Power of Small project report

The final approach we tested as part of the Power of Small project was a series of funder roundtables, which were initiated to bring funders and the voices of small charities (‘Smalls’) together to explore ways to redesign grant making processes and improve accessibility to funding.

The Funder Roundtable was formed to address the systemic funding challenges faced by Smalls and to explore innovative approaches to financial sustainability.

The impetus behind the roundtable was the persistent barriers in the funding landscape identified during the research phase. These included short-term, restricted funding, complex application processes, and limited engagement between funders and small charities.

The roundtable sought to bring together funders, sector leaders and project partners to foster a collaborative dialogue on how to redesign funding structures to be more equitable and accessible.

The discussion, including a series of breakout sessions, was structured around four key themes:

1. Unrestricted and multi-year funding
2. Simplifying application and reporting processes
3. Policy and advocacy for funding reform
4. Collaboration and shared funding models

• Funders acknowledged the pressing need for more flexible, long-term (multi-year) funding that enables Smalls to cover core costs and build resilience. However, funders also acknowledged that this could also be a ‘double-edged sword’ as having longer-term funding could lead to less funding available for new grant recipients.
• Groups discussed that this multi-year funding was not an easy win, as there needs to be a greater focus on whether overall sustainability for a smaller number of organisations would balance out supporting increased numbers for shorter time periods.
• Similarly, the funders outlined that the question of restricted versus unrestricted funding had subtle gradients and that this was a spectrum from totally restricted to completely unrestricted funding. However, they acknowledged that there were unambiguous benefits to moving towards the unrestricted end of the spectrum.

• The conversation on simplifying application and reporting processes highlighted the administrative burdens placed on Smalls and the responsibility of funders to streamline procedures and remove unnecessary complexity.
• Some interesting mechanisms were noted about reducing burden, including that the reporting processes and applications needed to be proportionate in size to the grants and the organisation.
• Many of the funders present noted that different processes, such as having a short expression of interest stage, as well as eligibility checkers, had helped organisations to identify whether they met the criteria of the grant schemes.
• In terms of reporting, it was highlighted that while some funders accept an organisation’s annual report as their reporting/evaluation method, this would impose a burden on the smallest organisations who would have to write an annual report.

A key area of debate was policy and advocacy, examining how funders could use their influence to challenge restrictive funding practices, advocate for sector-wide reforms, and ensure that small charities have a stronger voice in decision-making spaces.

• The crucial nature of the long-term trust and relationship needed in this space was discussed – it takes a long time to build relationships between funders and grantees.
• An emerging topic was the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in funding applications, with funders exploring its potential to streamline processes while ensuring authenticity and equity in decision making. The opportunities provided by AI could include supporting small organisations to research funders and support with first draft responses.
• The benefits of using AI, including for support to tighten up writing and grammar and for applicants where English is not their first language, was discussed.
• However, it was also noted that since the increased use of AI, there has been a marked increase in generic answers to funders’ questions about what equity, diversity and inclusion means to the organisation.
• It was noted that a number of participants in the roundtable had been invited to be part of CAST’s taskforce around the potential of AI in this space.

The collaborative funding models discussion focused on how funders could work together to maximise impact, align funding criteria and reduce duplication.

• It was noted that collaboration does happen and that again, as with policy, the relationship and trust piece is vital. Funders outlined that knowing the organisations, and understanding specialisms and alignments is key – for example, collaborating with grassroots organisations, language-specific groups as well as those organisations working directly with communities.
• It was seen as important to ensure collaboration wasn’t tokenistic and for effective collaboration the barriers of ego and ownership needed to be dismantled as part of the process of ‘letting go’.
• Areas of good practice were discussed. For example, in Gloucestershire all applications for a fund went to all funders in one area, so they could decide how and where to fund, as well as work collaboratively as funders. However, this has not worked so well in scaling up. It would be a challenge to find a solution that would work for all funders.

Overall, the roundtable fostered a solution-focused dialogue – and hopefully the start of a series of future conversations, reinforcing the importance of partnerships, systemic change, and the role of funders as advocates for a more effective and equitable funding ecosystem.

Due to the time constraints it was only possible to hold one funder roundtable during the project testing phase. The idea is that the partners will continue to use their convening powers to bring funders together to discuss further in the future.