New guide to defending local grants in the recession
Howard Lake | 26 January 2009 | News
The Local Grants Forum, a partnership of national organisations which campaign to protect grants for local third sector organisations and community groups, has published a guide to show them how they can defend the local grants still available to them.
The amount of grant funding made available by local authorities has fallen since 2001 and the economic recession threatens to exacerbate this problem. Already in Gloucester and Hastings, the local authority has proposed cuts to the local third sector.
‘Defending Local Grants’ is designed to help local groups convince councillors, commissioning officers and procurement professionals that grants should continue to be used to fund local organisations and groups.
It wiill enable local groups to quote government ./guidance which supports use of grants; challenge the myth that grants are no longer possible because of competition law and European regulations; and explain what grants can achieve for local communities that contracts cannot.
Kevin Curley, Chief Executive of NAVCA and a member of the Local Grants Forum said: “Research from the Finance Hub last year showed that local authority grant funding fell by 13% in just three years.
“With an economic recession and tighter budgets we are worried that grant funding will suffer even more as local authorities make budget cuts, even though grant funding is vital to many of the groups that support communities who suffer most in a downturn. This includes groups providing debt advice, credit unions and organisations that help get people get back into employment.
“That’s why the Local Grants Forum has produced this guide now. We want to equip local groups with the resources and evidence they need to argue the case for grant funding. Local grants are vital for a healthy third sector and we must defend them.”
The four-page document can be downloaded at no charge as a 2.3Mb PDF.
www.navca.org.uk/publications/defendinggrants/Home.htm
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.