Thirty-two charities in the latter stages of merger and collaboration have been awarded a total of almost £320,000.
The funding was announced yesterday by the Office of the Third Sector and is part of the Modernisation Fund.
The fund is part of the Government's £40.5m recession action plan, announced in February, to help voluntary organisations cope with the economic downturn.
The grants are the first of a possible 500 of up to £10,000 each.
Non-departmental public body Capacitybuilders is administering the fund on behalf of the OTS.
Charities have until 9 November to apply. To qualify, organisations must have been among the 1,000 charities that received bursaries for £1,000 of advice on mergers and collaboration in the first phase of the Modernisation Fund.
Matt Leach, chief executive of Capacitybuilders, said: "We're really pleased to be able to make early grant awards to these organisations, all of which already have well-progressed plans for collaboration or merger."
