How to Use 360Giving GrantNav 2026: Complete UK Tutorial

How to Use 360Giving GrantNav: A Complete Tutorial for UK Charities

The free UK grants database every fundraiser should know. Step-by-step tutorial on using GrantNav to research funders, find similar grants, and target your applications more accurately.

Last reviewed: 12/06/2026 · By Ivan Siyanko, CEO, CharityIQ.

TL;DR. GrantNav is a free search engine for UK grants data published by 200+ UK funders. Total: over 1 million grants worth £8 billion+. Best uses: research a funder, find similar grants, identify priorities by theme or geography. Free forever, no account needed.

What 360Giving and GrantNav are

360Giving is a UK charity that publishes an open data standard for grants. UK funders who sign up publish their grant-making data in a consistent format. GrantNav is the free search interface on top of that data.

As of 2026: 200+ UK funders publish to the standard. Includes National Lottery Community Fund, BBC Children in Need, Comic Relief, Wellcome Trust, Esmée Fairbairn, Garfield Weston, Tudor Trust, and many more. The total: over 1 million grants worth more than £8 billion.

Why fundraisers should use it

1. Funder research before applying. Before sending a £30k application, see exactly what they funded last year, average grant size, themes, geography. 2. Competitor research. What funders have given to similar charities? Patterns invisible from individual funder websites. 3. Theme and geography analysis. Which funders give to mental health work in Scotland? Environment in the South West? Answers in seconds.

What it doesn’t do: tell you who’s currently open. GrantNav is historical, not predictive. Pair with a current-rounds finder — our free Grant Finder or Charity Excellence.

Tutorial 1 — Research a specific funder

Use case: You’re considering applying to The Tudor Trust.

Steps: Go to GrantNav. Type “Tudor Trust”. Results show total grants, average size, recipients, themes.

What you’ll learn: average grant size (sizing your ask), range of recipients, themes funded, recent activity. For Tudor Trust specifically, you’ll discover something important: it’s invitation-only. You’d find that on Tudor Trust’s website — but the recipient pattern (small grants to small UK charities in deprived areas) confirms it.

Tutorial 2 — Find similar charities’ funding

Use case: Youth mentoring charity in East Midlands. Find which funders fund similar work.

Steps: Search keyword “youth mentoring”. Apply filters: Region East Midlands; Year last 3 years. Sort by funder. Review patterns.

This often surfaces local foundations and Community Foundations you wouldn’t find through general search — usually the highest-conversion funders for small charities.

Tutorial 3 — Funders for a theme

Use case: Identify all UK funders giving to environmental work.

Steps: Search “environment” or “climate” or “biodiversity”. Filter by year. Look at “Funders” tab. Sort by total amount given.

Reveals 5-10 dominant funders, average grant size, geographic patterns, recipient charities for benchmarking. Often surfaces sector-specific trusts and smaller foundations you didn’t know existed.

Tutorial 4 — Geographic deep-dive

Use case: New CEO of a charity in Cornwall.

Steps: Empty keyword. Filter Region South West, narrow to local authority Cornwall. Sort by funder, then recipient. Review last 3 years.

You’ll learn major funders giving in Cornwall (national + place-based), Cornwall Community Foundation activity, dominant sectors, recipient charities for partnership. Fastest way to get oriented in unfamiliar geography.

Tutorial 5 — Download and analyse

Use case: Sector report on 5 years of grants to mental health charities.

Steps: Search “mental health” with filters. Below results: “Download as CSV”. Open in Excel/Google Sheets. Pivot, filter, analyse.

Data is openly licensed (Open Government Licence v3). Use in publications, internal reports, board papers — with attribution.

What GrantNav doesn’t do

1. Not all funders publish. 200+ as of 2026 — substantial but not exhaustive. Major absentees include some independent foundations and most family trusts. 2. Historical, not predictive. Tells you who funded last year. Pair with current-rounds finder. 3. Coverage variance. Excellent for major themes (mental health, youth, environment), patchier for niche ones.

From CharityIQ. CharityIQ pulls from 360Giving open data plus our own monitoring of major UK funders. Our free Grant Finder matches your charity to live, currently-open UK grants. Try the free Grant Finder →

A typical fundraiser’s GrantNav workflow

Once a quarter: peer benchmark — search sector + geography. Before any major application: search the funder, confirm grant size range, themes, geographic scope. Check 2-3 recently-funded recipients. Before speculative outreach: identify funders that fund quietly. Annually: sector report. Each takes 30 minutes once familiar with interface.

FAQ

Q: Account needed? No, basic search and download free with no registration. Account lets you save searches. Q: Data accuracy? Excellent for what’s published; cross-check with funder annual report for critical figures. Q: Why isn’t my charity in GrantNav? GrantNav records funders’ grant data; you appear when a funder publishes a grant to you. Q: Wales/Scotland/NI? Yes, UK-wide. Q: API? Yes — for developers building dashboards or integrations.

What to do this week

If you’ve never used GrantNav: spend 30 minutes searching. (1) Search your charity name (find past grants). (2) Search your sector + region (find peer charities). (3) Identify 2-3 funders you didn’t know fund work like yours.

From there, GrantNav becomes a regular research tool — not a one-off.

GrantNav data + current rounds + AI drafting in one tool. Start a free 14-day CharityIQ trial, or use our free Grant Finder forever. Try the free Grant Finder →

Written by Ivan Siyanko, founder of CharityIQ.

Sources: 360Giving GrantNav · User Guide · 360Giving Homepage · UK Grantmaking — How GrantNav supports charities