Turn2us - to access benefits & grants.

How do I search for a grant?

This section explains how to use the Turn2us Grants Search database to search for charitable funds, based on your personal circumstances, background and needs.

You can read through this information sheet, or go directly to the sections you want to read by clicking on these links:

• Assisted search which provides a step-by-step guide to searching for funds that match your background and experience
• Advanced search which gives a series of drop-down boxes from which you can select the criteria that applies to you or the person you are seeking a grant for 
• A-Z listing of the grant-giving charities that have funds listed on our database. If you know the name of a grant-giving charity you want more information on, you can search for their contact details using this listing
• Tips for searching

The Assisted Grants Search

The Assisted Search is a wizard-based tool that will take you through the process of compiling your query. You do not have to complete every section and can run a query at any time.

It will take you through the following pages:

1. Help required page

• On the Help required page, tell us the reason you are asking for help by selecting this using the drop-down menus. An example might be heating bills
• Click the “Add to search” button when you have made your selection. Your choice will be added to the search summary box on the right of the page
• You can remove items by clicking the ' ' icon
• You do not have to complete every drop down option
• A summary of the number of results your selection will return can be found at the foot of the page
• You can run your search immediately by clicking the “View my results” button or continue to the next page to add more criteria
• Click the "Continue to About You" button to move to the next page.

2. About you page

• On the About you page, use the drop-down menus and tick boxes to add any details about your circumstances which may be relevant  - for example a disability
• Click the “Add to search” button when you have made your selection. Your choice will be added to the search summary box on the right of the page
• You can remove items by clicking the ' ' icon
• You do not have to complete every question or every section
• A summary of the number of results your selection will return can be found at the foot of the page
• You can either run your search immediately by clicking the “View my results” button or continue to the next page to add more criteria
• Click the "Continue to Occupation" button to move to the next page.

3. Occupation page

• On the “Occupation” page use the drop down menus to add details about your previous employment which may be relevant (for example armed forces)
• Click the “Add to search” button when you have made your selection. Your choice will be added to the search summary box on the right of the page.
• You can remove items by clicking the '(-)' icon
• You do not have to complete every drop down option
• A summary of the number of results your selection will return can be found at the foot of the page
• You can either run your search immediately by clicking the “View my results” button or continue to the next page to add more criteria
• Click the "Continue to location" button to move to the next page.

4. Location

• On the “Location” page, click on the map only if you wish to view charities that offer help to people in your local area (for example Wales). Your choice will be added to the search summary box on the right of the page
• You can remove items by clicking the '(-)' icon
• A summary of the number of results your selection will return can be found at the foot of the page.

5. Results

You can view your results:

• Clicking the “View my results” button that appears on every page
• Clicking “Results” on the progress bar at the top of the screen
• Clicking “Continue to Results” on the Location page.

Points to remember

• You do not have to complete every question or every section.
• You can move back and forth through the wizard by clicking on the breadcrumb trail at the top of the page
• You can run a search at any time
• You can remove and add new criteria at any time
• Watch the number of result your criteria will return as you move through the assisted search. Run a search when you have a manageable amount of result
• You can order your results alphabetically or by the size of an available fund
• You can order your results to indicate only charities which accept online enquiries
• Where the search indicates there are no available results, remove criteria to widen your query.

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The Advanced Grants Search

The advanced search is a form-based tool designed for intermediary users that will allow you add and remove criteria quickly to manipulate complex queries.

Criteria can be added to five key sections:

1. Occupation – which refers to the enquirer’s former or current employment
2. Personal background – which refers to an enquirer’s circumstances
3. Location – which refers to where and enquirers lives
4. Help required – which refers to the type of help required by an enquirer.
5. Keywords – which is a free text box to add specific criteria.

To use the Advanced Search

1. Click on the grey boxes to open each area select the criteria that apply to you or the person you are seeking a grant for
2. The criteria you select will build your query in the box at the foot of the page
3. A summary of the number of results your selection will return can be found at the foot of the page
4. You can remove items by clicking the '(-)' icon
5. When you have finished click the 'Search' button
6. Your results will display at the bottom of the page.

Points to remember

1. You do not have to complete every question or every section
2. You can run a search at any time
3. You can remove and add new criteria at any time
4. Watch the number of results that your criteria returns as you move through the advanced search. You will probably find that when you start a search the number of possible results is very large. Keep adding criteria until you have a manageable number of results
5. Where the search you do suggests there are no available funds, remove criteria to widen your query.

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The A-Z Grants Search

You can find the contact details of all the grant giving charities listed on the website in our A-Z Grants Search Listing - an alphabetic listing of all the contact details of all the charities on our database. Just click on a letter in the alphabetic listing to return a list of charities whose titles start with that letter.

Please note:

• The A-Z listing provides the contact details of the charities that run these funds. If you want to make a direct enquiry, you should make it to the charitable fund rather than the grant-giving charity that runs it.
• You cannot apply to a charitable fund directly using the A-Z Grants Search Listing.

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Tips for searching

• The more information about yourself that you are able to use, the more accurate the matches you will find. So think about every aspect of your background and circumstances.
• Few people have ‘careers for life’ these days, so when searching for help from occupational charitable funds, think about all the jobs that you have had in your working life. For instance, if you have served in the armed forces, even though this was some years ago, it is likely that you will qualify for help from one of their charitable funds.
• Also think about the industries or companies you have worked in as some occupational grant-giving charities give to people who have worked in them - whether their job was as a managing director or a cleaner.
• There are charitable funds set up to help in ways you might not expect. So think of as many aspects of your life as possible that might help you qualify for help from a charitable fund. For example, 'vegetarian'.
• If you don't find what you want first time, refine your search by adding and removing search criteria. You are likely to see different results
• Try to find a balance between putting in too much information and not enough.  Too much and you'll end up filtering out charitable funds that may be able to help. For example, by including details on nationalities you are likely to exclude charities that help people regardless of nationality. Not enough and you'll end up wading through pages of charities that are not relevant to the person you are working with.
• Use very narrow criteria or keywords to track down charitable funds with a more defined focus. This helps you to find charities that support people who have a specific nationality, or work in one profession or live in a particular place. For instance, 'Scotland'; 'gardeners' or 'French'.
• When you finish your search and get a list of funds that may be able to help you, check their qualifying rules again before making an enquiry. This is because you may find your search results contain some that will not be able to help you. The secret is to find a connection between your background or circumstances and the group of people the charities help.

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Last updated: 16 September 2011