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class="col-12 col-lg-8"> <div class="single-post-wrapper"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-12 "> <h1 class="single-post__title mb-0">Trusting funders are not letting go of impact</h1> <h2 class="single-post__sub-title">#FlexibleFunders</h2> <p class="single-post__authors">Written in December 2021 by: Ben Cairns and Caroline Mason, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation </p> <p>Back in April 2020, hundreds of UK funders pledged to “stand with the sector” and make changes to the way they fund in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. At Esmée we dropped grant restrictions, had conversations instead of asking for reports, and released payments more quickly. As we all struggle to get back to “normal”, some funders might be feeling the pressure to move back to their old funding habits. We want to question this move, and make the case for open and trusting grant-making. We believe that redefining funders’ relationships with the organisations we fund – and basing them on trust – will not just improve those relationships, it will also have an effect on the difference we can make together.</p> <div class=" ivar__block"> </div> <p>Open and trusting grantmakers are letting go of some of the restrictions and demands around funding – but they are not letting go of impact. They – and we – are deeply committed to understanding impact, and working out how to increase it. No one goes into social action not caring whether they are making a difference or not. But understanding what ‘making a difference’ looks like, and who gets to decide what good looks like, is far from straightforward.</p> <div class=" ivar__block"> </div> <p>How can funders be high trust and light-touch, while also building a picture of the difference they – and the organisations they support – are making? For us, the answer is not necessarily ‘impact measurement’. We are sceptical of this approach for two, inter-connected reasons.</p> <div class=" ivar__block"> </div> <p>First, a principle that sits at the heart of the <a href="http://www.ivar.org.uk/flexible-funders" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">open and trusting</a> movement is – funders don’t know best. Foundations must let go of the idea that they are best positioned to decide how change should happen, who is best positioned to lead that change, and perhaps even which outcomes are most important to prioritise.</p> <div class=" ivar__block"> </div> <p>Second, we believe that impact measurement alone is too simplistic an answer to complex questions about how best to decide what to do next (as a charity) or how to deploy future funds (as a funder).</p> <div class=" ivar__block"> </div> <p>Impact measurement is not the same as evidence of progress – and, for funders, certainly not proof of the impact of our specific support. We sit within a complex environment of factors, people and influences – all of which affect change. At Esmée, what we look for are indicators of what has helped or hindered progress, and understanding of how that happened. In line with our commitment to the 2019 <a href="http://www.ivar.org.uk/better-reporting" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Better Reporting</a> principles (co-produced by IVAR and Esmée with foundations and funded organisations) we encourage the organisations we fund to share impact or board reports they’ve already written, rather than using our template.</p> <div class=" ivar__block"> </div> <p>Funders can collect a whole basket of intelligence – a mix of formal evaluations with conversations and reflections, research, statistics, qualitative and quantitative outcome data, case studies, structured surveys, beneficiary views and many more – that will help us to make decisions about the best contribution we can make to support positive outcomes. In other words a ‘strategic learning approach’, where good learning leads to action. An approach that is deeply interested in ‘impact’, but which does not privilege metrics over expertise and lived experience in the complexity of social change.</p> <div class=" ivar__block"> </div> <p>In open and trusting grant-making, it is no longer in the gift of funders to dictate outcomes or prescribe methods. Expert organisations, initiatives and collaborations can be trusted to know best, and can be freed to adapt and adjust as things change. They can also be trusted to be thoughtful and reflective, to collect useful data, and to share it as part of their own commitment to improve the quality of what they do. And funders can then be trusted to apply the principles of strategic learning to their own judgements about what, where and how to fund. <em></em></p> <div class=" ivar__block"> </div> <p>Let’s move together towards learning systems that are genuinely useful and, most importantly, don’t set funders up as auditors of social progress.