Eight lessons:

1. Listen actively: Making sound decisions as a funder depends on keeping a close ear to the ground. Asking charity partners directly what support they and the communities they work in need most is the first step
   
   
2. Fund flexibly: Our funding and development support has flexibility at its core. Unrestricted grants and a programme of tailored capacity building investing in the ability of frontline charities to change, adapt and respond, and thrive beyond the life of our grant
   
   
3. Lighter touch doesn't mean less robust: Letting go of some of the structures of our old approach meant giving up control. But it has also been liberating for staff & charity partners. Streamlining our processes hasn’t sacrificed the robustness of due diligence and learning
   
   
4. Equity requires action: Our work on equity, diversity and inclusion is underpinned by the steps we have taken to address our internal knowledge, our practices as a funder and the skills and the make-up of our staff and trustees
   
   
5. You can't do it alone: Collaboration isn’t always an instinctive way of working for grantmakers. But these collaborations have unlocked new opportunities and educated us on when to lead and when to follow
   
   
6. Relationships unlock progress: Relationships sit at the heart of the Foundation’s approach. Strong partnerships are rooted in trust and combine both support and challenge.
   
   
7. Acknowledge your trade-offs: As a result of uncertainty about our income, we made difficult decisions on what to prioritise. Being open about these trade-offs with charities helped to set expectations and build trust – even when it meant disappointment
   
   
8. Make use of all your assets: Being able to direct all of our tools towards a shared goal have meant we can have a greater impact than any one pillar could achieve individually. Part of this involved leveraging our relationship with Lloyds Banking Group

Claire Garrett, CEO of The Harbour Project / £140,547 / Refugees and Asylum Seekers

In thinking about effective funder practices, we are indebted to the work of many organisations advocating for reform and improvement in the Foundation sector, including IVAR’s Open and Trusting pledge, ACF’s stronger Foundation’s initiative, the Ubele Initiative, London Funders, Ten Years’ Time 2027 talent programme, the Funders Alliance for Racial Equality and Charity So White.

Read a summary of the report

Click the image to read a summary of the lessons in Funder Practice, and our learnings from 2018 - 2022.

Our strategy: Building a better future

Our new strategy will focus on where we can collectively make the greatest change happen from the impact of our funding, support and resources to the difference charities make to people’s lives.

Watch our launch and learn event

On Monday 3 October, we were joined by speakers Bonnie Chui, Ngozi Lynn Cole, Jim Cooke, Fiona Murray, Ann Johnson and small charity, Equality Action. 

During the day, our speakers discussed lessons learnt during our 2018 - 2022 strategy, Reaching Further, and covered in our Funder Practice report.

Watch in full now. The video includes captions and BSL. 

Jim Cooke, Head of Funders Collaborative Hub, writes hows collaboration can multiple the ways that funders can achieve a positive impact. Read more. 

In this blog, Ngozi Lynn Cole and Bonnie Chui reflect on the Foundation's racial equity journey two years on. Read more.

Ann Johnson is the Local Implementation Lead in Telford and Wrekin as part of the Foundation’s People and Communities work. Here she writes about how collaboration could work on a local level.