GrantBridge UK

    My Funding Central alternatives for UK charities

    My Funding Central is Idox's charity funding database, launched as the successor to NCVO's Funding Central after it closed in 2021. It is aimed at charities and VCSE organisations, including smaller ones under specific income thresholds, and adds funding streams over time. [S1, S2]

    If you are looking for an alternative, it is worth being precise about what you are replacing. A funding database answers "who could fund this?". It does not answer "which of these are we eligible for, who is writing them, and what is due first?". This page compares both honestly, with sources.

    Last reviewed: 7 August 2026.

    Naming note. "Funding Central" was NCVO's funding portal, which closed in 2021. My Funding Central is a separate, Idox-run service launched to fill that gap. [S1, S2] Full five-way comparison on the compare page.

    No card required. £49 per month per organisation if you choose to upgrade after the trial, unlimited team members.

    GrantBridge and My Funding Central side by side

    Based on information each provider publishes publicly. Both services change over time, so check the linked sources before deciding.

    Category GrantBridge My Funding Central
    Primary focus Profile-driven matching plus a workspace to track and manage applications Funding search and discovery for charities and VCSE organisations
    Origin Built as a UK charity grant matching and application platform Launched by Idox in 2021 as the successor to NCVO's Funding Central
    Audience described publicly UK charities, CIOs, CICs and community organisations Charities and VCSE organisations, including those under specific income thresholds
    Cost model shown publicly £49/mo per organisation, 14-day trial with no card Free for some smaller organisations; subscription otherwise (details vary)
    Team members Unlimited team members included, no per-seat fees Not clearly stated on accessible public pages
    Eligibility filtering Matches scored against your saved organisation profile before you see them Search and filtering of listed opportunities
    Application drafting and collaboration Application workspace, evidence bank, answer versioning (paid plan) Not described on accessible public pages
    Best fit Teams that want eligibility-filtered matches and one place to manage the work Smaller VCSE organisations wanting an accessible opportunities database

    What My Funding Central offers

    NCVO's Funding Central was discontinued in 2021, and Idox launched My Funding Central as the successor service for charities and VCSE organisations, describing new streams being added daily and a target audience of organisations under specific income thresholds. [S1, S2]

    For a small charity that has never paid for funding research, an accessible database aimed squarely at the VCSE sector is a sensible first step. Breadth of listings is exactly what you want when you are still building a picture of who funds work like yours.

    Neutral framing: this is a funding database and service positioned for VCSE users, rather than an awarded-grants open data explorer or an application workflow tool.

    Where a database alone stops helping

    The common pattern is this: a charity subscribes, exports a promising list, and then the list sits in a spreadsheet. Three months later two deadlines have passed, one application was half written by someone who has since left, and nobody can find the version of the safeguarding policy that was attached to the last submission.

    That is not a criticism of any database. It is a different job. The work between "we found this grant" and "we submitted this application" is where most small charities lose funding, and it is work that needs deadlines, ownership, reusable content and a record of what was said last time.

    Where GrantBridge is different

    GrantBridge asks for your organisation profile once: legal structure, region, cause areas, income band, beneficiaries. Every grant is then scored against that profile with a fit score and a suggested next action, so ineligible opportunities do not reach your shortlist. Only verified grants enter matching. [S3]

    After that it is a workspace rather than a search box: a pipeline with statuses, deadline tracking and reminders, an evidence bank that stores reusable answers and supporting documents, and an application workspace with drafting and version history. Unlimited team members are included at £49 per month per organisation, which matters when trustees and volunteers need visibility. [S3]

    See charity grant application software for how the drafting side works, or grant tracking software for the pipeline.

    When My Funding Central is the better choice

    • You qualify for free or reduced access as a smaller organisation and budget is the binding constraint. [S1]
    • You are at the discovery stage, applying to two or three funders a year, and a spreadsheet still copes with the workload.
    • You want breadth of listings to browse rather than a filtered shortlist based on a saved profile.
    • Your organisation already runs applications through a CRM or case management system you are committed to.

    Other alternatives worth shortlisting

    • GrantNav (360Giving) is free and best for researching where grant money has already gone, using open awarded grants data with search, filtering and downloads. Genuinely the right answer if your question is about funder behaviour rather than open calls. [S5]

    • Funds Online (DSC) covers 8,000-plus funders with researcher-written records including statutory and EU sources, priced per user licence. [S4] See our Funds Online comparison.

    • GrantFinder (Idox) is a researcher-supported database with news and alerts and a service-led model, with pricing by demo request. [S6] See our GrantFinder comparison.

    Full five-way breakdown with sources on the compare page.

    What to check before you switch or add a tool

    1. 1.Confirm your current terms. If you have free or discounted access based on income thresholds, check what you would lose before changing anything.
    2. 2.Diagnose the real bottleneck. Count how many applications you started last year versus how many you submitted. A large gap points at workflow, not discovery.
    3. 3.Check who needs access. Trustees and volunteers often need visibility, which is cheaper under per-organisation pricing than per-seat.
    4. 4.Bring your existing content. Past applications, outcome data and policies are the raw material for an evidence bank. Gather them before you start.
    5. 5.Run one real application. Trial any tool against a live deadline rather than a hypothetical one.

    Frequently asked questions

    Sources

    My Funding Central is a product of its respective owner and is not affiliated with GrantBridge. This page summarises publicly published information at the date shown and is reviewed periodically. Where a detail is not stated publicly, we say so rather than guessing.

    Try GrantBridge before you commit

    Fourteen days of grant matching, deadline tracking and saved grants with no card. Upgrade only when you want the application workspace and drafting tools.

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