Community Benefit Funds
A community benefit fund is a voluntary fund established by a project developer or owner, most commonly linked to renewable energy sources such as wind farms.
Community benefit funds ensure that communities share in the benefits of projects taking place around them. We call these 'place based' funds.
They usually involve annual payments over many years, and can be used to build on community assets - local ideas and aspirations, local knowledge, and local connections - plus physical assets like buildings, outdoor spaces and the local environment. But it is communities themselves that decide how the funds are shaped, and how money is invested, ensuring it supports local priorities and creates lasting social, economic and environmental benefits.
Our communities team works alongside both renewable energy businesses and communities, providing specialist support, such as fund design, grant-making, community engagement, facilitation and fund management services, helping communities navigate and maximise these long-term funds, so that they can make significant and enduring investments in the places they live.
It was back in 2004 when we first started working in partnership with SSE to support delivery of their community benefit funds. Over two decades later, Foundation Scotland is the leading independent administrator of community benefit funds in Scotland. We now support over 350 communities to distribute more than £13million annually, from over a hundred different community benefit funds.
The majority of the funds we support are provided by onshore wind renewable projects, but we also support funds provided by offshore windfarms, hydro schemes and battery storage projects. Whatever the source, these funds are unique because communities themselves are the decision makers.
Related content
Funding available
We have a diverse range of funding programmes for communities across Scotland.
Community stories
Meet some of the communities whose stories show the difference that funding has made.