Open and trusting grant-making with IVAR

We are delighted to join a community of funders committed to open and trusting grant-making, and being a flexible funder for the organisations we support.

Alongside over 40 funders, we are proud to have signed a pledge to open and trusting grant-making, a campaign coordinated by the Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR).

Together, we seek to... LinkedIn.png

We are part of a community of funders and charities working to improve practice together. Our ambition is to see these commitments extend beyond the COVID-19 crisis to become standard practice in the sector. As part of this, we have made the 8 commitments below.

Learn more about the open and trusting grant-making campaign and join the conversation on Twitter: #FlexibleFunders.

8 commitments to open and trusting grant-making

Don’t waste time

We will be open, transparent and clear about all of our priorities, requirements and exclusions.

Ask relevant questions

We will test our application forms to ensure clarity, relevance and avoid repetition, only collecting information that genuinely informs a funding decision.

Accept risk

We will clearly explain how risk is assessed and be realistic about how much assurance applicants can provide.

Act with urgency

We will aim to make decisions as quickly as possible by publishing and sticking to timeframes to ensure we work at a pace that meets the needs of applicants.

Be open

We will provide feedback, including reasons for rejections. We will analyse and share relevant data, including publishing success rates.

Enable flexibility

We will aim to give unrestricted funding; where we can’t, we will ensure our funding is as flexible as possible.

Communicate with purpose

Our contact is positive and purposeful. We will be realistic about their time commitments.

Be proportionate

We will ensure that their formal reporting requirements are well understood, proportionate and meaningful.

Learn more

  • Sea Ranger Service

    Grants

    We support organisations' charitable work with unrestricted, core and project grants. Learn more about our approach to funding and what you can expect from us.

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  • Clore Social Leadership

    Grant reporting

    Reporting to Esmée should be easy for you and valuable for both of us. We will only ask for information we need and use.

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  • Circles South East

    Guidance for support

    Information about our funding priorities, the type of work we want to support and what we would like to see in your proposal for support.

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