Grant guide
Restricted reserves: why some charity funds are not free reserves
Restricted reserves are not the same as freely available money. For grant readiness, teams need to know which funds can be used for match, cash flow or project risk.
Teams deciding where to spend application time
Charity leaders, trustees and fundraisers preparing board packs, budgets and grant applications.
Make the first review more concrete
Understand restricted reserves and why they matter for grant applications.
Review workflow
What FundingLens helps you do
Keep source facts, caveats and next actions together so your team can decide what deserves attention before application work starts.
Separate free reserves, restricted funds and designated funds before relying on reserves for match funding or delivery risk.
Use board reports to explain how restricted income, reserves policy, cash flow and grant conditions affect application decisions.
Flag finance review when a project depends on reserves, restricted grants, delayed payments or reimbursement funding.
Readiness checks
- Free reserves and restricted funds separated.
- Match funding source checked for restrictions.
- Cash-flow risk and reimbursement timing reviewed.
- Board approval and finance sign-off recorded.
- Grant conditions linked to reporting obligations.
Eligibility caveats
- This page is not accounting advice.
- Trustees, finance staff and accountants decide how funds are reported.
- A healthy headline reserves figure may still hide restricted money that cannot fund a new project.
Source references
Use reserves guidance when a grant decision needs to consider restricted funds, match funding, cash flow and financial resilience.
Official sourceCharity internal financial controlsUse Charity Commission controls guidance to support budget approval, delegated authority, fraud prevention and finance sign-off checks.
Official sourceCharity trustee decision-making guidanceUse Charity Commission guidance to frame board or trustee approval as a documented, informed decision with conflicts and risks considered.
Related FundingLens pages
Understand restricted funding as grant or donor money tied to specific purposes, conditions, spend controls and reporting obligations.
Grant guideBoard pack for grant applications and trustee approvalPrepare board or trustee grant approval packs with fit, risk, budget, match funding, restricted-fund, delivery and source-citation checks.
Grant guideGrant budget template with eligible-cost checksBuild a grant budget template that checks eligible costs, overheads, VAT, match funding, evidence and funder-specific exclusions before you apply.