Brevio Ltd ceased trading from 31st March 2024. They state the see this not as an ending, but as a transition from start-up to scale-up. A proud not-for-profit, social enterprise, and an award-winning B Corp, Brevio has been dedicated to streamlining and reducing waste in the UK charitable grant-making process.
Over the past 5 years, and funded by over £3m from its Founder, Marcelle Speller OBE, the platform was designed and built to match charities’ funding needs with grant-makers’ eligibility criteria. Where matches were identified, the platform could seamlessly populate grant-makers’ existing application forms with applicant data, reducing administration and improving efficiency. However, very few grant-makers were open to supporting the platform, preferring to focus on their individual administration processes.
To overcome this hurdle, Brevio undertook the significant task of compiling, formatting and regularly updating eligibility criteria from grantmakers’ websites. 2,000+ live grants were hosted on the site, with funding totalling £1bn. Brevio alerted the 3,500+ charities who had signed up to the platform to 33,000 matches between their funding requirements and live grants.
In August 2023, after over 3 years of offering the service free of charge, Brevio introduced a nominal subscription fee to charities to sustain the development of the platform. Unfortunately, engagement by charities was insufficient to support the financial sustainability of the project, and the difficult decision to cease trading was taken.
However, exciting negotiations are ongoing to take Brevio’s from start-up to a scale-up phase with various partners in the sector who have the resources and reach to build on what Brevio has achieved.
The engagement from thousands of charities with the platform over the years is evidence of the need for the model, which has reduced the wasted time and cost traditionally spent searching for grants.
“Brevio was a great idea and very much needed from a fundraiser’s perspective. You should be very proud of what you have achieved and attempted to do to make the funding landscape more accessible and an even playing field in this very challenging fundraising climate.” says Camilla Maclaverty, PHASE Worldwide
Marcelle Speller reflects, “The journey with Brevio has been a testament to our commitment to innovation and efficiency within the charitable sector. Whilst we prepare for Brevio’s next chapter, despite our closure, the mission to optimise the grant-making process through digital means remains crucial. The interest from potential partners to carry forward Brevio’s legacy is a powerful reminder of what we can achieve together.
“I wish to express my deepest gratitude to our partners, users, supporters and the exceptional Brevio team and Board, whose dedication to our cause has been unwavering. My, and their passion for our mission to reduce the wastage in the grantmaking processes will certainly continue.”
In the coming days, we will be providing more information on how we plan to assist our users through this transition, ensuring as smooth and supportive a process as possible.
