Demand more innovative grant funding, urges Cathy Pharoah
Howard Lake | 12 October 2006 | News
Charities should be “demanding” more innovative forms of grant funding from grantmaking trusts, consultant Cathy Pharoah told delegates at UK Fundraising’s Perfect Pitch last week.
Pharaoh, who runs research consultancy Third Sector Prospect, said that of the £1.8 billion given by trusts last year, just a “few hundred million” was by “innovative financial practices” such as the types of loans and capacity building grants provided by Futurebuilders.
“All financial innovation has so far come from supply side,” Pharaoh said. “There is money going into financial innovation itself, particularly the Foundation for Unclaimed Assets, and the government has shown that it is willing to invest in financial innovation.
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“But there is no demand from charities for new forms of grantmaking. They are just saying to trusts that they would like the option of more sustainable, entrepreneurial funding. But charities have an interest in developing new financial practices and there has to be more demand from charities for new financial practice.”
Pharoah said part of the reluctance for grantmakers to offer new forms of grantmaking was that they were not sure how effectively they would work. But with many grantmaking trusts hit by poor performing investments in the early part of the decade, pressure for alternative methods of funding ought to grow, she said.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.