email if the online form is a barrier. Watch the dates too: the funder’s site published an incorrect July 2026 deadline and has issued a correction, so double-check before you plan an application around a deadline.

Timetable for applications

• Next deadline for applications is 23 October 2026
• Decisions in January 2027
• The Grants Committee meets quarterly, so further deadlines follow through 2027 – check the funder’s site for dates