Start Network funding: what it funds and how to apply
Start Network is a global network of more than 140 humanitarian NGOs. It moves fast money to members responding to crises, mainly through the Start Fund, which disburses within 72 hours of a member raising an alert. It is not an open grant-maker for general UK charities: funding goes to member organisations.
What Start Network funds
Start Network is a membership body for humanitarian aid organisations, from large international NGOs to local and national ones across six continents. Its money supports crisis response and anticipatory action, not general UK charity projects. It runs several funds, including the global Start Fund, National Start Funds (such as Bangladesh, Nepal and a Ukraine Pooled Fund), Start Ready (disaster-risk financing), wider Disaster Risk Financing work, and Support Grants for members.
How the funding works
The Start Fund, launched in 2014, is the flagship. It targets three things: underfunded small to medium-scale crises, forecasts of impending crises, and spikes in chronic crises. A member, or group of members, raises a crisis alert. Information is shared, the Start Fund Allocation Committee decides whether to release funds, and members submit proposals within 24 hours. Projects are then selected, funds transfer within 24 hours, and each project should complete within 45 days. The whole alert-to-selection cycle runs in about 72 hours.
Who can access funding
Funding flows to Start Network members. You cannot draw on the Start Fund unless you are a member organisation, and only members can raise alerts. Membership itself is limited: Start Network is moving to a hub model and is currently taking new members only in specific countries with existing or prospective hubs (including Pakistan, India, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala, the Pacific region, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, South Sudan, Somalia and the Philippines). It admits humanitarian NGOs, mainly local and national organisations. For most small UK charities, direct access is not realistic.
Deadlines and rounds
There are no fixed application rounds and no published deadline. The Start Fund is triggered by member-raised alerts as crises emerge, so it operates on a rolling, always-on basis rather than annual windows.
How to get involved / apply
If you are a humanitarian NGO in one of the hub countries, you can register interest through the “Become a member” form on the Start Network site, or download its membership policy. If you are a UK small charity, the practical routes are to partner with an existing member, learn from its published resources, or sign up to its newsletter. There is also a “Become a donor” route for organisations that want to fund the network.
Tips
- Do not treat Start Network as a grant pot to apply to. Check whether your work is humanitarian NGO response in a hub country before spending any time on it.
- If you are UK-based and small, look at Start Network’s members list for potential partners rather than applying yourself.
- Use CharityIQ’s Grant Finder to find UK funders that actually accept open applications from small charities.
Official source and last updated
Last updated: July 2026. Source: Start Network — Global Start Fund and Become a member.
Recent grants
[Theme renders recent grants automatically from 360Giving data where available — do not hand-write.]
Similar funders
- The British Asian Trust — international development funding in South Asia
- The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation UK — global health, education and climate funding at scale
Check if your charity is eligible for funders like this — CharityIQ’s free Grant Finder matches your charity to real, published UK funders and cites the source for each. → /grant-finder/
Frequently asked questions
No. Start Network is a membership body, and its funding goes to member organisations responding to humanitarian crises. There is no open grant scheme for general UK charities. If your work is not humanitarian NGO response in a hub country, you cannot apply directly for Start Fund money.
The Start Fund is Start Network's flagship fund, launched in 2014. It provides rapid funding for under-the-radar, small to medium-scale crises, forecasts of impending crises, and spikes in chronic crises. Only members can raise an alert, and funds are disbursed within 72 hours of an alert.
Start Network is moving to a hub model. It is currently only taking new members in specific countries with existing or prospective hubs, and only from humanitarian NGOs, mainly local and national ones. You can register interest through the "Become a member" form on its website.
Start Network reports it had disbursed about £134m across 580 crisis responses in 76 countries since 2014 (figures last updated February 2024). The size of an individual allocation is not published on the main Start Fund page, so treat any specific figure with caution.
Its focus is global humanitarian response, not UK community work. Some members are UK-registered international NGOs (for example Oxfam GB, Save the Children UK, Christian Aid), but the funding supports crisis response overseas, not domestic UK charity activity.