The Common Application Form (CAF)
The Common Application Form (CAF) was developed by the 10-strong CAF Task Force. During the development phase, (July 2021 – July 2022) a number of funding advisors, frontline charities and community groups were consulted in order to create the final form, which is regularly reviewed and updated by Yorkshire Funders’ Aligned Working Network. The CAF is recommended for grants in the region of £5,000 or less.
As of January 2026, the following funders are now using the CAF and it is available on their website or by contacting them directly:
- ASDA Foundation
- Craven Trust
- East Riding of Yorkshire Council
- Friends of St Monica’s Hospital
- Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust
- Prosper Wakefield
- Sir George Martin Trust
- South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation
- Tarn Moor Estate
- Two Ridings Community Foundation
- Wellsprings Together
- Woodsmith Foundation
*As the CAF has evolved and more funders now use it, grant seekers may find that some funders who use the CAF have a few more additional questions as their organisation requires these. We believe that this is better than them using a completely different set of questions and format and hope grant seekers still find it helpful to see generally the same questions being asked from an increasing number of grantmakers.
To find out more, review the CAF materials here:
CAF GUIDANCE NOTES UPDATED JAN 2026
Grant seekers will need to get in touch with each funder using the CAF directly and each funder will need to decide if they create a digital or Word document and what format is best for them and their grant holders.
Dr. Katy Adams from Sheffield University has written a report on the CAF, including interviews with funder adopters and grant applicants. You can read her full report here (or abridged summary here).
The Common Report Form (CRF)
Building on the success of the Common Application Form (CAF), the Yorkshire Funders Task Force has gone on to develop and refine a common end of report form. As with the CAF, the CRF is designed to save grantees time whilst still offering the feedback required by grantmakers at the end of a grant period.
CRF GUIDANCE NOTES UPDATED JAN 2026
If you are interested in using the CAF or CRF for your funding organisation, would like to join the initiative or are from another part of the UK and would like to discuss the CAF, please contact Carla Marshall – carla@yorkshirefunders.org.uk