How businesses can support Cambridgeshire communities

Businesses often wish to support their local communities, where staff and customers are based. However, knowing how to find and fund effective local projects can require a lot of time and effort.

We make giving back to the local community easy and effective.

Thanks to our experience, research, and knowledge, we can help you support the causes your team cares about.

We help you maximise your local impact, by understanding your aims, offering expert advice on local needs, and guiding you through your giving options. The most common is to set up a fund which awards grants to local charitable and community projects.

Join these businesses in supporting your local community:

Setting up a fund

When you set up a fund with us, you can be confident that your charitable giving will be managed responsibly and efficiently.

Many businesses are inundated with requests for support. By directing enquiries to your fund page, you can save valuable time and resources while we handle the administration. We take care of legal compliance, investment management and due diligence on potential projects, helping to minimise risk and remove the paperwork associated with managing a fund yourself.

This means you and your team can focus on the more meaningful aspects of giving. We provide training for colleagues who wish to join grant panels and, through our comprehensive application assessment process, we help you make informed decisions about which projects to support.

Once decisions are made, we communicate with applicants, manage reporting requirements and provide feedback to unsuccessful applicants.

Supporter spotlight

Find out how the Tees Better Future Fund has awarded over £100,000 to local community initiatives across Cambridgeshire, Essex and Hertfordshire.

Tees marks £100,000 in local grant-making

Cheffins

Highlighting your local impact

We help you demonstrate the difference your support is making through regular impact updates, project photos, case studies and statistics for your communications.

Your team can also deepen its connection with local communities through project visits, volunteering opportunities and other ways to engage with the projects you support.

Case study: Cambscuisine Community Fund

Cambscuisine is an award-winning hospitality business operating a collection of pubs and restaurants across Cambridgeshire.

In 2019, they partnered with us to establish a charitable fund supporting local communities.

Through an optional £1 donation added to customer bills over £50, alongside staff fundraising activities, the fund now raises around £75,000 each year for local causes.

Hear directly from the team about what inspired the fund, how the partnership works, and the impact it’s having through supported charities such as Abbey People.

“Since its launch in September 2020, The Cambridge Building Society Community Fund has truly been a game-changer for us. We set off with the explicit purpose of supporting local organisations dedicated to addressing home and housing needs in our community and, since launch, we have channelled nearly £1 million into the fund.

We believe in collaborating with partners that align with our values, and our natural fit with the Cambridgeshire Community Foundation has allowed us to distribute funds simply and effectively through our twice-yearly grant application programme.

We want our Community Fund to be a beacon of support for individuals and organisations facing financial challenges. We understand that a little help can go a long way, especially in tough times, and our Community Fund is here to provide that support.”

– Peter Burrows, CEO at The Cambridge Building Society

Cambridgeshire Responsible Business Network

The Responsible Business Network is a new initiative designed to bring together professionals and business leaders who are committed to making a positive social and environmental impact in Cambridgeshire. It provides a space for those working on CSR, ESG, community engagement or wider responsible business agendas to connect, learn and collaborate.

At Cambridgeshire Community Foundation, we partner with a wide range of professional advisers and businesses who want to create meaningful, lasting change in the places where their staff and clients live and work. We know that achieving this impact is most effective when organisations share ideas, expertise and resources.

The Responsible Business Network offers a forum for exactly that kind of collaboration, helping local businesses stay informed, deepen their community engagement, and work together to strengthen Cambridgeshire’s communities.

To be kept up to date with our Responsible Business Network events, please contact us at events@cambscf.org.uk