Grants of up to £10,000 are available to enable UK charities, voluntary groups and not-for profits organisations to access DPO data protection advice and consultancy services.
The Data Protection Officer (DPO) Centre’s Charity and Community Fund is similar to other professional bodies such as the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists in that it provides funding to access its protection advice and consultancy services for UK charities and not-for-profit organisations.
The DPO Centre has set aside a £150,000 (previously £100,000) funding pot, divided into 3 application periods throughout 2024. The first application deadline was Sunday 31 March 2024. The current round is open until Thursday 1 August 2024. Each round has a budget of £50,000. Eligible charities can apply for a grant towards any of the following DPO consultancy services:
- Data Protection Training.
- Data Protection Readiness.
- Data Sharing and International Transfers.
- Impact Assessments and Gap Analysis.
- Information Asset Register and Data Mapping.
- Policy Drafting and Review, and
- Privacy-by-Design.
Please note that this is not an exclusive list and the DPO may be able to offer other consultancy and advice services.
Grants of up to £10,000 are available. There is a 20% matched funding requirement. Previously unsuccessful organisations are welcome to reapply, but only one application per 12-month period will be considered.
To be eligible to apply, organisations must:
- Be based in the UK.
- Be willing to carry out a case study once the consultancy work has been completed.
- Have a bank account in the organisation's name, and
- Have a management committee in place of at least three people.
The application process is:
Stage 1 – eligible organisations should initially submit a brief online application through the DPO Centre website.
Stage 2 - applicants will receive an email confirming their submission, following which the DPO Centre will request further information to complete the application.
Further information, guidance and details about how to apply is available on the DPO Centre website.
The further grants round will be announced this autumn.