Are there any differences between fund and funding when used as a noun? They seem both to have a meaning of "money made available for a particular purpose", and I was wondering why we need "funding" when "fund" means the same. Is it because "funding" is the gerund of the verb form of "fund", and therefore more emphasizes on the action than fund(n.) does?
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Actually, due to blocking, they couldn't mean the same thing no matter how hard they tried.– RegDwigнt ♦Jan 28, 2014 at 20:32
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2 Answers
A fund is an existing collection of money. Funding is the source of that collection. In other words, funding is the money coming into the fund. They can often be used interchangeably, but they do mean slightly different things.
answered Jan 28, 2014 at 18:15
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1Nearly, but I don't quite agree. I would say that funding is rather the situation that the fund exists. To me our funding doesn't mean the bank, donors or whatever, it means the state of affairs, or the arrangement, by which funds are supplied to us. Jan 28, 2014 at 19:38
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@ColinFine I agree with both of you but, to me, the main difference is that "the fund" that can be drawn on exists either as a physical collection of money or a balance on an account while "the funding" includes, or consists entirely of, money which is pledged or committed to the purpose but has not actually been transferred to the control of those carrying out the purpose. For instance a community group may have the funding for a new playground from the council but the actual payment will be made by the council when the work is done. Also only 'fund' can take an indefinite article.– BoldBenMay 14 at 8:06
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@ColinFine I've just had another thought. A "fund" can be empty if it has only just been set up. It can have been defined legally or exist only as a new bank account but not, as yet, received any donations. When funding has been secured (for instance from a local authority as above) money can be drawn against it as soon as the terms of the funding arrangement have been met. If the community group are going to collect for a new playground they can't start the work until the fund contains enough money but if they have funding from the council they have no money but they can start work.– BoldBenMay 14 at 8:50
Consider some of the following sentences:
Fund/funds
The school has a building fund for repairs. Funds are available to start a business. The church has a fund to assist the homeless. I shall make the purchase as soon as I am in funds. Mike has a fund of anecdotes which he uses at social events. There is no money left in the fund.
Funding - as a gerund
We will start the work as soon as we get funding. Funding for the project may be difficult to obtain. Funding has been approved.
