Applicants

Comic Relief and Paul Hamlyn Foundation launch ‘Build’, a £1 million digital development fund

January 12, 2021 By Maya Smith

‘Build’ launches today, the 12^th of January 2021. This is an exciting new opportunity to enable UK charities to test and develop digital solutions, with applications opening today and funding available from June 2021.

The Tech for Good programme was launched in 2016 to enable charities to utilise technology to deliver better services. The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the need for organisations to further explore how digital and design capabilities can help transform or maximise their work in supporting vulnerable people.

The Build programme offers long-term funding to individual not-for-profit organisations, or those working in partnerships, to define, test and develop digital solutions, or re-purpose existing technology in order to meet a social need or challenge linked to Comic Relief’s Social Change Strategy. Applicants should be committed to work in one or more of Comic Relief’s four core issue areas: Children Survive and Thrive, Global Mental Health Matters, Fighting for Gender Justice, or A Safe Place to Be. More information on these themes is available here. Comic Relief also welcomes applications addressing challenges related to disability and inclusion outside of the themes specified above, in acknowledgement of the potential of digital technology to address these issues.

The Build programme will offer funding to up to 18 digital projects to a maximum of £70,000 per project. Funding will be available over a nine-month period commencing in June 2021. Alongside funding, successful applicants will have access to technical support from experts and advisors. Funding is open to UK not-for-profit organisations with incomes of between £75,000 and £10 million.

The programme aims to fund a portfolio of digital projects at different stages of development. ‘Build’ is suitable for organisations both at concept stage, as well as organisations who have already commenced digital development.

Applicants that seek to adapt or re-purpose existing technology are also actively encouraged. Re-use can be just as important and effective as building something new. Applications from partnerships between multiple not-for-profit organisations that aim to jointly address or improve a service delivery problem in their areas of work are also welcome.

The Tech for Good programme nurtures digital learning across organisations through the design journey. Participants are expected to collaborate, take part in relevant online training, and share learning at key milestones. Digital development requires distinct working practices, and for this reason, the programme is working with CAST (Centre for the Acceleration of Social Technology) to provide an intensive package of support for the cohort of funded partners, which will include 1-1 support, collaborative workshops with peers on the programme, and online learning sessions.

Comic Relief and CAST will be running Q&A webinars and providing additional guidance over the application period. Sign up using the links below.

Tech for Good 2021 Programme Q&A – Thurs, 14 Jan (12:00 – 13:00)

Tech for Good 2021 Programme Q&A – Thurs, 21 Jan (14:00 – 15:00)

Moira Sinclair, Chief Executive, Paul Hamlyn Foundation:

“The Covid-19 crisis has forced charities to adapt their services at pace. We hope that our Tech for Good programme with Comic Relief will help them to explore and develop the digital solutions they need to improve the way they work and the support they provide to people and communities. The programme is not only about creating a new product or tool – existing technology can be re-purposed or adapted. It’s about understanding where and how a digital approach can make a positive difference for organisations and those they work with.”

Ruth Davison, Chief Executive, Comic Relief:

“The Tech for Good programme will offer organisations the opportunity to build and test a digital solution that could strengthen their services and ultimately better support people and communities. Taking a user-centred and learning-driven approach to designing services is more important than ever: we are so pleased to be able to work with Paul Hamlyn Foundation to make this funding and tailored technical expertise accessible to charities at such a crucial time. This year, we hope the re-design of the fund encourages organisations to also apply with ideas that adapt existing products to suit their needs. We know positively transforming services doesn’t always involve building a new product from scratch.”

Applications close at 12pm on 12 February 2021. Visit https://www.comicrelief.com/funding/funding-opportunities/tech-for-good-build-2021/ for further information.

5 ways to turn your video application into a showstopper

December 10, 2017 By Joe Roberson

Are you thinking about cake?

Or wondering what makes a great tech for good application video?

Lots of you have been asking that question to Nissa Ramsay, Comic Relief’s Tech for Good Programme Manager. So, in response, she’s asked me to share some ingredients from the best videos last time round.

Making a video

If you’ve not made a video before it can feel daunting. But making one is like baking a cake. You need some basic ingredients, a decent recipe, and then a few extras to turn it into a showstopper [Read more…] about 5 ways to turn your video application into a showstopper

Tech for Good Applications Analysis

June 13, 2017 By Martha

David Kane is a Data Scientist working for Cast and Beehive Giving, who has produced an analysis of applications to the Tech for Good programme, as well as a searchable directory of applications. Please see his introduction to this analysis below.

As part of applying to the Tech for Good funding programme, applicants were informed that their application would be made public even if they were unsuccessful.

This meant that when Comic Relief asked us to analyse the applications to the fund we could expand the scope of analysis beyond just the ten successful applications. Looking at all applications allows us to look at wider trends – such as who is asking for tech for good funding, what do they want to do with it, and what stage of digital development are they at.

The analysis looks at five main questions:

– What types of technology are being developed?
– What approaches are adopted?
– What’s the focus of the application?
– Who are the target audience?
– What stage of development are the projects?

Surprisingly, the first of these was the most difficult to answer. Reflecting the criteria of the fund, the projects were generally at the concept or pilot stage. This meant that applicants had often not yet come to decisions about the technology they would be using – and described the project outputs in more general terms as an “app” or “website”. I believe this should be seen as a positive – a sign that applicants were focusing on the problems they wanted to solve, rather than letting the technology drive the project goals.

You can read more answers to the questions above in the application analysis. The analysis showed that the typical application was from a larger registered charity based in London, but that there was variation beyond that typical picture. The largest focus of applications was on health and wellbeing, and generally applicants were aiming to provide services directly to beneficiaries.

We’ve also created a directory of applications, where you can explore the projects, filtering by their individual characteristics. We’ve made the code for the site available on Github.

Tech for Good longlist

March 25, 2017 By billy

In October 2016, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Comic Relief joined forces to support the best use of tech for good in the UK. We asked applicants to submit a project summary, a two-minute video and infographic.

Here you can find our top 50 applications, of which ten were awarded funding.

We are sharing these to celebrate their ambitions, inspire others, foster collaboration and encourage more funding in this space. The ten projects funded were announced in April 2017. They received up to £50,000 (including access to tech experts, mentoring and support) to deliver a tangible development in their Tech for Good project, over four months.