Aviva Community Fund 2018 Opens for Entries

Aviva provides life insurance, general insurance, health insurance and asset management to 33 million customers, across 16 markets worldwide.

Aviva Community Fund is an annual funding competition that offers grants to not-for-profit groups in the UK for projects that make a real difference in their local community and address the categories set by Aviva each year. Aviva is making over £1.5 million available to support not-for-profit groups to deliver projects that will make a real difference to local communities.

Objectives of Fund

The Community Fund operates like a competition with the most-voted for projects receiving funding or going forward to a judging panel depending on the amount of funding requested.

All applicants are encouraged to widely promote their projects and gather as much support from their local community as possible.

The most-voted for projects asking for up to £1,000 will secure their funding. The projects with the most votes asking for up to £5,000 or more will go through to the Finals and be judged by Aviva’s judging panel.

The categories for 2018 are:

• Skills for life
• Health and wellbeing
• Environment

Value Notes

For 2018, the awards will be distributed as follows:

General awards – groups can apply for one of these four funding levels:

• Up to £1,000 (400 awards)
• Up to £5,000 (78 awards)
• Up to £10,000 (44 awards)
• Up to £25,000 (16 awards)

Insurance broker awards – this is a separate set of awards for projects submitted and supported by an insurance broker. The broker awards are open to any UK based Insurance Broker. It is not necessary to have an existing account or relationship with Aviva to enter into the broker awards.

• Up to £1,000 (30 awards)
• Up to £5,000 (18 awards)
• Up to £10,000 (6 awards)
• Up to £25,000 (2 awards)

Additional Awards – £500 will be given to every finalist in the £5,000, £10,000 or £25,000 funding levels that does not win an award.

Crowdfunder UK – All projects will have the chance to get more money for their project through crowdfunding. In partnership with Crowdfunder UK, groups can set up a crowdfunding page to run in parallel with their Aviva Community Fund campaign.

Customer and employee awards – £200 will be given to the first 1,000 customer entries and the first 1,000 employee entries, if they do not win any of the funding awards.

Match Funding Restrictions

Projects that do not need additional funding will have a better chance than of succeeding than those relying on other funds being secured.

Who Can Apply

Voluntary and community groups, charities, social enterprises, Community Interest Companies, and faith organisations (for projects that are not solely religious and are open to the wider community) are eligible to apply. Financial advisors and insurance brokers are also eligible to apply on behalf of local projects, which will help increase the group’s chance of winning.

Eligible groups must:

• Have been in existence for at least six months.
• Be a not-for-profit organisation or group for community good.
• Be able to meet the due diligence requirements.
• Have an income of £1 million or less.

Restrictions

The following are not eligible for funding:

• Organisations with an annual income over £1 million per annum.
• Projects for the benefit of an individual.
• Proposals which include any mention of specific individuals, companies, brands or products for promotion purposes.
• Proposals which contain any third party trademarks or material including, but not limited to, photographs/images unless the applicant organisation have the express written permission of said third party.
• Projects containing offensive, obscene or sexually suggestive material, propaganda, potentially misleading information, or defamatory or disparaging material about other people or companies, or endorse any form of hate, hate group or terrorist activity.
• Projects which discriminate unlawfully on the basis of gender, race, religion, creed, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation, or any other basis prohibited by law, as determined by the sole discretion of Aviva.
• Projects which involve any form of mandatory religious study or discriminate against any faith or group. Projects that promote religious advocacy, attempt to convert people to another religion, or attempt to expand membership are not eligible to win the Fund, and may be removed at any point through the competition.
• Activities which support any particular political party or affiliated group.
• Activities which directly promote or speak negatively about any particular faith, political action, legislation or party, or promote or encourage the violation of any law, as determined by the sole discretion of the Promoter.
• Projects which promote any activities that may appear unsafe or dangerous, as determined by the sole discretion of the Promoter.
• Activities which relate to controversial subject matter or any subject that is contrary to the interests of the Aviva Group of companies (‘Aviva’) (including, but not limited to, projects that present an unacceptable regulatory, reputational or other risk to Aviva), as determined by the sole discretion of the Promoter.
• Funding to be used for commercial use or promotion. Ideas that are connected to for-profit business ventures or that financially compensate an idea creator beyond fair wage are not eligible to win any Award and may be removed at any point.
• Funding to be used towards a raffle, chance or lottery prize.

Eligible Expenditure

Funding is available to support causes in communities across the UK within the following categories:

• Skills for life – projects that aim to help communities and individuals improve their lives by learning useful new skills, particularly financial literary and digital ones. Living in an increasingly complex world, many people can begin to feel isolated and left behind if they do not have the opportunity to develop skills to make their lives easier or more fulfilling. Community projects in this category can help people of all ages and backgrounds – from school children to groups for older people.
  • Examples of projects include:
    • Budget training for families with limited income
    • Job skills for young or homeless people
    • Teaching older people how to use new technology
    • Teaching young people financial skills
• Health and wellbeing – projects related to helping people take control of their physical and mental health. Projects within this category should aim to make people feel better on a number of levels, improving physical, mental and emotional health and boosting social interaction. It is open to people of all ages and situations. This includes those caring for others and those that need care.
  • Examples of projects include:
    • Walking clubs to reduce loneliness.
    • Improving playgrounds.
    • Support and activity groups for people living with dementia.
• Environment – community projects trying to improve their natural surroundings and make a positive change to the local area. That could be anything from improving sustainability to regenerating community areas to creating more natural habitats for wildlife. Projects should be trying to make sure the next generation has a better environment to enjoy.
  • Examples of projects include:
    • Clean energy or projects that promote or improve energy efficiency.
    • Improving community flood defences and resilience projects.
    • Cloth nappy loan.
    • Protection of natural habitats and/or endangered species

Projects need to be completed or well underway before 31 December 2019.

How To Apply

Entries will be accepted from 11 September 2018 to 9 October 2018 (midday).

Applicants will need to register on the Aviva website before they can submit a project to the competition. Applicants are encouraged to add videos (must be hosted on YouTube) and photos to their project submission to paint a better picture for the public.

The public will be able to vote for their favourite projects. A toolkit can be found on the Aviva website offering hints, tips and tricks for publicising projects and gathering support.

This year Aviva is partnering with Crowdfunder UK to give groups the chance to raise extra funds for their project as part of the competition. As projects collect votes groups will also be able to choose to crowdfund and turn their support into pledges.

Find out more