I recently became chair of trustees at Camden Giving, a participatory funder in the north London borough. Having led a Camden-based social enterprise focused on social mobility for a decade, I know the area well.
Camden is one of the most unequal places in the UK. Men in the poorest part of the borough live, on average, 13 years less than those in the wealthiest. If inequality can be tackled here, it can be tackled anywhere.
What sets Camden Giving apart is its commitment to participation. As chair, I do not set grant strategies or decide where money goes. That power lies with local residents – over 350 people vote on strategy throughout the year, and smaller panels of 10 to 12 residents, all with lived experience of the issues we’re addressing, decide where funding goes.
Many of those engaging in this process do not vote in general elections, yet are fully engaged in this local, practical democracy.
But Camden Giving is not an anomaly. It is part of a wider shift that the funding sector must urgently embrace. The traditional model of philanthropy, where a small group holds most of the decision-making power, is no longer fit for purpose.
Trust-based approach
Many charities or local groups struggle to cover rent, staff costs or even get off the ground because trusts and foundations refuse to fund core functions. Our We Make Camden Kit scheme contributes small funds to community projects and encourages corporate partners to support local community groups in many ways beyond just donating money. Foundations must fundamentally change how they operate.
First, funders must adopt a more trust-based approach. That means taking risks, saying when we’re wrong and using our influence to back grantees beyond the cheque.
Too many funding relationships are still built on compliance and control. If we truly believe in the work of community organisations, we should trust them to know what they need and support them in delivering it.
A funder’s role should include backing ideas early, being transparent about mistakes and opening up networks and doors that can help a grantee thrive.
Place-based mindset
Second, we need a more place-based mindset. As national government shifts towards devolution, national funding strategies will increasingly miss the mark.
Local communities understand the challenges they face better than Whitehall. Funders need to embrace this by rooting decision-making in local knowledge and pride.
In Camden, that means young people deciding which mental health projects get funded, not based on abstract theories but on their own experiences of navigating stigma and barriers. This must become the norm, not the exception.
Third, we need a more entrepreneurial approach. Many funders support innovation in name only.
If we want community organisations to become more resilient, funders must use their leverage to help them diversify income and access new revenue streams. That means offering flexible funding, introducing social enterprises to investors and helping build income models that reduce dependency on grants. It also means valuing experimentation and helping organisations build capabilities, not just deliver services.
The role of trustees
Boards still have a role in this new model, even if our power shifts. Internally, we must ensure community participation happens safely and ethically. We must challenge our organisations: are safeguarding and trauma-informed practices in place? Are we giving more than we’re taking when we ask people to share their experiences?
Externally, boards must help reshape the funding ecosystem. At Camden Giving, we’ve learned quickly by trying new things and iterating.
I want to see participatory funding become standard practice across the UK. I spent an evening with a group of 16 to 25-year-olds allocating funding to local groups. They debated, reflected and made decisions not as beneficiaries, but as citizens. This is what real democracy looks like!
Opportunities like this are needed in every community where people feel disconnected from power. The sector must stop asking whether participation is possible and start asking how to make it the default.
Foundations are not just bank accounts. They are enablers of social capital and local agency. But to fulfil that potential, the sector must shift how it sees power, place and risk.
The future of funding is participatory, local and bold. The question is not whether change is needed. It is whether funders are ready to let go of outdated models and do the work of transformation.
Robin Morgan-Chu is chair of Camden Giving and director of partnerships and policy at SSE – the School for Social Entrepreneurs
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