The Neon Foundation
Charity Number: 1155778
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Quick Stats
- Annual Giving: £42,793 (2024 expenditure)
- Success Rate: Not publicly available
- Decision Time: Not publicly available
- Grant Range: Not publicly available
- Geographic Focus: England, Wales, and international (30+ countries including Argentina, Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Uganda)
Contact Details
Address: 7 Savoy Court, London, WC2R 0EX
Phone: 020 3021 0651
Email: Not publicly available
Website: Not publicly available
Overview
The Neon Foundation was established on 24 October 2013 as a registered charity (number 1155778) and charitable company (08746744). The foundation operates as the philanthropic arm of NEON Adventures, the family office of digital marketing entrepreneur Neil Hutchinson. With total expenditure of £42,793 in 2024 (following significantly higher activity of £220,345 in 2023), the foundation focuses on supporting socially and economically disadvantaged communities both in the UK and internationally across more than 30 countries. The foundation's primary method of operation is making grants to organizations, supplemented by providing human resources, services, and sponsoring research. The foundation operates without public fundraising and is governed by three trustees who receive no remuneration.
Funding Priorities
Grant Programs
The foundation operates through trustee-led grant-making rather than structured public grant programs. Grants are awarded at the discretion of the trustees to organizations aligned with the foundation's charitable objectives.
Priority Areas
The foundation has five main charitable objectives:
- Support for Disadvantaged Communities: Promoting relief of poverty, advancing education, and preserving good health for socially and economically disadvantaged communities
- Environmental Conservation: Conserving, protecting and improving the environment
- Charity Effectiveness: Promoting the effectiveness and efficiency of charities, including through the provision of technological or media support
- Ethical and Moral Improvement: Supporting initiatives focused on ethical and moral development
- Social Inclusion: Promoting social inclusion and community cohesion
Beneficiary Groups: Children, elderly people, people with disabilities, other charities, and the general public
Geographic Scope: Works throughout England and Wales, and internationally in countries including Argentina, Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Laos, and Uganda
What They Don't Fund
Information about specific exclusions is not publicly available.
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Governance and Leadership
Trustees
- Neil David Hutchinson - Chair (appointed 4 June 2015): Founder of NEON Adventures, a family office with interests in finance, property, lifestyle and philanthropy. Hutchinson is also Co-Founder and Trustee of kindness.org and serves as a Trustee of Founders Pledge. He founded The Foundation (also known as Forward Foundation) to support charities and social enterprises working with young people.
- Christopher Edmund Huey - Trustee (appointed 19 December 2019)
- Mark Daniel Phillips - Trustee (appointed 24 October 2013)
No trustees receive any remuneration, payments, or benefits from the charity. The foundation has comprehensive governance policies including safeguarding, risk management, financial controls, and trustee conflicts of interest procedures.
Application Process and Timeline
How to Apply
This funder does not have a public application process. The Neon Foundation operates as a private grant-making foundation where grants are awarded at the discretion of the trustees. There is no online application portal, application forms, or publicly advertised grant rounds. The foundation does not raise funds from the public and operates through the trustees' strategic direction in identifying and supporting organizations aligned with their charitable objectives.
Grants appear to be awarded through trustee-led identification of beneficiaries rather than through responses to unsolicited applications.
Application Success Factors
Given the foundation's private nature and trustee-led grant-making approach, there are no publicly available guidelines for successful applications. The foundation's work appears to be closely connected to the philanthropic interests of founder Neil Hutchinson, who has demonstrated commitment to:
- Supporting young people and youth-focused charities through The Foundation (Forward Foundation)
- Effective altruism and strategic philanthropy through his involvement with Founders Pledge
- Promoting kindness and social good through kindness.org
- International development and poverty alleviation, as evidenced by the foundation's work in multiple developing countries
- Technology and media support for charitable organizations
Organizations already within the founder's network or aligned with these demonstrated interests may be more likely to receive consideration for funding.
Key Takeaways for Grant Writers
- No public application process: This foundation does not accept unsolicited applications; grants are awarded at trustee discretion
- Private family foundation: Operates as the philanthropic arm of Neil Hutchinson's NEON Adventures family office
- International focus: Despite being UK-based, the foundation has significant international reach across 30+ countries
- Technology and charity effectiveness: One of the foundation's core objectives is promoting charity effectiveness through technological and media support
- Variable grant activity: Expenditure fluctuates significantly year-to-year (£220,345 in 2023 vs £42,793 in 2024), suggesting project-based or strategic grantmaking
- Network-driven: Connection to the founder's other philanthropic interests (Founders Pledge, kindness.org, Forward Foundation) may be relevant
- Comprehensive governance: Despite its small size, the foundation maintains robust policies and procedures
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