I do a bit of work on applications to Trusts and Foundations. I work with a lot of small charities and social enterprises and I am a member of a number of Facebook groups on fundraising too. The word on the block is definitely how difficult it is to get funding from Trusts and Foundations at the moment.
Charity Fundraising Trends 2024 (charityexcellence.co.uk)
I know of a couple of people who are curating lists of the Trusts and Foundations who are paused, closing, spending out or narrowing their criteria substantially – it’s a large and ever-increasing list. Fundraisers also report lower success rates, as Trusts and Foundations are inundated with applications for support (partly due to the use of AI which speeds applications up). It’s definitely a time of change in this area of funding.
Some of the big grant funders are also changing their priorities and strategic aims – being much clearer (and therefore more focused) on the difference they want to make. There’s a trend towards funding those who have been under-funded in the past (particularly minority groups) and also towards the climate emergency.
On top of that, the cost of living crisis is impacting on individual giving. And many charities and social enterprises are also seeing increased need and particularly, increased complexity in the support they have to provide.
I do also see organisations delivering great work and finding ways to get it funded. There is money out there – but it’s a pretty challenging environment to navigate.
Another area of challenge is the increasing understanding of the ethical issues associated with accepting funding from particular sources. This has long been the case, but it does feel that there are currently few corporate linked sources that are really free from any negative ethical issues. If a Trust’s money was based on income from slavery, or from a family business which has poor practices, should you be accepting funding from them? Where do you draw the line? When is it more beneficial to accept the money and do good with it, rather than not accept it…
My top tips at the moment would be:
- Review your fundraising strategy – is the time you are putting into each strand bringing in the rewards you need? How have things changed in the last couple of years? Where could you tweak or update your strategy? Could you be better spending your time and energy in a different way?
- Update your strategy & policy around income you will accept, and what you won’t accept. Then everyone in your organisation is clear.
- Get your messaging right – make sure you are really clear about what you do, how you do it, and why you do it. And have the evidence to hand that shows what you have done over the past couple of years; and the stories that demonstrate who you are supporting and the difference you are making.
- Do your research – spend more time on finding funders and individual donors who clearly share your priorities and passion. Don’t waste your (and their) time on applications / fundraising where the likelihood of success is limited.
We’ll be putting some resources on our website soon around funding and finance, so do take a look – Resources | Clarity CIC