A new campaign has been launched by the Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR) and London Funders, in collaboration with a small group of UK foundations and charities. They are calling on funders to adopt more open and trusting practices that make life easier for those they fund, in light of the ongoing uncertainty caused by Covid-19. Their ambition is to see these commitments extend beyond the crisis: to become standard practice in the sector.
Jerwood Arts is one of over 40 funders who have already signed up to the eight commitments and joined a community of practice with funders and charities to improve practice together. The eight commitments align strongly with our core values: responsible, imaginative and independent, and set out clear practical ways to be more open and accessible to potential applicants and grantees.
As an arts funder supporting both individuals and organisations, we have made a number of changes in recent years to make our processes kinder to applicants which can be read about here. Many of these are reflected in the eight commitments such as working towards offering feedback to all unsuccessful applicants and publishing clear timelines. In other areas Covid-19 has seen us recommit to our core mission and we are looking forward to finding ways we can go further.
The eight commitments are:
- Don’t waste time – funders will be open, transparent and clear about all of their priorities, requirements and exclusions.
- Ask relevant questions – funders will test their application forms to ensure clarity, relevance and avoid repetition, only collecting information that genuinely informs a funding decision.
- Accept risk – funders will clearly explain how risk is assessed and be realistic about how much assurance applicants can provide.
- Act with urgency – funders will aim to make decisions as quickly as possible by publishing and sticking to timeframes to ensure they work at a pace that meets the needs of applicants.
- Be open –funders will provide feedback, including reasons for rejections. They will analyse and share relevant data, including publishing success rates.
- Enable flexibility – funders will aim to give unrestricted funding; where they can’t (or are a specialist funder), they will ensure their funding is as flexible as possible.
- Communicate with purpose– a funders contact is positive and purposeful. They will be realistic about their time commitments.
- Be proportionate– funders will ensure that their formal reporting requirements are well understood, proportionate and meaningful.
Find out more on the IVAR website here.
The open & trusting grant–makers are:
AB Charitable Trust
Access to Justice
Allen Lane Trust
Ballinger Trust
Barrow Cadbury Trust
Caretech foundation
Cattanach
Charterhouse in Southwark
City Bridge Trust
Community Foundation for Northern Ireland
Corra Foundation
Devon Community Foundation
Do-It Foundation
East End Community Foundation
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
Haberdasher’s Company
Halifax Foundation
Harpur Trust
Jerwood Arts
John Ellerman Foundation
John Lyon’s Charity
Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust
Legal Education Foundation
Lloyds Bank Foundation for England & Wales
The Mercer’s Company
Millfield House Foundation
Paul Hamlyn Foundation
Pears Foundation
Peter Minet Trust
Pilgrim Trust
Southwark Charities
Spirit of 2012
Texel Foundation
The Blue Thread
The Bromley Trust
The Postlethwaite Music Foundation
The Robertson Trust
Tudor Trust
Two Ridings Charitable Foundation
United St Saviour’s Charity
Walcot Foundation
William Grant Foundation
Youth Music
