Sponsorship, expedition grants and fundraising advice

Perhaps the most frequent question with which I am emailed is how to raise funds and get sponsorship for an expedition, adventure or charity challenge.

My first response is always: do you really need a sponsor? Expeditions need not be expensive and trying to get sponsorship can take a lot of time which might be better spent exploring. Much more effective is applying for some of the many grants and scholarships available for expeditions – all listed below. I’ve never had financial sponsorship for my expeditions but have received many grants.

But, if you do need to fundraise then whilst there are no easy answers, there are certainly a few things that you could do to help yourself. The articles and links below may help.

(P.S. I get a lot of emails asking if I can sponsor people’s expedition. I’m just a guy with a blog, I’m afraid. I cannot pay for your expedition. My best advice is below and you are welcome to apply for my grant).

How To Get Expedition Sponsorship - Ridgeback Panorama

Sponsorship Advice

For a single article covering all the basics of expedition sponsorship, start here:

How To Get Sponsorship For Your Expedition ➜

Below are are a selection of other articles that I have written on related topics.

How to Have an Adventure Without Spending Any Money

It’s possible. Find out how.

Making a Sponsorship Pitch

Advice on how to approach sponsors.

Five Tips on Fundraising

Notes from a talk I gave at the 2009 Royal Geographical Society Explore conference

Do you Really Need a Sponsor?

I have done nearly all of my expeditions without financial sponsorship. Why not consider some alternatives?

Fundraising Ethos and Etiquette

Some suggestions on how to conduct yourself in the sponsorship game.

How I Fund My Expeditions

A breakdown of how much each of my expeditions cost and where and how I got the funding for them all.

10 Tips for Making a Living Out of Expeditions

Professional adventurer Felicity Aston shares some advice on how to forge a career out of expeditions.

How I Make a Living as an Adventurer (Hint: I don’t)

Detailed breakdown of every penny I’ve earned as an adventurer.

10 Reasons Not to Get Your Expedition Sponsored

Some advantages to planning an expedition without sponsorship.

How Much Does it Cost to Cycle Around the World?

Graphs and data from 300 round-the-world cyclists. You’ll be amazed how cheaply it’s possible.

Browse all Next Challenge sponsorship articles

Expedition Grants

Below is a long list of grants and scholarships available to fund expeditions, adventure and travel. They are in no particular order. Be aware that deadlines change from year to year so always check the appropriate website.

The Next Challenge Expedition Grant

- Amount: share of ~£1,600 (plus kit)

- Deadline: annual grant with January deadline.

Notes: Funded by this website’s advertising revenue, other adventurers and donations from the public

Alpkit Foundation

Amount: £50-500
Deadline: rolling (apply any time)
Notes: May include Alpkit equipment

Altumate Challenge

Amount: £5,000
Deadline: 10th June
Notes: Application by video. Winner should aim to raise £20,000 for charity.

Get Exploring Trust Grants

Amount: £25 – £2000
Deadline: Rolling (apply any time)
Notes: Aimed at helping 16-25 years from disadvantaged backgrounds access and experience the outdoors.

Neville Shulman Challenge Award

Amount: £5,000-8,000
Deadline: 30th November
Notes: Very broad criteria so a good one for any expedition to apply for. Administered by the RGS.

Sidetracked Adventure Fund

Amount: £100+
Deadline: March 1st
Notes: Small fund hoping to encourage wider participation in adventure.

Goretex Tilman/Shipton Grant

Amount: $25,000 split between 3-6 expeds
Deadline: March 1st
Notes: Applications are accepted from small, unencumbered teams of friends with daring and imaginative goals.

Captain Scott Spirit of Adventure Award

Amount: £2,000
Deadline: End of March
Notes: Looking for expeditions in Captain Scott’s “spirit of adventure” and, in particular, adventurous “firsts”.

Sir Vivian Fuchs Youth Award

Amount: £500
Deadline: End of March
Notes: Also awarded by the Captain Scott Society, for 11-19 year olds undertaking unusual, character building exploits.

Timmissartok Foundation Grants

Amount: £500
Deadline: Rolling (apply any time)
Notes: Aims to assist individuals with adventurous projects. Very broad criteria. They like inspiring quotes.

TransGlobe Expedition Trust (TET)

Amount: ~£1,000 – £2,000
Deadline: Rolling (apply any time)
Notes: Set up after Ranulph Fiennes’ epic Trans Globe Expedition. For “mad but marvellous”, unique, pioneering expeditions with an educational, humanitarian or scientific by-product.

Des Rubens & Bill Wallace ‘Go and Do It!’ Grant

Amount: £200 – £2,000
Deadline: 15th January
Notes: Set up as a memorial to John Muir advocate Bill Wallace. For adventurous expeditions with a scientific or educational purpose.

