How it works & FAQs
The Howden Foundation Charity Awards are one of the ways the foundation supports the causes you care about. Each year, a portion of the People First Fund (the same fund that supports match funding) is set aside for these awards. Around 30 charities from around the world receive grants ranging from £1,000 to £30,000, with votes deciding how they are allocated.
Alongside first, second, and third place awards, there are dedicated prizes for smaller and international organisations, including the Small Charity Award and Non-UK Charity Award, each worth £10,000.
If this feels almost too easy, that's the point. A few minutes of your time could help a charity you care about win truly impactful money. Follow the three steps below to get involved!
Check your charity is eligible
To be eligible for an award, a charity must display the 'Matching Offer' icon on its Group Giving profile. To find this, search your charity in the 'Find nonprofits' search bar on the home page. We recommend checking eligibility by 14 September. If your charity isn't currently eligible, we may be able to have it reviewed and added before nominations open. See the 'How do I nominate?' FAQ below for more details.
Don't have access to Group Giving? Not seeing your charity on Group Giving? Contact communityimpact@howdengrp.com for support.
Nominate
Nominations open from 26 October to 6 November 2026. The nomination form can take less than 5 minutes to complete. You will need to know the Cause ID of the charity you're nominating, which is the number combination at the end of the charity profile URL on Group Giving, e.g. in 'https://howdengroupholdings.benevity.org/cause/826-225971', > 826-225971 < is the Cause ID. To find this, search your charity in the 'Find nonprofits' search bar on the home page, select your charity, and copy the Cause ID from the URL.
If you don't have access to Group Giving, please email communityimpact@howdengrp.com with the name and website of your charity, asking for the Cause ID, and they will send it back to you.
Vote, vote, vote!
Voting is open from 23 November to 11 December 2026. You get one vote, so choose wisely.
If you nominated a charity, we'll provide campaign assets to help you encourage colleagues to vote. If you didn't nominate a charity, you'll be able to learn more about each organisation through the colleague who put it forward, and on the voting page. Explore the shortlist and vote for the charity that matters most to you.
FAQs
The 2026 prizes are:
1st Prize (most votes): £30,000
2nd Prize: £15,000
3rd Prize: £10,000
Small Charity Award (most votes among eligible charities with annual income below £1m): £10,000
Non-UK Charity Award (most votes among eligible non-UK registered charities): £10,000
Runners-Up Awards (4th–13th place, 10 charities): £2,000 each
Runners-Up Awards (14th–28th place, 15 charities): £1,000 each
Each charity can only receive one award. If a charity qualifies for more than one award, it will receive the highest-value award available to it, and the other award will pass to the next highest-ranked eligible charity. Where awards are of equal value, Howden Foundation will allocate the award in the way that enables the greatest number of eligible charities to benefit.
First Prize, the Small Charity Award and the Non-UK Charity Award can each only be won by the same charity for two consecutive years. After that, the charity must take a one-year break from that specific category.
Absolutely! All a charity needs to be eligible is the 'Matching Offer' icon on Group Giving. There is even a 'Non-UK charity' award this year, where the winner receives £10,000.
Don't have access to Group Giving? Not seeing your charity on Group Giving? Contact communityimpact@howdengrp.com for support.
Nominations and voting all take place here on the Howden Foundation Charity Awards website. When nominations open on 26 October, simply click the 'Nominate here' button on the homepage.
Before nominations open, we recommend checking that your chosen charity is eligible. To be eligible for an award, a charity must have the 'Matching Offer' badge on its Group Giving profile.
If the charity doesn't have the badge, there are three possible reasons:
The charity isn't registered on Group Giving
If this is the case, you'll see a 'Nominate Nonprofit' button on their profile. Submit their details, and they'll be invited to register. You'll be notified if they become eligible. If you can't see the button, contact communityimpact@howdengrp.com and the team will investigate.The charity's Group Giving validation has lapsed
If this is the case, the charity will have a profile on Group Giving, but won't have the 'Matching Offer' icon. This doesn't necessarily mean it isn't eligible. Reach out to communityimpact@howdengrp.com, sharing a link to the charity's Group Giving page, and the team will investigate.
The charity doesn't meet Howden Foundation's match funding eligibility criteria
Unfortunately, some charities don't meet the criteria, making them ineligible for a Charity Award. Find out more about the eligibility criteria here.
To give your charity the best chance of being eligible in time for nominations, we recommend checking its status before 14 September.
Yes! Please don't let Group Giving access hold you back from nominating a charity that's important to you. Reach out to communityimpact@howdengrp.com with the name and website of your charity, and they will check eligibility for you. Remember to ask them for the charity's Cause ID!
Log in to Group Giving and search for your charity. If its profile displays the 'Matching Offer' badge, it is eligible for a Charity Award.
If the charity doesn't have the badge, that doesn't necessarily mean it isn't eligible. It may simply not have completed the registration process yet.
For guidance on what to do next, please see 'How do I nominate?'.
If you don't have access to Group Giving, see the 'What if I don't have access to Group Giving' FAQ.
Nominations and voting all take place here on the Howden Foundation Charity Awards website. When voting opens on 23 November, simply click the 'Vote now' button on the homepage.
Votes decide these awards, so the more people who hear about your charity, the better its chances of winning.
As a nominator, you'll receive a communications toolkit from Howden Foundation with ready-made assets to help you spread the word. But the most effective approach is often the simplest: tell people why the charity matters to you.
A few ideas:
Send an email to close colleagues explaining why you chose the charity and the difference it makes.
Post about it on internal channels such as Teams Chats or Viva Engage (where appropriate).
Ask colleagues who know the charity's work to share their own experiences.
Remind people to vote before the deadline.
Every colleague gets a vote, but not every colleague has a charity they're already invested in. Sharing why yours matters could help earn their support.
You can still take part.
To nominate a charity: Contact communityimpact@howdengrp.com with the name and website of your charity and they'll help by checking its eligibility and sharing its Cause ID. Then, you can nominate through the nomination platform as normal.
To vote: No access to Group Giving is required. Every colleague can vote when the voting period opens.
You can nominate up to three separate charities. You can only vote for one.