Yati Foundation exists for one purpose: to put meaningful support behind the people and organisations doing good in the world. As a registered grant-making charity, we fund the work — so others can focus on doing it.
The name Yati comes from Sanskrit — it describes someone who strives with pertinacity of purpose. It's a word about persistence, discipline, and staying the course, and it's the standard we've set for ourselves as a charity.
Yati Foundation was established for the benefit of the public, with a simple but ambitious objects clause: to advance charitable purposes, in whatever form the trustees judge most effective, through the provision of grants. We chose that model deliberately. Instead of building our own programmes from scratch — and duplicating the skills and local knowledge that already exist within brilliant charities and individuals — we back the people already doing the work, and help them do more of it.
We're a young charity, and we're proud of that. It means every process, every policy, and every funding decision is being built thoughtfully, from first principles, rather than inherited. Our trustees have set out a clear governance framework, a formal Grant-Making Policy, and a commitment to reviewing our funding priorities regularly, so that Yati Foundation stays accountable, relevant, and genuinely useful as it grows.
The principles behind every grant
Every grant we make has to clearly further our charitable purposes and produce a real, identifiable benefit for the people it reaches. We're not interested in giving for the sake of giving — we want every pound to count.
We apply due diligence proportionate to the size and risk of each grant — thorough where it matters, light-touch where it doesn't — so support reaches good work quickly without cutting corners.
Our constitution is explicit: no trustee, founder, or anyone connected to them can benefit from the charity as a beneficiary. Every decision is made in the interests of the people we exist to help — never for the benefit of the people making the decision.
Rather than reacting grant by grant, our trustees set funding priorities for multi-year periods. That gives us — and the organisations we support — the stability to plan further ahead.
A grant-making charity, built for lasting impact
We don't run frontline services ourselves. We fund the people who do — channelling support to charities, other organisations, and individuals whose work advances our purposes and benefits the public.
Most of our support goes to other charities and mission-driven organisations already doing excellent work in their communities. Funding them means we amplify expertise that already exists, rather than reinventing it.
Our constitution also gives us the flexibility to fund individuals directly, where doing so is the most effective way to advance our charitable purposes.
Our trustees agree funding priorities for periods of around three years, giving clear direction to how — and where — support is targeted, before reviewing and resetting priorities as needs evolve.
Before any grant is approved, we look closely at how it furthers our purposes, who it will ultimately benefit, and how the funds will be used — with extra scrutiny for larger or higher-risk grants.
Our trustees agree the funding priorities for each multi-year period — the causes and outcomes we most want to support, guided by need and by where our support can go furthest.
We proactively seek out charities, organisations, and individuals already doing outstanding work aligned with our priorities — and we welcome applications too.
Each potential grant is weighed against our criteria: does it further our charitable purposes? Who benefits, and how? Is the funding request appropriate and well-justified? For larger grants, we also look at how funds will be managed and by whom.
Approved grants are released to fund clearly agreed activities — with a focus on costs directly tied to delivering charitable impact, not overheads.
We stay engaged with the organisations and individuals we fund, tracking outcomes and sharing what's been achieved — because a grant is the start of the story, not the end of it.
Yes. Yati Foundation is registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales under charity number 1217529, as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO).
We're a pure grant-making charity. Rather than delivering services ourselves, we fund charities, organisations, and individuals who are already doing the work — so their impact can go further.
Our trustees are in the process of setting our funding priorities for the current multi-year period. We'll share these here as soon as they're confirmed.
Yes — while we also proactively identify projects to support, our Grant-Making Policy allows us to consider applications. Get in touch to find out more.
Through public donations, including Gift Aid on eligible gifts from UK taxpayers. Every donation helps us fund more of the work that matters.
Our trustees, who are bound by our constitution and a formal Grant-Making Policy. No trustee, founder, or anyone connected to them can ever receive a grant or benefit from the charity.
