# Garfield Weston Foundation & Media Trust partner to improve communications between environmental charities, funders & public

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/10/15/garfield-weston-foundation-media-trust-partner-improve-communications-environmental-charities-funders-public/
- Published: 2020-10-15T10:42:08+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**The Garfield Weston Foundation is partnering with the Media Trust to develop a
programme aimed at helping environment charities improve their communications, messaging
and profile-raising capabilities. **

The move follows research by the foundation that found the majority of environmental
charities feel their work is little understood by both the public and funders, with
almost a quarter struggling to identify funding sources.

The [Garfield Weston Foundation](https://garfieldweston.org/) found that only 30%
of the non-profit organisations it surveyed believe trusts and foundations understand
their environmental work, and 24% struggle to identify sources of funding.

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And, while three-quarters of organisations feel confident in the skillset necessary
to raise funds, almost half (46%) consider income generation one of the biggest 
challenges.

Public understanding was also identified as a key barrier. Almost half of the organisations
surveyed (49%) believe the biggest challenge the UK charity sector faces is a lack
of understanding among the public about the urgency to act on environmental issues,
with 55% also identifying the ability to persuade the public of the need to act 
rapidly as another key challenge. And, over a quarter of organisations fear Brexit
and Covid-19 are weakening charitable efforts when it comes to policy work.

The Foundation commissioned I.G. Advisors to survey 68 environmental organisations
across the UK, including the Woodland Trust, the RSPB, Buglife and Hubbub. The report,‘
[Prioritising our Planet](https://garfieldweston.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/GWF-Environment-Report.pdf)’,
reveals that three-quarters of environmental charities are finding financial sustainability
a challenge, while almost 80% say they are unable to raise the money they need to
achieve the impact they want. Nearly 60% of organisations say they would need an
additional 50% of income to reach their strategic goals.

Garfield Weston decided to commission the report after receiving very few applications
from charities working on environmental issues despite encouraging the sector to
apply for funding.

RSPB CEO, Beccy Speight, commented:

> “We know that if we are too hard-hitting and the news is too bleak, then people
> switch off. What we haven’t done enough of yet is highlighting the positive solutions
> as well as the dangers. We need to get that balance right.
> “The next eighteen months are pivotal. Covid-19 has given us an opportunity to
> raise awareness of climate change and nature. We need to highlight the value that
> tackling the carbon crisis and restoring habitats can bring, such as jobs and 
> new opportunities in a more resilient and healthy economy.”

Garfield Weston Foundation’s Director, Philippa Charles, added:

> “While we are all experiencing a Covid-19 crisis, we also still face an environmental
> crisis. This report highlights the need for powerful conversations between environmental
> organisations, grant makers and the public, to ensure that excellent organisations
> are able to do what they do best. We need to break this vicious circle so that
> organisations have clear messages, the public understands the urgency to act and
> funders are motivated to provide support.
> While the pandemic is causing significant uncertainty across all areas of our 
> society our Trustees are very clear that, as well as helping charities with revenue
> funding, supporting organisations tackling all aspects of climate change remains
> a key priority.”

The programme with the [Media Trust](https://mediatrust.org/) will run in 2021. 
The Garfield Weston Foundation is also encouraging charities working on all issues
relating to the environment to [apply to them for funding](https://garfieldweston.org/apply-to-us/).
It has already donated over £40 million since April to support charities affected
by Covid-19.

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