Day 17: How to plan a workshop on the future of grantmaking?
CAST are delivering a workshop at Charity Digital’s Future of Fundraising Summit. Now that’s exciting! How can we make the session as engaging and impactful as possible?
First up some questions to consider before I start planning.
- Who is the session for?
- Why should attendees join the workshop?
- What will they leave with or learn? What’s in it for them?
- How do I want participants to feel during the session?
- Is there anything I hope they will do after the session?
For example, for this session I want fundraisers and grantseekers to feel heard, engaged and empowered to have their say in the future of grantmaking. I would love if everyone left feeling confident that taking part will to lead to tangible impact — I hope to work with grantmakers and grantseekers to test out some of the ideas they come up with. How can I design the session to keep these messages at the core? How does that higher purpose inform what language I use, what ice-breaker I introduce, the action I commit to taking at the end of the workshop and how I communicate that?
Next, bring the challenge to life with insight
There are 450 (and counting!) anonymous reviews on GrantAdvisor UK and there appear to be some emerging, common themes from the feedback grantseekers have shared. Sharing these in the workshop would bring the challenge to life with tangible examples. Immersing everyone in why we’re coming together creates a shared sense of purpose. Why is it important to think about the future of grantmaking? Why bother?
- Because grantseekers have got some ideas about how to improve reporting, and 26 funders have signed up to listen. Here’s what grantseekers are saying about reporting on grant funds
Keep the (written) reporting requirements light. Better to connect regularly on the phone, than to submit endless reports, in my opinion.
Anonymous review, GrantAdvisor UK
Please make monitoring report made more accessible with clear guidelines when receiving the funding
Anonymous review, GrantAdvisor UK
2. Because grantseekers have shared that having a human to talk to is really helpful. We know funders want to build good relationships. But everyone is short on time. What can we do about that? Where are the opportunities to strengthen relationships between grantseekers and grantmakers? Here’s what grantseekers are saying about their experience building relationships with funders
They invest in building meaningful and authentic relationships, which means there is confidence in reapplying for grants and reporting back on outcomes.
Anonymous review, GrantAdvisor UK
The team are always really easy to contact, and very friendly and approachable. Throughout the whole process, regardless of who you speak to, the team always remembered who we were and what we were about. They were very helpful in advising us with our application and answering questions.
Anonymous review, GrantAdvisor UK
Okay, we know a bit about the challenge we want to address, now what? Frame the challenge as an opportunity
We can flip our the challenges into prompt questions so we don’t get stuck worrying about what’s not working and start thinking about what is within our collective power to change.
- How might we build human connection in the grant application process?
- How might we create more relational grantmaking?
- How might we create a consistent, light-touch reporting approach that feels proportional?
- How might we create positive reporting experiences that celebrate success?
Hmm now I can start to see some answers forming to these questions. Ideas sparking! But how to help the hidden ideas, the half thoughts, the maybe it’s not good enough to even mention ideas float to the top? (Your idea is good enough, there’s no such thing as a bad idea, good vibes only!)
What’s next? Get inspired by others solving the same challenge!
Now that we have some questions we can start thinking about who is already tackling these questions and doing it well? I could even invite participants to spend 5 minutes during the workshop doing a mini bit of desk research, ask ChatGPT who is leading the way in impactful grantmaking and report back to your breakout group. But I’m a bit worried people will get distracted here, how can we give everyone freedom to explore while keeping the focus? For in-person workshops I often provide a “Wall of Inspiration” a physical wall with a few case studies of how others are solving the same challenges stuck up. Everyone can take a look, note down one thing they thought was interesting on a post-it note and pop it on a flip chart to share with their group. How can I create that same sense of immersion online?
Time to...Connect and learn form each other
Who else can we learn from to help us tackle this challenge? How about each other! Bringing participants together in breakout groups to share personal experiences gives everyone a chance to connect in smaller groups. What tangible examples have they seen in the sector where reporting has been great? What approaches to relationship building work well in their experience?
Okay we’re feeling pretty good now, it could be time to… brainstorm ideas!
Now we have had a chance to explore the problem a bit more and get inspired. We’ve got to know everyone a little and it feels a little less daunting to start sharing ideas. Time to connect the dots and get some ideas down on paper. What does future of grantmaking look like?
There are lots of creative thinking exercises to help give structure brainstorms, I am thinking about Rapid 8’s for this session. It is a fast-paced and fun way to come up with 8 ideas in 8 minutes, then prioritise one or two to take forward and flesh out with your team.
Interested? Help me shape the workshop on the future of grantmaking. Grantseekers can share their anonymous review of any UK funder (even if they are not registered yet) by completing this 5 minute survey. Grantmakers can start collecting reviews and register here.
We’ll be bringing the common themes from reviews to an interactive workshop at the Future of Fundraising Summit in November — book your free place today.
Hello! I am running a 30 day experiment in open working to help me understand the benefits and challenges, so I can get better at supporting social impact organisations to work in the open. I would love to hear your comments, ideas and feedback! Thank you, Ellen
