The Paul Hamlyn Foundation has opened a live and interactive public consultation to generate ideas to help it shape its next strategic plan.
Entitled 'The Paul Hamlyn Foundation should...', the consultation will take place on various social media channels and the funder is hoping it will "go viral", according to new chief executive Martin Brookes.
Brookes, a former NPC chief executive with a penchant for openness and transparency, is launching the process to kick off a strategic review of the organisation that will determine its strategy and priorities for the next few years.
He told civilsociety.co.uk that the Foundation wanted people to "tell it like it is", and not to be deferential, or "polite and mealy-mouthed".
Nothing is off-limits, he said - even the Foundation's values are up for review.
"After 25 years it's probably time we checked to see that our stated values are still relevant," Brookes said.
He said he believed PHF had already successfully made the transition from a traditional family foundation into a modern, professional funder, but there was always room for further improvement.
For instance, he said, the Foundation does not often speak out publicly on issues close to its activity areas, even though it has valid knowledge and experience and the independence that comes from its endowed position. It would be interested to know whether people thought it should do more of that, he said.
Equally, there may be new ways the Foundation can use its £600m endowment without diluting it – for instance by underwriting charities’ overdrafts or providing working capital. “Can we sweat our assets a bit harder?” he said. “How might we do that?
“Our starting point is to think about what Paul Hamlyn would do today if he was just starting out,” said Brookes.
Private doubts about social investment
He said he expected impact investing would be raised as part of the consultation, but confessed that he had his own personal doubts about the morality of treating grantees as investment vehicles. However, that does not mean that the Foundation wouldn’t get involved in social investment, he added.
The consultation process will be live and interactive. Ideas submitted may be published during the consultation period – provided the author gives permission – and the Foundation may facilitate meetings between various participants if their ideas have potential and could add value to each other.
The dialogue will last until early next year, after which time the trustees will consider responses and devise a new strategic plan which will launch next summer.
PHF currently focuses on four causal areas - arts, education and learning, social justice, and India – and gives away around £20m a year, from an endowment of over £600m. Brookes said he would be surprised if the new strategic plan deviated wildly from these causes, but he added that any “really good idea” would be considered.
“It’s as much about how we fund things as what we fund,” he said. “Are there better ways of doings things than we do now? We haven’t got all the answers.
“The intent is to say, whoever you may be, if you think you’ve got an interesting idea, or you’ve got an issue about us, then come and tell us.”
He also insisted that the Foundation did not want to control the process – it will not be “curating carefully controlled workshops or focus groups” – but would be facilitating a live discussion that he hoped would go viral.
Those wanting to contribute to the consultation can tweet @martinbrookes, using the hashtag #phfshould, or email [email protected]. There will also be a blog on the PHF website. All suggestions should begin ‘The Paul Hamlyn Foundation should….’
