Commission on the Donor Experience: trusts and foundations
Howard Lake | 13 September 2016 | Blogs
When I took on leadership of the Trusts and Foundations project for the Commission on the Donor Experience I wasn’t entirely sure what I was getting myself into.
In the first place, I thought it was about what we, as trust fundraisers should expect from this category of funders. I very shortly came to realise, however, that I needed to flip this on its head – it is about what trusts and foundations should expect from us, the charity sector that is seeking their support.
In some ways it is obvious; trusts, foundations, lotteries and statutory funders already outline their expectations through their guidelines, application process and reporting requirements. Furthermore, it is also obvious that under this structure, ‘bad’ or ‘worst’ practice would be to not meet these requirements. There, job done. Let’s move on to the next project.
Or is it? Perhaps, the guidelines, processes and requirements are not the final destination that we should be aiming for, but rather the starting point.
Unlike individual donors, where conversations can and do happen to explore how, why and what they want to give to a cause, trusts and foundations can seem remote. There is quite a diversity in how, or even if, they’d like to be approached outside of the actual submission process. It might be that all contact is made through an outside or over-arching agency like a legal/accounting office or a group like Foundation Scotland, an administrative aide/grants officer, or possibly, if you are very lucky, one of the trustees. And then, any conversations may, or may not, have any bearing on the final decision to fund your cause or project.
Over the last 14 or so years, I have been fundraising for and managing grants from trusts, foundations, lotteries and statutory agencies in four countries as well as being involved in the greater fundraising community through conferences and my involvement in the IoF and as a Special Interest Group Chair. In that time I’ve seen a wide spectrum of attitudes towards these funders – from a very perfunctory view that they have to give the money away so it might as well be to ‘our’ organisation, to a more considered approach that recognises that the founder had a clear purpose, perhaps even a passion, that their trust was established to fulfil and charities receiving funding are helping to realise. Unfortunately, the former can lead to the funder being perceived as simply a source of funds to which there is no responsibility – including the requirement of adhering to the terms of the grant!
Examples of good/bad practice?
As project leader, I am looking to pull together a picture of what best practice looks like with regard to the relationships between fundraisers (and their organisations) and trusts and foundations and how this can create a good donor experience. I have already approached some trust fundraisers as well as some trusts and foundations, and I am now looking for additional input and feedback.
What are your thoughts and experiences when it comes to this? Do you agree or disagree that the guidelines and processes are the starting point rather than the target? Do you have any examples of good or bad practices (don’t worry, names will not be mentioned) that you would like to share?
In these last weeks before we submit our briefs to the Commission, I am looking for further feedback from trusts and foundations as well as fundraisers. If you would like to contribute, please send your feedback and comments to me, Deanna Wolf, at dc******@ic****.com“>dc******@ic****.com by 20 September 2016.
Deanna Wolf has been a staff and consultant fundraiser specialising in trusts and foundations for over 14 years in the UK and North America, having previously worked as a public librarian for almost 10 years. She is currently the Grants Manager (Trusts) for Quarriers and Chair of the IoF Scottish Trusts, Statutory and Foundations Special Interest Group.
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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.