Weeknotes 69 (14th April to 17th April)
For the first time, I’ve lost track of how long we have been in lockdown. Week five at a guess, with at least three more to come. For the first time ever I didn’t take time off for Easter as I want to prioritise being around for my kids during term time when they (we) are trying to study at home. They certainly enjoyed Easter holidays with a lot of pyjama days and Mario Party. Teamwise, we all enjoyed the long weekend though, and although our lives are very different, we all felt that it gave us a moment to pause and reflect. And in many ways start to prepare for a different stage of the Covid 19 crisis.
I expected a bit of a quieter pace this week because of Easter, but I was proved wrong. We’ve all continued to be pretty hectic, but have equally recognised that we need to make some space for reading and researching — so much information has been/is being published over the last few weeks, which has been hard to keep up with. But it is so important as colleagues continue to come to us for recommendations on resources and guidance. There is so much great work being done, we want to stay on top of it.
What We’re Doing
Melissa reflected that this abundance of content was noted in the Catalyst quarterly founding funders meeting, which she attended on Thursday as the person who looks after their grant with us. They talked about the need for coordination and collation of support resources in order to avoid duplication, which they are working on with their networks. The meeting was really useful to get an update on what Catalyst has been doing, as they have rapidly pivoted to respond to the needs of the sector and strengthen their network in the last 3 weeks. Things that stood out:
“We can already see that the sector we had a few weeks ago is unlikely to come back. We need to think about what comes next. The way in which we respond is part of how we strengthen our sector and civil society.”
“We’re seeing a lot of reuse of tech platforms. Reuse is good but how do we ensure we’re resilient by also making things that are owned and run by the sector? What are the tech principles that underpin that?”
Phoebe and I have also been doing a lot of talking with grantholders to check in on how things are going and how best we can support them in the current crisis, as well as being as flexible as we can for grantholders who may need to use their funding in a different way than planned. We’ve been really clear that we are here to listen and help, and we feel strongly that this is a message we will continue to share.
Phoebe hosted our second virtual Sharing Circle for the UK Portfolio for the team to openly share our feelings as we navigate the complexity of the needs and challenges of grantholders right now. We’re hoping to rotate the facilitator on these, and the feedback so far is that they’ve been a useful space for connection, empathy and just being able to talk things through out loud.
What We’re Learning
Melissa attended a Funders Who Tech lunch meeting on Zoom with 18 different people working on funding digital, data and tech in the UK, co-hosted by Cassie and Tom Steinberg. We shared what we have been hearing and learning from grantholders across our networks about how they’re responding, what they need and how we as funders have responded. This feels like a really important space right now. A couple of key reflections:
- At the moment, the digital divide still seems to be the biggest issue for people. Beyond the challenge of just getting tech, connectivity and training to people to meet current demands, there are also concerns for how technical innovations might outpace and leave behind even more people, such as proposed Covid-19 tracking apps and other essential digital services that will be developed.
- The centrality of data to this crisis, as articulated by Tom: “This is not a crisis in which apps matter a great deal, but it is a crisis in which data matters a great deal.”
What We’re Celebrating
We are celebrating the release of the research that Stripe Partners carried out for us into what micro organisations need to thrive. This was already really deep, useful work, but in the current crisis feels especially valuable as a way to think about, engage with and support these small organisations doing incredible work across the UK. We would love you to share it far and wide:
We’re also keen to amplify a number of great things that Catalyst have launched/will soon launch that will really benefit the sector:
- Digital Candle — one free hour of digital advice for charities
- Service Recipes — practical guides to help charities reuse and learn from one another’s services
- Digital Teams — digital support for networks of charities with shared problems
Phoebe started her coaching with the amazing Alex Mecklenburg (by video call of course) and is looking forward to this continuing as a way of supporting her in her role here.
We also want to share that the next Digital Fund learning session is now live on Eventbrite. Its on the theme of “Responsible Technology” — please share and we hope to see you there.
And like Columbo said, just one more thing. We were really struck by a comment from the Catalyst Founders meeting:
“All the work we’ve been doing about convincing hearts and minds about the importance of digital has gone out of the window — everyone gets it now.”
Whilst these are dreadful circumstances that have brought about this realisation, we are so proud to be supporting our grantholders who are at the very forefront of supporting people and communities through these challenging times, particularly around their digital needs, and we’re committed to amplifying and sharing the great work they do for communities across the UK.
