# Demand more innovative grant funding, urges Cathy Pharoah

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2006/10/12/demand-more-innovative-grant-funding-urges-cathy-pharoah/
- Published: 2006-10-12T23:00:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

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.

“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.”

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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.

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