Shared Pain? Navigating the current funding climate together? | The Gathering 2025 | 5 February 2025
For our first event of 2025, Scottish Grantmakers partnered with Scotland’s Funders’ Forum and SCVO to host a panel session at The Gathering - the largest free voluntary sector event in the UK.
The panellists were:
Maureen McGinn CBE, SCVO Honorary President (Panel Chair)
Connor Cross, Philanthropy Manager, Foundation Scotland (SFF)
Kieran Daly, Head of Market Building, Social Investment Scotland (SFF)
Mary Porter, Head of Operations, KPE4 Charitable Trust (SGM)
Neil Ritch, Scotland Director, The National Lottery Community Fund (SGM and SFF)
Florence Burke, BBC Children in Need (SGM), written contribution.
The panellists considered the current funding environment, reflecting on the perspectives of funders and funded charitable organisations, many of whom were represented in the audience.
Connor Cross:
Connor began the panel discussion by considering the questions asked by many grantmakers: What does a ‘good’ project’ look like? How can multi-year unrestricted funding better support organisations? How can funders continue to attract the best applications?
Connor informed the audience that Foundation Scotland was seeing a large but stable increase in applications. Foundation Scotland was also assessing ways in which it could increase the clarity of grantmaking processes and procedures. To do so Foundation Scotland had signed up to the IVAR Open and Trust programme which aims to drive a climate of openness and clarity for applicants.
Kieran Daly:
Kieran emphasised the unique operations of Social Investment Scotland which provides loans for charities and social enterprises to assist cash flow, capital funding or provide bridging loans. Kieran recognised the unique challenges facing many organisations in the current geopolitical climate. Social Investment Scotland was seeing a diversification in its beneficiaries, perhaps reflecting a chancing attitude towards funding through loans or cash flow assistance.
Kieran and colleagues at Social Investment Scotland believed that traditional grantmaking and novel investment in the third sector could offer greater stability going forward. Kieran highlighted the example of Indigo Childcare as a success story based on this model.
Mary Porter:
Mary noted that KPE4 had increased its grantmaking budget by three times to better meet the needs of beneficiaries. Mary reflected on the challenges facing grantmakers which are reducing the number of grants, but increasing the size of the awards so that funds can be better spent.
KPE4 takes a direct approach when working with its selected beneficiaries. Mary and colleagues make frequent visits, sit in on meetings and strategy days and meet as many volunteers as possible. Grantmakers are keen to learn about the work of their beneficiaries and can better design funding models if they have a trusted and personal relationship.
Mary was certain this close relationship had benefitted KPE4 and provided its staff with the greatest insight, which she hopes will make operations as good as they can be going forward.
Neil Ritch:
Neil emphasised the pre-emptive work of NLCF by discussing applications before they are submitted through dedicated application officers. This direct contact has reaped results, with NLCF seeing an 80% success rate for grants of over £10,000. NLCF focusses on the foundations underlying applications and hopes to provide funding which will offer certainty to beneficiaries.
Neil believed grantmakers were more flexible as a result of recent external pressures, and that there is a greater willingness to modify arrangements to the benefit of projects. Funders continue to have a vested interest in the success of projects and their existence depends on continued applications - a social enterprise stretching across the sector.
Applicants should ensure they speak to funders, whether they have a question about the process or a proposal for a new project.
Florence Burke:
Ahead of The Gathering, Florence provided some reflections from BBC Children in Need. There was a clear increase in the quality of applications, with only 8% falling below the eligibility standards. This does make it harder to consider which applications should be awarded funding but does demonstrate the quality of work in the third sector.
Florence also noted the significant increase in grant requests, with BBC Children in Need receiving requests 7 times more than their allocated grants budget.
An excellent Q&A followed with voluntary organisations able to pose questions directly to the funders. What emerged was an acknowledgment of the challenges funded organisations are facing and collaborative spirit across the sector.