About us - The Fore

Our vision, mission and values

The Fore is the UK’s only venture philanthropy fund backing the best small charities and social enterprises.

Our definition of Venture Philanthropy is the provision of support through:

Unrestricted funding
Skills and training support
Impact Management

Why (our vision): The Fore is creating a society that solves its own problems.

What we do (our mission):

- We find and fund high-potential leaders of the best grassroots charities and social enterprises
- We convene visionary philanthropists – corporate and individual – with funding and skills to share
- We connect our leaders with the right networks

How we do it (our values):

- We back social entrepreneurs as experts
- We use the best business practice
- We focus ruthlessly on impact

Our unique role and approach

The Fore’s rigorous, equitable, transparent approach screens thousands of small charities and social enterprises (turnover under £0.5m) to identify those with exceptional leadership, innovative ideas and cost-effective solutions.

We bring together businesses, trusts and foundations, philanthropists and individuals who want to create impact by sharing their skills and resources with the best small charities.

We provide a wraparound package of unrestricted, multi-year grant-funding (up to £45,000) training, skilled volunteers, peer-to-peer networks and impact measurement.

Find out more about what we offer, and if you’re eligible to apply.

Why we're needed

The UK faces immense challenges, from inequality, ill health, and injustice, to climate change. Top-down interventions cannot address these complex issues alone.

Thousands of innovative local charities have scalable solutions that could create the change we need. Yet barriers to funding and skills stop the best small charities from making the impact that society needs.

1. There is very little funding out there for small charities

Charities with a turnover of under £1 million make up 96% of the sector, with a significant portion having a turnover of less than £500k
Small and micro-organisations only access 4% of the sector’s total income
This has fallen by 26% since 2007
Larger charities with well-established fundraising teams gain most of the funding

2. Funding is often restricted, and inflexible. It’s tough to find funding to invest in the future

Smaller and younger charities can be seen as too risky to fund or too hard to find
Most grants are restricted and project-based
“Restricted” funding must be used for specific costs outlined by the funder
“Core” or “unrestricted” funding – which can be used for paying staff, rent or IT for example – is hard to come by

3. The social entrepreneurs we back are exceptional leaders. Despite this, many lack access to the expertise they need to grow their organisation

We matchmake our portfolio charities to highly skilled business specialists. We have over 1000+ experts in our network
We offer impact measurement courses. Charities learn how to present data required by other funders and tell the story of the difference they are making
We run trustee match-making events, regular online workshops, peer-to-peer networking opportunities and more
We offer feedback to every applicant
Our “Strategic Applicant Consultants” work with shortlisted charities to test their ideas

Did you know? A study found that the majority of charities would swap £1m of restricted funding for £500,000 of unrestricted funding.

Our goal

For exceptional solutions to make it from grassroots to nationwide impact* in 5 years.

*Nationwide impact can be achieved through:
1. Geographical expansion
2. Model replication or adoption, or mergers where the charity’s programmes or approach are retained
3. Government or policy influence
4. Movement-building
5. Advocating best-practice

Our ethos

We are pioneering. We set out to do things differently, in new and better ways. We’re not afraid to take risks. We believe in the power of the good example.

We maximise our impact. We are driven by excellence and efficiency in everything we do, including measuring our impact. We strive for the exceptional. We seek to work with the best and most effective leaders and partners and are thorough in finding them.

We collaborate. We bring together people who know change is possible. We believe in connecting and conversation. We work together with people from every walk of life, across the political spectrum. We believe in “being in the room”.

We are equitable. We are committed to breaking down barriers. We treat everyone with fairness, integrity and respect. We are open to different viewpoints. We are keen to grow and learn together.

We empower. We believe our charities are experts in their own fields, and we let them lead the way. We nurture and invest in our partnerships. We build confidence and share knowledge.

We are humble, open and honest. We are transparent in how we operate. We offer prompt, sincere feedback. We aren’t afraid to be challenged or hold power to account

Our history

Until 2023, The Fore and all its activities was run as a restricted fund under the umbrella of The Bulldog Trust (Registered Charity 1120381).

The Fore was launched in 2017 after a four year pilot run by The Bulldog Trust. Mary Rose Gunn, Founder and CEO of The Fore, served as Chief Executive of The Bulldog Trust and its headquarters Two Temple Place from 2007. She stood down from The Bulldog Trust to focus on The Fore in 2022. The Fore’s status as an independent charity was finalised on 27th July 2023 upon official recognition by the Charity Commission.

The Fore’s ethos for supporting grassroots social entrepreneurship is inspired by Richard (Tigger) Q Hoare, the much loved founder of The Bulldog Trust and a venture philanthropist before his time. Following his tragic death from Covid in March 2020, Tigger’s life and philanthropic work was celebrated in Philanthropy Impact Magazine and The Guardian.