The Prime Minister has called the General Election for Thursday 4 July 2024.
The voter registration deadline ahead of the election will be Tuesday 18 June.
Small grants
JRRT and the UK Democracy Fund are able to accept rapid response applications for grants of up to £10,000 for work specifically targeting the General Election.
Examples of work we could fund:
- Extensions of your existing campaigns on issues such as Voter ID
- Rapid scaling up of voter registration and get-out-the-vote campaigns
Examples of work we will not fund:
- Tactical voting websites, campaigns or apps
- Individual candidates
- Work where the capacity is not in place to begin immediately
Email info@jrrt.org.uk or democracyfund@jrrt.org.uk with a brief outline of your proposal and we will aim to respond within one working day to let you know if we will consider your approach.
In exceptional circumstances, JRRT will entertain requests for more than £10,000. Decision-making will take longer however and that should be factored in to whether or not it is deliverable within the brief timescale of the election.
Election resources and useful links:
JRRT and the UK Democracy Fund have collated several resources to help your campaigns and to provide advice and support:
Legal
Charity Law Rationale for the Promotion of Voter Engagement and Participation in Elections
This paper, commissioned by JRRT from Stone King LLP, explains how charities can target low voting demographics such as young people, renters or people from minoritised ethnicities for voter engagement and participation in the forthcoming election. It has specific sections to help racial justice and environmental charities to understand the wide range of rationales available to many charities to advance their purposes through voter participation and will help Trustees to document this. Download here.
Campaigning, Political Activity and Election Guide for Charities
A comprehensive guide from Stone King LLP, funded by the Legal Education Foundation, for charities that wish to undertake campaigns. Download here.
UK Democracy Fund resources for Grantees
UK Democracy Fund: Voter registration and getting out the vote guide
The UK Democracy Fund was set up in 2019, and since then has invested considerably in voter participation campaigns in the UK. We have set an ambitious target of registering a million people from low voting groups before the 18 June deadline. Through our research, and evaluation of learning from work we have funded we’ve developed a good understanding of what makes voter registration and get-out-the-vote campaigns successful. Find out more about how to run a successful campaign in this guide.
UK Democracy Fund: How to count
How We Count is a guide to best practice in how campaigners, projects and groups can embed data collection in their voter registration work to track how many new voters have been added to the electoral roll due to their interventions.
Collaboration and Networking
JRRT funds the Democracy Network, a network of people and organisations working on issues of power, democracy and voice in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. They are working to build a stronger democracy by connecting people and supporting collaboration, increasing knowledge, skills and resources, and coordinating effective influencing strategies and action. Find out more about their work and how to join the Network on their website.
Funded by the UK Democracy Fund, Democracy Classroom from The Politics Project supports young people to engage in elections. It provides a shared hub of resources, training opportunities and events, created by a partnership of non-partisan organisations working on democracy, education and youth.