Day 22: What advice would you give a funder?

Yesterday CAST had the opportunity to connect with charities to share how they can collaborate with funders to improve grantmaking practices and behaviours. We also talked about how CAST can support charities to develop their digital skills and confidence.

The challenge: how might we improve grantmaking?

We know that the lack of feedback loops in grantmaking practice is a significant barrier to a more effective sector. And we need honest communication to build the strong relationships the sector needs to deliver on our ambitious aims. We also know that the power dynamics in grantmaking mean it can be challenging for grantseekers to provide honest feedback to funders, particulalry when their grant application is still pending.

The solution: GrantAdvisor UK

GrantAdvisor UK is an online service that allows grantseekers to share anonymous feedback on their experience working with any UK funder, even if they’re not registered yet. Currently there are 26 funders registered and over 450 anonymous reviews written by grantseekers.

Benefits of using GrantAdvisor UK for grantseekers

1. The service aims to act as grantseekers’ direct line into funders: every review is submitted to the funder concerned, so they can understand what they’re doing well — and what they need to work on. All feedback is anonymous and public by design, enabling honest, user-led, granular and prompt feedback on funders and their funding processes. Funders can also reply to your feedback; improving communication.
2. The site also acts as a useful tool for grantseekers to use as part of their research when applying for funding — grantseekers can read their peers’ comments and pick up valuable information — from length of submission process, to accessibility, to overall funder relationship.

We asked participants joining the session what advice they would give a funder. Here is what they shared:

• Be as specific as possible in your funding aims, and what is out of scope
• Switch to giving unrestricted funding — trust that the org applying knows how best to deliver and allow them the most flex to just do it
• What does match funding truly achieve?
• As a charity that works with young artists that need funding support, it’s incredibly unhelpful that some will get rejected and others succeed when sending essentially identical applications to funding trusts.

We want to encourage more grantseekers to share honest feedback just like this! It only takes 5 minutes to leave a review and is a chance to share your experience, questions and fresh ideas directly with a funder you have worked with. Here is an example from one of the 450 reviews now collected on the service:

We believe that this granular data and insight has real power. The more reviews we have on the GrantAdvisor UK service, the more effective we can be at spotting and responding to common themes. We have heard that funders are finding this feedback really helpful and it is already creating impact to refine funder practices.

There are two emerging trends from the data:

• Relational grantmaking — grantseekers have shared that human connection is important in the grant applicaiton process, for example having someone you can call for advice can make the process feel less faceless. How might we create more relational grantmaking?
• Reporting — grantseekers have shared that reporting can feel burdensome and time consuming. How might we simplify reporting?

Do you want to get involved?

• Visit GrantAdvisor UK to share your experience working with any UK funder, even if they are not registered yet. We would love to hear your experiences working with trusts, foundations, corporates, local authorities or any other UK funder. If you have questions, get in touch at grantadvisor@wearecast.org.uk
• Register for a free spot at Charity Digital’s Fundraising Summit where CAST will be running a workshop on the future of grantmaking! We’ll be exploring the emerging themes from the reviews, and we will use creative brainstroming techniques to come up with approaches we can test. Join us to have your say in the future of grantmaking.

A big thank you to the team at Haysmacintyre for the opportunity to connect with charities at their quarterly charity update, and to everyone who showed up and shared their ideas with us.

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