TFN Spring 2022

TAKING A STRATEGIC APPROACH

ACF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2022 HOLD THE DATE

STRATEGY WORKSHOP

We will also be holding a strategy workshop on 15 June with the opportunity to have your say in the next phase of engagement on ACF’s strategy. The workshop will take place at Cazenove, and will run from 3pm-4.30pm, followed by tea and coffee before the AGM starts at 5pm. Places at the workshop will be available on a first come, first served basis. This workshop will only be available for those attending in person but there will be an additional opportunity to engage with the strategy review over the summer.

ACF TRUSTEE BOARD ELECTIONS

ACF is inviting nominations to fill vacancies on our trustee board – look out for our email with more information. The board would particularly welcome nominations from:

• representatives of smaller foundations

• individuals with financial expertise

We also want to continue our work towards ensuring diverse representation on our board.

More details about the vacancies, how to nominate and how to vote will be emailed to members and posted at acf.org.uk

15 June 2022, 5pm-6pm, followed by a drinks reception hosted by Cazenove, 1 London Wall Place, London EC2Y 5AU

All members are invited to attend. The AGM will be held in person, with an option to attend online.

Registration details to follow.

ACF exists for you, so please do take part in the AGM and ensure your voice is heard.

Carol Mack OBE welcomes you to this edition of Trust & Foundation News.

This issue, we focus on how foundations approach the issue of strategy. At ACF we’re thinking a lot about strategy at the moment as we work on our strategic review to set our direction for the next five years. The last time we did this was back in 2016 and, reflecting on the six years since then, I’m not sure we ever expected quite as much change and uncertainty as we have seen. Three prime ministers, three general elections, one referendum on Europe, the pandemic, the horrors of the war in Ukraine and the biggest hit to household incomes since the second world war.

Given all this change, it’s tempting to question whether strategies can ever deliver all we hope for them. But I think the examples in this magazine show how important strategies are to set the overall direction, to work through the difficult issues that you know you need to face up to, and perhaps most importantly to choose what not to do.

I am particularly grateful to all those members who are helping us grapple with these issues at ACF. As I set out

in my article on page 22, it has been fantastic to have had so many responses to the conversation we initiated in February about our new strategy. Many of the comments you made reflect the same strategic conversations going on in individual foundations – how can we best use the limited resources we have available? How should we approach becoming more diverse, equitable and inclusive? How can we refresh our work to deal with a changing external context?

It’s also been heartening to hear how our Stronger Foundations programme, itself a child of our last strategy, has been helpful to so many of you. There’s more on the approach to strategy and governance taken by Stronger Foundations in the article by Jo Wells of The Blagrave Trust and ACF’s Max Rutherford (pages 12-15).

Finally, I hope to see many of you at our AGM on 15 June – whether in person or online. ACF belongs to you, so it would be brilliant if you are able to join us to hear more about the work we’ve been doing to support you this past year – as well as our plans for the future.

Carol Mack, ACF chief executive

STRATEGY FOR IMPACT

Two funders share the strategic decisions they’ve made to maximise their foundation’s impact and offer advice on developing a strong strategy.

JESSAMY GOULD, DIRECTOR, TREEBEARD TRUST

GRANT-MAKING IN 2021/22: £900,000

DIRECT IMPACT INVESTMENTS TO DATE: £6.2M

Treebeard Trust was set up by Barnaby and Cassandra Wiener in 2011. From the start, they were interested in how the trust might bring about impact not just through grant-giving, but also through social impact investments.

When I joined as director in 2016, one of the first things I looked at was our strategy. We decided to focus primarily on funding projects with the potential to create structural or systemic change. Initially, we thought that meant stepping away from frontline work. But we're happy to have proven ourselves wrong there. Five years later, we’ve come full circle, having realised just how important frontline work is in system change.

In Treebeard’s first 10 years, we’ve funded across all sorts of issues and sectors. Last year, we decided to prioritise three areas in our grant-giving and deep dive into those. These are: violence against women and girls; refugees and vulnerable migrants; and climate change. But we don't like to pull the barriers up too high – we’re also open to supporting initiatives that aim to create the context for change, as well as those addressing specific issues.