Radio 4 Journey of a Lifetime Award

Amount: £5,000 (plus Radio 4 documentary)
Deadline: 28th October
Notes: Given by the Royal Geographical Society, in partnership with BBC Radio 4, offers the chance to make a ‘journey of a lifetime’ and to tell the world about it in a memorable piece of radio documentary-making

Land Rover’s Go Beyond Bursary

Amount: £15,000 (plus a Land Rover)
Deadline: 30th November
Notes: Administered by the RGS for Land Rover for a journey undertaken in a Land Rover 110 Defender.

Winston Churchill Memorial Trust

Amount: Covers all expenses for 4-8 weeks
Deadline: October (usually)
Notes: Fellowships to help people from all walks of life to acquire knowledge and understanding of the world. Trips must be 4-8 weeks. Various categories but expeditions often fall under ‘Open’.

Allan & Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust

Amount: £300
Deadline: Rolling
Notes: Grants for students on gap years which have been applied to expeditions in the past.

Lord Mayor’s 800th Anniversary Awards Trust

Amount: £50 – £1,000
Deadline: Awarded twice a year, typically March and September
Notes: Ages 17-25. Priority given to those with a connecting to the City of London. They funded my Mountain Leader Training in 2008. At the subsequent reception, the man in charge said they really wanted more applications for expeditions.

British Mountaineering Council Grants

Amount: Small grants (£200 – £800 approx)
Deadline: 1st March – 1st November
Notes: For British mountaineering expeditions, particularly younger climbers and those making significant or innovative ascents. They’ve supported all three of my mountaineering expeditions (Kyrgyzstan, Bolivia and Russia).

Mount Everest Foundation (MEF)

Amount: Small grants (£200 – £800 approx?)
Deadline: 31st January and 30th September
Notes: For climbing expeditions involving exploration, first ascents or significant new routes. Includes the Alison Chadwick Award for Women. They’ve supported all three of my mountaineering expeditions (Kyrgyzstan, Bolivia and Russia).

Julie Tullis Memorial Award

Amount: Small grants (£200 – £800 approx?)
Deadline: 1st March – 1st November
Notes: For women and all-female expeditions with mountaineering objectives.

Scientific Exploration Society (SES)

Amount: £500 – £2,000
Deadline: 31st August
Notes: For innovative projects offering solutions to problems they research.

UCL Expedition & Travel Grants

Amount: £500 – £3,000
Deadline: February
Notes: These may only be for students at University College London but most universities have something similar. I received three grants whilst studying there. I wouldn’t be doing this today if it weren’t for my university grants so, if you’re a student, it’s well worth looking to see if your university has a scheme.

Sir Peter Holmes Memorial Award

Amount: up to £1,000
Deadline: 12th November
Notes: 18-25 years, travel in Asia and Middle East.

The JPT Family Trust Medical Science Award

Amount: up to £1,500
Deadline: 27th February
Notes: 21-30 years, interest in medical science, travel in Asia and Middle East.

Millet Expedition Project (MXP)

Amount: a share of €15,000
Deadline: ~March
Notes: includes a share of €40,000 equipment grant

Scottish Arctic Club

Amount: variable (typically ~£300)
Deadline: 31st January
Notes: for Scots / people living in Scotland, planning trips to the Arctic

More Expedition Grants

National Geographic Grants & Programs
Royal Geographical Society (RGS) Grants – A whole range of grants available, particularly for those doing research.
Leverhulme Trust Grants
Gino Watkins Memorial Fund
Harvard Travellers Club Permanent Fund

Discontinued Expedition Grants

The following expedition grants are no longer available and are just listed to save you time in digging for more information:

Janapar Grant – grant run in 2016 by Tom Allen offering a touring bike and kit to an 18-25 year old.
Sean Conway #FindYourBeard Scholarship – £1,000 grant offered in 2015 and 2016
Kukri Adventure Scholarship: up to £20,000, ran once only in 2013. We entered a video.
Polartec Challenge: annual grant of $1,000 – $5,000 awarded December 31st supporting self-propelled expeditions and journeys to remote locations
The Gordon Foundation: £200-£500 for under 30s. I was awarded one for my 21st Century Altai expedition.
Berghaus Adventure Challenge: £1,000 plus £1,000 of Berghaus kit
Light My Fire Adventurer of the Year: annual award of €3,000 plus kit. We were shortlisted in 2013.

Other Lists of Expedition Funding

If you can’t find a grant for you above then try these other lists:

RGS Database of Grant Giving Organisations

There are a lot of grants out there and this could save you a lot of heartache

RGS List of Funding Sources (PDF)

This is an older version of the above. Slightly out of date but in easily downloaded PDF.

BMC List of Mountaineering Grants

A comprehensive list of funding available for climbing expeditions.

Explorers Connect General Adventure Grants

A good list of funding sources from Explorers Connect. You need to register to access the article. They also have lists for Polar & Arctic Expeditions, Climbing & Mountaineering Expeditions, and Research, Scientific & Conservation. Browse all their articles here.

Fundraising Advice Links

Here are a selection of fundraising articles from other people’s websites:

A to Z of Fundraising

Some ideas for raising money from GapYear.com, Lonely Planet, Students On Ice (PDF) and Charity Challenge (PDF). There are plenty such articles on Google.