Cupburger Grant Policy
The Cupburger Mutual Aid Fund exists to redistribute resources within our community, quickly, directly, and without strings, so the people we care about can get the support they deserve.
At Cupburger, we intentionally don’t means-test or monitor how recipients use the fund. We trust that people know what they need better than any institution does. Any member of our Twitch community can apply, using the process and guidelines outlined below. Limitations of the fund will be based on requests received and people drawing from it.
Our fund is to provide any kind of help, but as an example you could request funds for food, clothing, medical bills, travel to a gig, paying for documentation/ID, or emergency accommodation.
While many of the applications may be for emergencies (e.g. an emergency food shop, unexpected travel expense, new tyres for your car so you can get to work), under our Bread and Roses commitment we’d love to fund something lovely too: a short art course, some craft supplies, guitar strings, a bunch of flowers.
How do I apply?
You can apply for a Cupburger Mutual Aid grant by visiting our Open Collective page: opencollective.com/cupburger
You can apply for funds of up to £50 every month. These should be paid out if you have given us the information detailed below and we have the funds available. If we don’t have funds available, we may offer you a smaller amount or ask you to reapply at a later date.
For larger needs we also have some emergency grants available up to £150 a month. These are currently limited by our available funds and we may ask you to reapply for a smaller amount or apply again at a later date.
For needs great than £150, our Projects page will be going live soon.
We check submissions twice per week and aim to respond within three working days.
The Title you enter when applying will be displayed publicly on the page, so please don’t include anything confidential. This will be clearly indicated on the form.
When you apply, please include your email or social media handle so we can contact you if we need any more information. Please include your Twitch username in the comments so we can confirm you are a member of the community.
To apply, you must be over 18 and a member of our Cupburger Twitch community.
We only need basic details of what you need the funds for — for example: “transport to hospital appointment” or “food shopping”. We may ask you for a vouch from a member of the Twitch community. Please put their Twitch username (not their real name) in your application as a comment – this is private and only fund admins can see.
Admins have final discretion in approving funding. We really want to say yes, but we may need to find out a bit about you and your ask first.
The name you apply under will display on the public page, so please ensure you have set a suitable Display Name. You can edit your Display Name by clicking the profile icon on the top right of our Open Collective page (when logged in), and selecting settings.
If your application is accepted in a given month, you will not be able to apply again that month. This is to ensure that we can approve expenses for as many people as possible.
We may change this policy depending on demand and how much money we have available. When funds are low, we’ll prioritise new applications.
How do you decide who gets funding?
We process applications on a first come, first served basis, depending on available funds. All decisions are made in line with our Code of Conduct Policy and the principles of fairness and mutual trust. We may ask you for further information to help us make a decision. We always want to say yes, but may need to understand your situation before confirming funding.
When will I know if my application was successful?
Our admin group checks submissions at least twice a week and aims to respond within three working days. Payments are issued through Open Collective twice a week (Tuesday and Friday). If you are outside the UK, your payment may take a little longer to arrive. Please be aware that we cannot issue funds immediately due to admin and processing times.
How do donations and grants work?
All donations and grant requests are handled externally through the Open Collective platform.
We do not collect any payment information directly through this website.
Open Collective maintains strong security practices to ensure that individual and collective information is protected. They do not store credit card details, so they cannot be lost if their systems are compromised. Any details you supply are secured by Stripe, a provider trusted by many leading companies worldwide.
Payments made through Open Collective are processed via Stripe, which charges a small payment processing fee (currently 1.5% + 20p per transaction). These fees go directly to Stripe — neither Open Collective nor our fiscal host adds anything extra.
You can also choose to add a tip to Open Collective when donating. This is optional and supports the platform itself.
You can find out more about Open Collective Security here:
https://docs.opencollective.com/help/product/security
You can also read the Open Collective Privacy Policy here:
https://opencollective.com/privacypolicy
What are the fees and costs?
Cupburger funds may also be used to help cover costs associated with running the collective. This includes, but is not limited to: hosting costs, domain registration, legal fees, promotional materials, or other sensible needs. Our fiscal host, The Social Change Nest, charges a host fee of 5%.
You can find out more about their fiscal hosting service here:
https://opencollective.com/the-social-change-nest
If you have any questions about this Grant Policy or about funding, you can contact us at:
info@cupburger.org
If you are happy with our Grant Policy you can apply here.
If you want to apply to work with us on a fundraising project, our Projects page will be going live very soon.
If you have any questions about funding, you can contact us using info@cupburger.org
Last updated: 06 November 2025