Social investing for impact

Another strategic decision we made in 2016 was to increase our ambitions around impact investment. Our target is to deploy half of our entire endowment – just under £20m in total – in impact

investments which have a dual aim: a social or environmental impact as well as varying levels of financial return.

Some of our investments are especially compelling on the social or environmental impact side, and less so on financial return. Some are the other way around. It's about balancing that portfolio to ensure we can still give away 5% in grants while generating the most impact possible.

We invest in organisations with every type of structure – including charities, profit for purpose businesses, and social enterprises. Our underlying belief is that every type of organisation has the potential to make positive impact, including those that generate profit. Our social impact investments include a prison-based coffee company, Redemption Roasters, which uses the income from coffee sales and its coffee shops to support training and employment routes for ex-offenders. We’ve recently made our first property investment, buying and renovating a building to create a new model of children’s residential home with Lighthouse charity.

The underlying factors we look for in our social investments are the same as with our grant partners. Inspiring people and leadership are key. We also want to see clarity of purpose, vision for the organisation, a very clear route to scale, and a collaborative outlook. On the investment side, of course, we're also looking more closely at the financial business model.

The proportion of our assets we aim to invest in impact investments (50%) is high compared to most foundations. It's ambitious. But for us, grants and social investments are absolutely equal parts of our funding model. For a small funder wanting to increase its impact, how you invest is a really interesting and important area. We want to inspire and support

other small foundations to look at their endowment in different ways.

Taking risks

One thing we’ve learned over the last 10 years is that small grants don't necessarily mean smaller impact. Fundamentally, a small and flexible grant given at the right time to an organisation with a clear purpose, led by amazing people, can have an impact so much greater than the sum of its parts. As a small funder with flexible processes, we’ve also been able to respond nimbly when a grantee needs support getting through a difficult patch – by providing patient, zero interest loans, for example.

We believe small unrestricted grants provided at the earliest stage can be catalytic. If we’re compelled by how an organisation is outlining the issue and their solution, and if we’re inspired by the people involved, we don't see really early investment as a huge risk. Our early stage funding includes The Difference education charity, which tackles school exclusion, and Peers for the Planet, which brings together members of the House of Lords who want to put an urgent response to climate change and biodiversity loss at the top of the political agenda.

I do understand that organisations may be hesitant when there’s no proof of concept yet, sometimes not even a set of accounts. But, a set of accounts can look great and a project can still fail. In our experience, when we’ve trusted our grantees – and our gut –the outcome has been really positive.

While I recognise that social change can be hugely constrained by the systemic inequality that is all around us, it is often a ‘computer says no’ approach that is the downfall of an early-stage initiative. As a small, independent organisation, we’re lucky that we can be more flexible and open minded about how we operate.

Jessamy Gould, director, Treebeard Trust

When the Santander Foundation was created in 1990 it took a similar approach to many other corporate foundations at the time – giving lots of small grants to a wide range of organisations. It was very much focused on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and getting money out of the door. The foundation was making a difference by having a small impact in a lot of different places, but that’s a resource heavy approach – and can feel quite ‘transactional’. When you’re awarding hundreds of grants, and you’re only a small team, it’s hard to build strong relationships with your grantees.

By 2019, our approach no longer felt fit for purpose. The board decided to refocus their work towards a new Financial & Digital Empowerment Fund. The aim is to support UK charities to give people the digital confidence, knowledge, and skills to enable them to make better, more informed decisions about money and have access to financial services. There was initially a lot of discussion about whether we should focus on financial inclusion or digital inclusion. But we decided to be flexible, and to include both. This was pre-pandemic, when we couldn’t have imagined that digital would move from being a ‘nice to have’ to an essential life skill.

The programme was almost ready to launch when the pandemic hit. So, we paused. We took the opportunity to step back and make sure that the new focus was pandemic informed and fit for going forward. We wanted our programme to be sensitive and attuned to what would be useful to the sector.

