Is the (grant-making trust) glass half full or glass half empty?

Finbar Cullen | 17 June 2009 | Blogs

• Tagged with:
• funding
• Prospect research

A recent article in Third Sector (6/6/09) reported that the Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF) had reported that 51% of grant-making trusts that had responded to a recent survey stated that they expected grant-making to fall in their next financial year. The article also reported that only 10% expected grant-making to increase. Well, excuse me but that could also be reported as “despite these difficult times, almost half of grant-making trusts that had responded to a recent survey stated that they expected to maintain or increase grant-making in their next financial year, with almost 10% actually expecting grant-making to increase”.

How do we identify the 10% likely to increase grant-making in their next financial year? Does the ACF report back on the accuracy of these predictions?

I went to the ACF website, and note that the news could be even better, as the ACF reports (7/6/09) that “15% anticipate higher grant-making in 2010, and 38% plan to increase grant-making over the longer term”.

The ACF reports that the survey was carried out in April and May 2009.

Finbar Cullen

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About Finbar Cullen
Finbar Cullen established ResearchPlus in 2005 to provide fundraising research services for the not-for-profit sector. He researches people, companies and grant-making trusts and foundations, mostly in the UK, but also other parts of the world. Finbar has published directories of “unpublished” grant-making trusts (registered with the Charity Commission and with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator), and each month he contributes to The Trust List, highlighting newly registered grant-making trusts worthy of particularly close attention.