Funder best practice

At NPC, we’ve been hosting a seminar series on power dynamics in grant-making, which will culminate in a panel debate at our upcoming NPC Ignites conference. In this guest blog, Sufina Ahmad, who attended two of our recent seminars, sets out her top three reflections on how we can put these ideas in

How can funders boost the capacity of charities and communities advocating for change?

Here NPC Consultant Matthew Mannix discusses three examples from our work across the Stone Family Foundations' Disadvantaged Youth Portfolio which illustrate the value of corporate-charity partnerships.

The role of funders in tackling social problems is increasingly under public scrutiny. With power comes responsibility, but you must recognise you have power before you can be fully aware of how far your responsibilities extend.

With attention in government and the country at large focused on the policy recuperation and political drama of Brexit, is it time for charities and funders to assert their independence?

The top 300 foundations in the UK have combined assets of £65 billion and gave out £3.3 billion in grants in 2018. Do they understand their role in the systems that create social issues and should they be seeking to share or even give away their power?

Fran Perrin, Founder of the Indigo Trust and Chair of 360Giving, shares her delight at the shift in the grant-making community towards embracing data and digital and asks what can be done to enable the trend.

Chief Executive of Nesta Geoff Mulgan works with charities and social organisations around the world to help them understand the ways technology is shaping the future. Here he speaks to attendees of NPC Ignites 2018 on the changing nature of power in the world today and what it means for charities.

News about unacceptable behaviour during the Presidents Club's annual fundraiser has brought charities and philanthropy into disrepute. Extreme examples like this aren't representative of most charities and philanthropic giving. But that shouldn't mean they can't be used as a serious prompt to bring houses into order.

It has been broadly accepted by charities from across the sector that listening to users is not only the moral thing to do—it’s also the smart and logical thing to do. So, how do funders fit into all of this?

Charities and funders need to be brilliant at understanding what works best, where, why and for whom. But right now, as a sector, we are not making the most of what we know. Anne Kazimirski looks at what is needed for this to change.