Thames Reach

Background: Supporting people experiencing homelessness across London
For more than 40 years, Thames Reach has worked to prevent and resolve homelessness across all 32 London boroughs and the City of London.

The charity supports people experiencing rough sleeping and those at risk of homelessness, helping them access accommodation, specialist support and the services they need to rebuild their lives. In 2022/23 alone, Thames Reach supported more than 12,000 homeless and vulnerable people.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, demand for the charity’s services increased significantly. At the same time, Thames Reach wanted to strengthen its trusts and foundations fundraising by identifying suitable funding opportunities more efficiently.

GrantFinder is a subscription-based, dynamic funding database designed for charities, community groups, researchers and public sector organisations across the UK. The platform enables users to search thousands of live funding opportunities from trusts, foundations, government bodies and corporate sponsors, alongside personalised alerts for new funding opportunities.

Challenge: Finding the right funding opportunities faster
As demand for services grew, Thames Reach wanted a more efficient way to research funding opportunities, helping the fundraising team spend less time searching and more time preparing high-quality applications.

The charity wanted to:

• Identify suitable funding opportunities more quickly.
• Prioritise grants with the greatest chance of success.
• Receive alerts about new opportunities as they became available.
• Make better use of fundraising resources.

Solution: A smarter approach to trusts and foundations research
GrantFinder gave Thames Reach access to an extensive, continuously updated funding database alongside personalised funding alerts.

Milton Bevan, Fundraising Manager (Trusts and Foundations), said:

“We were looking for a competitive advantage in our trusts and foundations research so we could quickly identify which funding opportunities were worth pursuing and which weren’t.”

The platform enables the team to search thousands of live funding opportunities, save relevant searches, receive automated alerts and easily share opportunities across the organisation.

Milton added:

“The support we receive from our Account Manager, Timothy Crampton, is second to none. Regular catchups help us make the most of GrantFinder and ensure we’re using the platform effectively.”

Outcome: Time saved and funding secured
Within the first month of using GrantFinder, Thames Reach secured a £100,000 grant from a corporate foundation, supporting its work helping people affected by homelessness, COVID-19 and the cost-of-living crisis.

GrantFinder’s automated alerts and regularly updated funding intelligence have also transformed the charity’s approach to funding research, enabling the team to spend less time searching and more time progressing applications.

Milton said:

“The automated alerts mean I can review funding opportunities as they arise or whenever it suits me. Rather than spending hours researching, I can focus on assessing opportunities, sharing them with colleagues and progressing applications.

“GrantFinder has saved us a great deal of time while delivering a strong return on investment through successful grant applications.”