</p> <div class=" ivar__block"> </div> <p><em>Join our community of </em><a href="http://www.ivar.org.uk/flexible-funders" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>open and trusting grantmakers</em></a><em>, working towards more flexible funding practice.</em></p> <div class="single-post__actions d-flex justify-content-center"> <div class="single-post__share mx-2"> <div class="share-bar"> <button class="share-bar__button">Share</button> <div class="share-bar__list"> <div class="d-flex justify-content-flex-start h-100 align-items-center"> <h6 class="mb-0">Share to: </h6> <div class="a2a_kit a2a_default_style"> <a class="a2a_button_twitter mx-2"> <i class="fab fa-twitter"></i> <span class="sr-only">Share on Twitter</span> </a> <a class="a2a_button_linkedin mx-2"> <i class="fab fa-linkedin-in"></i> <span class="sr-only">Share on Linkedin</span> </a> <a class="a2a_button_facebook mx-2"> <i class="fab fa-facebook-f"></i> <span class="sr-only">Share on Facebook</span> </a> <a class="a2a_button_whatsapp mx-2"> <i class="fab fa-whatsapp"></i> <span class="sr-only">Share by Whatsapp</span> </a> <a class="a2a_button_email mx-2"> <i class="fas fa-envelope"></i> <span class="sr-only">Share by Email</span> </a> </div> <button class="share-bar__close" title="Close"><i class="far fa-times"><span class="sr-only">Close</span></i></button> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="single-post__related"> <span class="title-border bg-green"></span> <h3 class="text-green">You may also be interested in:</h3> <div class="archive-posts__content"> <div class="row gy-4"> <div class="card-wrapper card-wrapper--post"> <div class="post-card post-card--post"> <div class="post-card__image"> <a href="https://www.ivar.org.uk/blog/a-simple-ambition-for-grant-making-unrestricted-and-light-touch/" title="A simple ambition for grant-making: unrestricted and light-touch" class="post-card__image-container" > <img width="740" height="451" src="https://www.ivar.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Eliza-740x451.jpg" class="img-fluid" alt="" decoding="async" /> </a> </div> <div class="post-card__body"> <h6 class="post-card__title mb-1">A simple ambition for grant-making: unrestricted and light-touch</h6> <p class="serif">#FlexibleFunders</p> <a class="btn btn-default" href="https://www.ivar.org.uk/blog/a-simple-ambition-for-grant-making-unrestricted-and-light-touch/" >Read more</a> <span class="post-card__post-type post-card__post-type--post"><span>Blog</span></span> </div> </div> </div><div class="card-wrapper card-wrapper--post"> <div class="post-card post-card--post"> <div class="post-card__image"> <a href="https://www.ivar.org.uk/blog/this-is-what-applying-for-funding-feels-like/" title="This is what applying for funding feels like" class="post-card__image-container" > <img width="564" height="350" src="https://www.ivar.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/IVAR_word-cloud_Jun-2021_v14.png" class="img-fluid" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://www.ivar.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/IVAR_word-cloud_Jun-2021_v14.png 564w, https://www.ivar.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/IVAR_word-cloud_Jun-2021_v14-300x186.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 564px) 100vw, 564px" /> </a> </div> <div class="post-card__body"> <h6 class="post-card__title mb-1">This is what applying for funding feels like</h6> <p class="serif">#FlexibleFunders</p> <a class="btn btn-default" href="https://www.ivar.org.uk/blog/this-is-what-applying-for-funding-feels-like/" >Read more</a> <span class="post-card__post-type post-card__post-type--post"><span>Blog</span></span> </div> </div> </div><div class="card-wrapper card-wrapper--post"> <div class="post-card post-card--post"> <div class="post-card__image"> <a href="https://www.ivar.org.uk/blog/two-practical-ideas-unrestricted-funding/" title="Two practical ideas to increase unrestricted funding" class="post-card__image-container" > <img width="600" height="451" src="https://www.ivar.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Nick-Addington-e1614700468560-600x451.jpg" class="img-fluid" alt="a profile picture - 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