Nicola Steuer’s Post

Extremely interesting reading - v relevant to UK archaeology and charitable/voluntary orgs. The ‘COVID gains’ point rings so true - some of the work I’m most proud of, and that has contributed back into our practice as well as pushed us forward into a much stronger future, happened as a result of unrestricted funding support. Our sector has the exact issues outlined so well in the post below. The links in the OP contain a wealth of knowledge about possible better futures. We are standing at an inflection point where climate impacts underlie every converging complexity - surely putting money where it can best serve solutions and a liveable human future on this planet should be more important than the palliative safety of old processes?

A really interesting suite of articles looking at the impact of restricted versus unrestricted funding in encouraging a flexible, innovative and accountable #charity sector. Instead of making restricted awards (and hence restricting inputs) shouldn't funders be concentrating more on quantifying impact and outcomes?

The theme of my day has been Unrestricted Funding. First up was the recording of a new episode of the IVAR podcast, circling round A shared endeavour: Five approaches to assessing the impact of unrestricted funding (https://lnkd.in/dPcaDQB5). Great to be joined by Amy Braier, Gina Crane - sharing their approaches: "We are not the experts; we are not auditors; we are not regulators" - and Chris Woo, describing powerfully the difference that being trusted with unrestricted funding makes to Trussell's work. This was followed by an invigorating hour with Clare Carter and Shabana Aslam from The Access to Justice Foundation, about Improving Lives Through Advice (ILTA), a "new five-year core funding programme designed to support the delivery of free legal advice to marginalised people and communities across England amid a picture of mounting social and economic need" (https://lnkd.in/dHp7HDFa). (As an aside, Jo J. and others, I couldn't help noticing that the ATJF has been developing its new strategy since February, during which time they have remained very much open for business, awarding c. £30m of grants...) While short-term restricted income remains the default for most funders, the need to produce and share evidence about the value and benefits of multi-year, unrestricted remains. FWIW, here's the IVAR catalogue: The holy grail of funding: Why and how foundations give unrestricted funding https://lnkd.in/dDGfSzjW Evidence Review: Why restrict grants? When and whether funders should give restricted or unrestricted funding https://lnkd.in/d6YC2bKZ Time to end the dominance of short-term grants: The evidence for multi-year funding https://lnkd.in/d9x_Y_AC Making the case for unrestricted funding: A summary of key points for foundation staff and Boards https://lnkd.in/dFDPY5Yi A shared endeavour: Five approaches to assessing the impact of unrestricted funding https://lnkd.in/dPcaDQB5 Under the bonnet of unrestricted with Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales and partners https://lnkd.in/d4HZCTzR Under the bonnet of unrestricted with Peter Minet Trust and partners https://lnkd.in/dp9chDgQ Under the bonnet of unrestricted with Texel Foundation and partners https://lnkd.in/dU3xGa-2 Under the bonnet of unrestricted with The Bromley Trust https://lnkd.in/d6NV4iRK

As a bare minimum before we even get into anything transformative the groundwork has to be 5-10 years of unrestricted core resource for systems transitions, next systems work. It’s not smart for us to spend our entire lifetime fighting for that first, when that needs to happen quickly so we can do some of the bigger endowment busting, distributive, transformative, reparative shifting of capital.

Excellent overview of the resources IVAR has created about the effects of unrestricted funding. If you are interested in changing the project based funding paradigm, check these out!

In a possible breach of LinkedIn etiquette, I'm adding a postscript, as my day continued with a 'Leading in Uncertainty' support session with a group of charity leaders from across the UK. The conversation quickly turned to the daily grind of fundraising and a roll call of worst hits: unclear criteria; opaque processes; short-term funding; an obsession with 'new' over 'core'; and onerous reporting. The gains of Covid are slipping away: "we were trusted...but only for a very short time". I was reminded of a study we carried out through the recession, when our aim was "to help shine light on the practices of trusts and foundations at a time of almost unprecedented upheaval in the lives and circumstances of voluntary organisations" (sound familiar?). It's sobering to read our introduction (extract below), 12 years on. At the time, we were criticised for the title of our report, 'Duty of care'. Having spent 90 minutes listening to the burden being carried by charity leaders, I'm not sure that conceiving of funders' (with their broader and more resourced shoulders) responsibility to applicants and funded organisations as a 'duty of care' is so wide of the mark.... "The current scale and pace of change is overwhelming. Voluntary organisations are experiencing a bewildering set of challenges, characterised by complexity (for example, changes to the organisation and funding of public services) and distress (in particular, increasing levels of poverty and hardship amongst their users and beneficiaries). During our visits across the country, we saw with our own eyes the incredible work that is being carried out in local areas, often against all the odds, to provide real and tangible benefits to local people. We also heard about the huge importance attached to foundation funding and how, when it works, it can provide a lifeline and make a lasting difference. However, for many, the world of foundations is obscure and closed. Speaking truth to power still appears to be the exception to the rule. Many of the problems and concerns highlighted by our study participants can be linked to shortcomings in relationships. Whilst we recognise that effort and skill is required to make them work, the findings presented in this report suggest that improvements are still needed. One of the important conclusions that we reach is that conceiving of the interaction between funders and voluntary organisations as relational – rather than contractual – might help to develop trust, foster openness and create a virtuous circle in which both parties are better able to realise their goals. For this to happen, funders could be guided by a commitment to making grants a positive experience for grant holders, rather than operating in ways which set people up to fail, or that privilege their own demands and systems over the circumstances and capacity of the organisations and individuals they are trying to reach. We have described this commitment as a ‘duty of care’."

