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Hot off the socials
Here's a little taster of what we've been reading, sharing and saying online. We'd love to hear your views!
Andy Burnham has “put his money where his mouth is” by pledging to donate 15% of his additional Prime Minister’s salary to homelessness causes.
Most participants in a LinkedIn poll said they would not welcome more grant randomisation from funders, with one commenter questioning if it would help find ‘applications that are most likely to help them achieve their objectives’. Not everyone agrees, here’s our take on who’s doing this and why.
The Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR) and the Technology Association of Grantmakers (TAG) shared their findings on how AI is impacting grant applications. But is it fair to only blame AI for this dramatic increase in grant applications? Civil Society suggests there could be other factors at play.
The Keep it Fringe fund, a longtime SmartyGrants user, returns for a fifth year with £80,000 initially pledged by Arts Council England
While we keenly await a government whitepaper detailing plans for “Rewiring the State”, we understand it could mean local government grants are limited in future. Instead, mayors could be encouraged to set up Greater Manchester-style Good Growth Funds, which treat grants as a last resort in favour of recyclable loans and equity.
While local authorities have supported the Prime Minister's push to extend spending powers for mayors, the Local Government Association (LGA) chair Eamonn O'Brien says more financial support is needed to make devolution work.
We also spoke to chief investment officer at UMi, Simon Goon, who is encouraging local authorities to take the opportunity to unlock long-term thinking as part of his advice on how to respond to devolution's funding shift.
Finally, in anticipation of NPC Ignites conference on 13 October, Sabrina Bengtzen, NPC Consultant, shares her thoughts on what placed-based funding really means; including how it works in practice and the role of collaboration.
SmartyGrants reviewed a decade of audit evidence on government grants and found six major problems; including
Data Integrity – often lacking due to the spread of data over multiple disparate platforms
Performance Evaluation – seen as a 'nice to have' using any leftover budget
Transparency & Fairness – decisions not aligned with defined merit rankings
It's clear the crux of the issue is not an absence of policy but a widening gap between good grants frameworks and good grants practice. Read all six challenges and our top tips to overcome them in the full article.
The Sir George Martin Trust is keeping human connection at the centre of its grantmaking approach. Trust Manager, Carla Marshall, tellsGrants Management Intelligence that taking a trust-based approach saves time for charities while giving her a clearer view of who the best possible candidates would be.
Grantmakers of all sizes can make the mistake of thinking that implementing a new grant management platform is simply a tech project.
In our latest help sheet, Steph Foxworthy, Director of Managed Services at SmartyGrants, explains it’s actually about getting your grantmaking process right from beginning to end, including:
Steph Foxworthy, Director of Managed Services, SmartyGrants
Lean in and seize the chance to change.
Ask vendors to explain their past experience in meeting needs like yours.
Think system last, instead be lead by process, guidelines and designs.
Be frank about functionality and budget to achieve best results.
Join us at NPC Ignites on Tuesday, October 13 in London for a day of insight, challenge and forward-looking discussion. Now in its second decade, the event welcomes over 250 senior figures from across charities, foundations, social enterprises and purpose-driven organisations.
Philanthropy Ireland Symposium returns to the RDS in Dublin on Thursday, October 15, celebrating a decade of this forum which supports those in the wider philanthropy ecosystem.
ACF’s flagship annual event returns to London on Wednesday, November 25 . The conference will explore the power of collaboration, connection and collective impact in an ever-changing world.
“If you want the voluntary sector to be properly funded to [provide] universal services – not on a year-on-year basis – the Treasury rules have got to change.”
Jess Phillips, Labour MP, as quoted by Civil Society
The latest Funder Map was launched on July 31 to answer the question: who’s funding what? Using data from 360Giving and the Charity Commission of England and Wales, this free tool publishes grants data in a common, standardised format to allow greater understanding of the wider funding landscape.
Welsh charity body WCVA aims to raise more than £10m to build a new fund to support local charities. The aim is to provide long-term, unstructured funding that will “strengthen Wales’s voluntary sector for decades”.
According to the World Giving Report’s Charity Insights, fewer than two in five charities feel well set up for future success. Globally, there is no continent where the majority of charities feel well set up for the years ahead. Only 57% of high-income countries, like many in Europe, see the sector as healthy compared to 70% in low-income countries.
To celebrate the tenth anniversary of GrantNav, users and contributors are being asked to complete a short survey on the value and future of the platform. The past ten years has seen the organisation grow from 25 funders to nearly 360, cataloguing more than £338 billion in grants.
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