UK foundation aims to be a friend to grantseekers

Friends Provident Foundation’s more simplified grants system allows interested parties to:

• visit its website to “say hello” and asks for funds via writing, video or voice message
• hold casual conversations about their project
• get help with the formal application process
• expect resulting funds to be unrestricted.

It’s hoped the more open approach will reduce rejection rates, improve the quality of applications and allow grant recipients to spend funds where they are most needed.

The foundation, which formed in 2004 with funds from the demutualisation of a Quaker-formed friendly society, distributes upwards of £1 million ($AU2.05 million) each year in its mission “to create a fair and sustainable economy”.

Significant funding goes to supporting “new thinking” to forge a more equal economy; for example, by amplifying marginalised voices or helping organisations addressing systemic inequity.

Grants this year include:

• £150,000 ($A308,000) for the Poverty Truth Network’s “Economics for All” program, to help make the case for alternative economic systems
• £55,000 ($A113,000) for Operation Noah, which works with churches to address climate action
• £10,000 ($A20,500) for People’s Economy, to encourage collaboration between a group of economic organisations and grassroots individuals.

Move to address high failure rate

But despite the foundation’s best efforts, 92 per cent of applicants fail to pass the first application hurdle.

Its head of funding strategy, Abigail Gibson, said just eight per cent of applicants in 2024 were accepted into the second stage of assessment.

“This means that a significant number of people are investing time and energy into applications only to hear that they haven’t been successful. We’re also very aware of the costs associated with applying for funds, both in terms of time and resources.”

In most cases, applicants were never eligible for funds and did not match the foundation’s funding priorities.

“This prompted us to rethink how we communicate about our program and how people assess whether they’re a good fit.”

The foundation realised its framing of "changing the economy" was too broad and was being interpreted by potential grantseekers to mean efforts “only loosely related to economic systems”.

As a result, the foundation narrowed its focus and “worked to improve our communications”.

“We found that some strong ideas weren’t really coming through in the written applications, even though we knew from informal chats that they were doing something interesting,” Gibson said.

The foundation’s reforms drew inspiration from the Fix the Flow Fellowship, a training network for grantseekers and grantmakers, and the Civic Power Fund, which makes funding decisions in partnership with applicants.

The review made Gibson realise the foundation’s processes should be “more ambitious and supportive in how we approached grant applications”.

“Every rejected application represents time and energy that could have been spent delivering services or seeking more suitable funding. Having been a fundraiser myself, I know how stressful and resource-intensive applications can be, so we really want to minimise unnecessary effort where we can.”

High trust approach to future grants

The second major change Friends Provident Foundation made to its grants process was to remove funding restrictions.

“Unless there’s a clear reason to introduce specific boundaries, our funding will be unrestricted by default,” Gibson said.

“We believe this is the best way to support our grant holders in an increasingly challenging funding environment.

“We aim to keep these as flexible as possible to ensure that our grantholders have the freedom to use the funds where they are most needed.”

The shift employs the “open and trusting grantmaking” approach advocated by the UK’s Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR). It involves promoting flexible funding in which:

• grant processes feel easy, straightforward and trusting
• organisations are respected and trusted to know how to achieve their missions
• organisations and funders approach impact as a shared endeavour
• a culture of mutual understanding and respect becomes the norm.

Gibson said the foundation’s requirements also call for transparent guidelines, light-touch reporting, and always providing feedback.

She said the new approach was “very rewarding” in that it helped organisations “navigate a potential fit with our funding”.

“While it requires more time and effort upfront, it leads to a deeper understanding of applicants’ work and more confident decision-making.

“It does involve more work and possibly greater risk, and we may occasionally get things wrong. But risk is part of grantmaking, and it feels right that funders carry a share of it.”

More information

The Friends Provident Foundation declaration | “Say hello” form | New process (PDF)

Whitepaper: Unrestricted funding – Why grantmakers need it

Assessment: How to make good decisions

High trust grantmaking