Taking strategic decisions

We spoke to stakeholders with expertise and insight. One of the areas we looked at relates to ACF’s Stronger Foundations research. We took on board the point around making sure you don't ask too much of your grantees. We reviewed how we could make a grantee’s journey as efficient as possible and avoid too much process.

We also decided that the funding didn't have to support new work, it could support existing work that organisations wanted to continue, develop or strengthen. We wanted to acknowledge that there's amazing work happening within the sector. Sometimes that's new ideas and ways of doing things but it can also be seasoned work that continues to be needed.

Having initially planned to award 12 grants, the delayed start meant we were able to make 21 grants at the end of 2021. Each one was between £125,000 and £150,000.

We had 455 applications. It shows that a lot of people recognise the need for digital and financial inclusion support, and there are many organisations out there already doing it. We had some difficult decisions to make!

Sharing impact

When I joined the board, I remember a trustee saying that the foundation is one of Santander’s best kept secrets. We

don't want that to be the case. We want it to be a real source of pride. That’s why one of our priorities this year is to gather tangible evidence data and some rich stories to share about our impact. We’re still at the early stage of our relationships with our grantees but we're actively looking at ways to help them use these grants to leverage their own profile and credibility within the sector.

We’re in a privileged position because we can see, in real time, people doing really interesting and impactful work. We want to support out grantees to learn from each other. We want to think about how we can find ways to cross fertilise. It's a small enough cohort that putting together some spaces and events where they can get to know, connect and share with each other can be incredibly effective.

When we chose our grantees, we made a conscious decision to invest in diversity. The groups we’ve awarded grants to are incredibly diverse and work in all sorts of geographical areas and with many different communities. They range from providing employability and financial literacy one-to-one sessions and workshops to LGBTQI refugees to a mixture of sport and skills training to lowincome young people. This means their learning can be even richer. While they’ll inevitably be coming across different challenges, they might be able to learn from each other in terms of solutions.

When you’re developing a new strategy, I believe it’s really important to be curious and creative. It can be easy to get stuck in your own organisation’s thinking. My advice is to go out and talk to people. Get a range of expertise and insights, but make sure you talk to people you know will challenge you. And be prepared to make shifts in your thinking.

Judith Moran, chair, Santander Foundation

ACF MILESTONES

Here are a few of the things we’ve been up to since the last issue of Trust & Foundation News

STANDING WITH THE SECTOR:

We have…

• Held a month-long conversation with ACF members and stakeholders so their views and ambitions for ACF could influence our future strategic direction. This was part of our fiveyear strategy review. Carol Mack OBE, ACF’s chief executive, wrote a weekly blog series to reflect on what we’ve been learning.

acf.org.uk/strategicreview

• Published our annual research on giving, income and assets among the top 300 largest foundations. Foundation Giving Trends 2021 found that charitable spending has more than kept up with growth in the value of assets, and with both growing significantly more than the overall UK economy over the last 15 years.

• Created a new member-led network on economic justice, which aims to understand the links between the economy and the social challenges the UK philanthropy sector faces.

• Started a series of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) learning events, designed to help members understand the importance of collecting DEI data, how to engage the board in DEI and applying a DEI lens to grant-making.

• Relaunched the Funders Collaborative Hub to help funders all over the UK share, connect and collaborate on a

CASE STUDIES:

variety of issues. The Hub includes a searchable directory of emerging and existing collaboration opportunities, which can be filtered by location, issue, and type of collaboration.

• Brought together funders with an interest in the social impact investment landscape around topics like social investment and DEI, social investment legal structures and how social investment can be used to revitalise high streets.

• Analysed practice reported by members through the Stronger Foundations self-assessment tool, which we summarised and published in the report Becoming a Stronger Foundation

• Welcomed several new co-convenors to guide ACF’s member-led networks. Online network meetings are now free for members.

• Announced that our chair Janet Morrison would be stepping down, with Jessica Brown taking over as interim chair.

