# Challenges increasing for community foundations post pandemic

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2021/07/09/challenges-increasing-for-community-foundations-post-pandemic/
- Published: 2021-07-09T10:07:00+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**All community foundations across the UK are experiencing increasing levels of 
need, with a growing need for services related to mental health, food & essentials,
social isolation, domestic violence, and technology & IT, according to a new report.**

The [UK Community Foundations](https://www.ukcommunityfoundations.org/) (UKCF) report
analyses communities’ changing needs, and provides steps for funders to help them
support them as the country comes out of lockdown.

Since the start of the pandemic, community foundations have awarded 13,244 monetary
grants through the National Emergencies Trust Coronavirus Appeal to local Voluntary
and Community Sector Organisations (VCSOs) working to support the people and communities
most impacted.

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However, with the flow of emergency funding to the sector now slowing, levels of
hardship are rising, which, the report says, increases the need for funders who 
can support these VCSOs, so that they can continue this work.

For the report _Investing, Inspiring and Including: How community foundations are
helping the recovery from the pandemic_ UKCF asked its network community foundations
to complete a survey, to help them to understand the challenges that local VCSOs
now face, and how funders can best support them.

74% of the community foundations surveyed said that local VSCOs had been well provisioned
with emergency funding to deal with the short-term impacts of the pandemic.

However, 100% of those surveyed also said that they are experiencing increasing 
levels of need for the services that local VSCOs provide in their respective localities–
suggesting that the effects of the pandemic are far from over. 

The survey also revealed that 74% of community foundations are expecting charitable
organisations in their area to close due to financial pressures and 46% have already
seen closures – suggesting that people will be unable to access the services that
local VSCOs provide. Ultimately, says UKCF, this could lead to increased pressure
on statutory service providers and the wider public sector in the long term. 

UKCF also asked community foundations across the country what funders could do to
help. Responses highlighted five key areas:

 1. Support what has been proven to work – funders can facilitate the continuity of
    tried and tested methods rather than focusing VSCO’s to reimagine services to access
    project funding.
 2. Provide core funding – offering running costs to support an organisation was the
    most frequently cited action that funders could take to support the sector.
 3. Flexibility – taking a flexible, empathetic, and understanding approach to grant-
    making can help to ensure that a funder’s systems and processes are not barriers
    to local VCSOs.
 4. Collaboration – funders need to be doing more to encourage collaboration between
    local VSCOs.
 5. Multi-year funding – respondents frequently cited the need for more multi-year 
    funding, which would give organisations the financial stability to improve their
    capacity and delivery.

Rosemary Macdonald, CEO of UK Community Foundations, said: 

> “Over a year on, the magnitude of what has been achieved by our funders, community
> foundations and the organisations we support, cannot be overstated. However, as
> things begin to return to “normal” we must recognise that levels of need are rising.
>  
> “The community foundation model is ‘place-based’, meaning that grants are distributed
> differently depending on the specific needs of the locality in which the funder
> is based. It’s success as a model is contingent on longevity, relationship building,
> and being able to leverage local philanthropy to address local problems.
>  
> “To support people and places facing hardship, funders must embrace a place-based
> approach to ensure that good-grant making practice continues – which is why we
> encourage them to listen to the community foundations we have surveyed, and to
> consider the five steps outlined in our new report.”

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