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Power trip: Funders must resist the urge to hog the limelight

Fundraising | Sara Llewellin | 30 Sep 2011

Grantmakers must take special care to maintain humility in their relationships with those they fund, says Sara Llewellin.

Beyond Money is an exploration of issues emerging from the growing trend among funders, particularly independent trusts and foundations, to add value to the funding they give using approaches that have come to be known as ‘funding plus’.  The Institute of Voluntary Action Research (IVAR) conducted the study by looking at 14 case studies in the UK and interviewing over 100 respondents from among funders, grantees and other interested parties, including sceptics.  

The report was commissioned by three trusts (Barrow Cadbury Trust, Trust for London and The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund) all of which are engaged in funding plus and wanted a ‘critical light’ shone on that work.  These trusts all aspire to enable social change through what we do and how we do it.  We work closely together on a number of programmes and initiatives and talk to each other frequently.  We wanted to broaden our canvas by looking at our work alongside a range of other models for adding value.  Specifically, we wanted to gain insights into what works both for the desired outcome and for the relationship between grant holder and grantmaker.

Previous work on highly engaged funding has highlighted the ethical and practical dilemmas posed.  On the ethical side, funders must consider our mandate, the limitations of our role, how to use our power for good (‘power to’ not ‘power over’), how best to deploy resources and guard against seeking gratification or profile over social impact.  On the practical side, we must seek best value, be honest about what we are good at, be clear about expectations both internally and with grantees and take steps to properly and fully cost each type of intervention.

At the very heart of this ongoing and creative debate are two key imperatives; one, that funding relationships need to take account of inherent power dynamics and two, that funders have a responsibility to make the very best use of our resources in pursuit of our mission.  We need to take seriously the challenge from voluntary sector infrastructure bodies not to undermine them by encroaching on their role, particularly in the current economic climate.  Arrogant, demanding and ego-driven funders do not make good partners and we need only to ‘add value’ where that ‘value’ is welcomed and freely chosen.  Critics would say that all this is inherently impossible because of the intrinsic power imbalance in the relationship.

Power imbalance

We ignore the power relationship of funder and fundee at our peril.  To pretend we’re ‘all in this together’ is patently disingenuous. But by naming the power imbalance and consciously attempting to reduce it, we can go much of the way towards true partnership.  The key to this is having a shared vision or goal with those we fund and making sure they have a role in the shaping of what we do, if we expect to have a role in shaping what they do.

As custodians of charitable funds, trusts are well placed to take the enabler role.  In some situations, this is best done by putting cash in the hands of those who can use it to best effect and standing back.  In other cases, working together with others can secure more impact, as can taking a more instrumental approach.  This study usefully distinguishes between approaches designed to achieve influence and greater civil society ‘voice’ and those designed to strengthen organisations to improve their efficacy and impact.  Key shared insights are:

• nobody likes their work interfered with
• everybody likes to be valued and taken seriously
• personal skills and relationships are key to successful interventions
• funders must develop humility without losing potency
• making our own jobs more interesting should not be our driver
• taking credit inappropriately destroys trust
• grant holders must be respected when they say no
• all parties need clarity about expectations
• different models require different skills bases.

For us, though, the insight we feel challenged afresh by is the exhortation from funded groups not to steal their thunder.  Their work is their work.  Our joint achievements are joint achievements.  Our job is to enable where we can and stand back, except where we bring things to the table which only we can. Where that is money, it should be given without expectation of glory. 

Sara Llewellin is chief executive of the Barrow Cadbury Trust

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