A call for funding bodies to think about strategically funding. In the Gladstone region there has been hundreds of millions of $'s distributed into the community through investment funds or grant funding. While we are grateful for this funding, has it really made a difference strategically to the community. Community organisations are still calling for more money and more volunteers which is crucial for them to survive, so has and is this funding having the impact in areas that most community organisations are struggling with? The funding is distributed in small amounts, so everyone gets a little. This strategy while great for those funding bodies that need to say, 'we have funded x number of organisations', but it is not truly investing in our community. This method doesn't build the capacity of the not-for-profit community to learn to self-fund or to build ways of supporting volunteers, it only provides a short relief for a short time and the cycle continues. NFP House has been established to fill the gap of supporting the 500 local not for profit organisations learn and grow to be more self-sufficient. A shout out to Gladstone Area Water Board and ConocoPhillips for thinking strategically and funding NFP House to build the capacity of all not-for-profit organisations, making a significant long-term impact in this region.

As a funder, we know that our role isn’t just to get money out the door.     It’s to make meaningful connections with our community.     Create space for important conversations.     Truly listen to the organisations and people working on the front lines.     Provide opportunities for feedback.    And build relationships across the philanthropic and funding sectors.    Why?     So, we can fund in a way that is impactful and relevant to the challenges faced by our communities, and that truly helps our not-for-profits to grow.     We call it being ‘less transactional, more transformational.’    By adopting this approach, we are tapping into so many opportunities to make lasting change for our communities.     By building trusting relationships, we are more thoroughly understanding the kaupapa of organisations and why their mahi is important.     By creating safe spaces for the raw and real conversations, we are deepening our knowledge of what the pain points are, so we can fund in a way that serves to alleviate them.     By providing feedback opportunities, we are making sure we are operating in a way that removes barriers and helps not-for-profits focus on doing the mahi.     This isn’t just about getting money out the door.     It’s about making a real difference.     It’s about playing our part.     And it’s about working together to deliver long-term change.     To find out more about our approach to funding and our learnings from 2023, click through below to read our 2023 Funding Wrap Up.    

If you've worked with me before, you'll know I'm passionate about #philanthropy and making sure funding opportunities are equitable and easy to access. Our current funding system, as a whole, is neither of those. It's hard to find the right funding opportunities, it's time consuming to make applications and keeping up with I am so excited to be developing a new tool to help combat these challenges alongside Joshua Vial, Rod Macdonald and Alanna Irving. We're building Fundsorter, a product designed to make contestable funding easier. Our tool will discover the right funding opportunities, draft the funding applications, and provide reminders and updates on reporting, opening dates and new funding opportunities that align with organisational aspirations. This is a very practical tool to help reduce the funding burden and support organisations to spend time, energy and pūtea more effectively. We're currently working with a small number of partners to test our prototype and we're hoping to have a product out in the world early next year. We'd love to launch with a bang, so sign up here to get notified when we go live! Or ping me a DM if you have questions :) https://lnkd.in/gQXTajd8 Huge thanks to everyone who has chatted to us about Fundsorter so far! #fundraising #nonprofitleadership #technology #techforgood #fundingburden Philanthropy New Zealand Philanthropy Australia Michelle Berriman Sinead Kirwan Latesha Hearth Cheryl Reynolds Jenny Gill, ONZM Devon Murphy Dr Christina Howard Rahul Watson Govindan Marianne Elliott Hui E! Community Aotearoa Foundation North Clare Foundation Eleanor Cater Community Foundations of Aotearoa New Zealand Volunteering New Zealand | Tūao Aotearoa Nikki Hurst Wellington Community Fund David Graham Sue McCabe Lorraine Mentz David Hanna Josh Briggs Kelly McClean (Olatunji) Dr. Zainab Radhi Yvonne Trask Barry Baker Mel Sommerville

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