A limited number of grants for between £500 and £5,000 (but averaging £1,500) are available to smaller UK charities with an annual turnover of under £500,000 that are working in the UK and/or overseas to support people experiencing hardship, distress and illness, with a focus on children, the homeless and people living in poverty.
The Wise Music Foundation is a London-based charity originally established in 1990 as The Music Sales Charitable Trust. Its aim has always been to help a broad range of domestic and international charitable causes, not necessarily those that are music-related. The Foundation often helps with health issues, overseas famine relief, food banks and other worthy causes.
While the Foundation’s trustees regularly seek out potential beneficiaries, external applications are also welcomed, whether made directly or via the “Applying for Funding” section of its website.
The recipients of Wise Music Foundation donations are primarily – but not exclusively – children, the elderly and the disabled.
The Foundation’s trustees meet on a quarterly basis, usually in the third month of each quarter, to consider all applications. Its annual application deadlines are:
- 28 February for consideration in March.
- 31 May for consideration in June.
- 31 August for consideration in September, and
- 30 November for consideration in December.
The next application deadline is therefore on Saturday 28 February 2026.
Applications should be made at any time using the online application form on its website.