• Hosted a letter from several foundations expressing concern about proposed reforms to the Human Rights Act, which we submitted to the government’s consultation. This followed a briefing session jointly organised with Ariadne (the international network of funders and

philanthropists working on social change and human rights) as part of ACF’s Members Policy Forum.

• Surveyed foundations that had signed the Funder Commitment on Climate Change about the progress they’ve made in the last year. This is part of an annual reporting process which helps us to understand and communicate how signatories are taking action on climate.

• Exchanged ideas with philanthropy networks across Europe on topics like gender justice, racial equity, climate change, money-laundering prevention, and the risk of shrinking space for civil society.

• Shared a summary report with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport of seven members’ experiences of delivering funds from the Community Match Challenge to aid with fund evaluation.

• Held an event on public interest news, exploring how all funders, regardless of mission, can use funding journalism as a lens through which to pursue their objectives.

• Engaged with the Cabinet Office on its project to develop a centralised grants portal, This will manage the application and award process for all grants issued by the government.

MEMBERS NEWS

• New approach to reporting on poverty

The first issue of a new-style UK Poverty report was published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. UK Poverty 2022: The essential guide to understanding poverty in the UK presents trends in poverty and its impact, and addresses concerns for the future.

• Candid Learning for Funders

A new learning platform, launched in February, provides blogs, training and tools designed to improve the practice of grant-making. Candid Learning for Funders develops and curates resources from a broad range of issues, formats and languages for both grant-makers and grant-seekers.

• A roadmap for racial justice

Racial Justice and Social

Transformation: How funders can act is Ten Years’ Time’s new report, looking at investments, grant-making, operations and governance to map a clear path to advancing racial justice in the UK. Lankelly Chase and The Clothworkers’ Foundation supported the report’s publication.

• Charity Landscape Report 2022

Charities Aid Foundation surveyed over 1,000 charity leaders to understand the challenges they face and assess the impact these have on the charity

sector. The report found that while eight out of 10 charity leaders are optimistic about the future of their organisation, only 50% are optimistic about the future of the charity sector in general.

• Mental health provision for young women

The Pilgrim Trust awarded 10 charities a total of £861,394 through the Young Women and Mental Health PLUS programme. As one of the trust’s flagship programmes, it intends to bridge the gap between a growing need for young women’s mental health provision and a scarcity of resources. The trust has committed to grant £5m over the next five years to charities that take a holistic and tailored approach to mental health care.

• Measuring social progress

Carnegie UK has developed a new way to efficiently and holistically determine social progress in England. Instead of relying solely on GDP to assess development, a new measure is proposed: Gross Domestic Wellbeing (GDWe). This measures collective wellbeing in equal parts: social, economic, environmental and democratic. The latest report focuses on the latter, and it shows that democratic wellbeing in England is under severe threat.

• City Bridge Trust partners with Greater London Authority (GLA) City Bridge Trust and GLA pledged £1m to fund communities impacted by structural inequalities under a new programme, Civil Society Roots. This includes minority ethnic Londoners, disabled Londoners, LGBT+ Londoners, older Londoners and women. Launched by the Mayor of London, Civil Society Roots targets 10 London boroughs and funding applications can cover collaboration projects, research, investment, training and more.

• Power to Change CEO steps down Power to Change CEO, Vidhya Alakeson, has stepped down from her post to work as director of external relations for Labour Party leader Keir Starmer. During her tenure, Power to Change invested £100m in community businesses, many in the most disadvantaged regions of the country. The current director of strategy and programmes Tim Davies-Pugh will step up for the interim period.

A WARM WELCOME

Introducing the latest trusts and foundations to join the ACF community…

HOWDEN GROUP FOUNDATION

The Howden Group Foundation, today chaired by non-executive director Luis Muñoz-Rojas, was established in 2014 to celebrate and extend the charitable work of our people around the world. As they are at the heart of our work, everyone in the Group gets a voice and a choice in the causes we partner with. In 2020, we enshrined giving back in the fabric of the Group by making the Foundation a shareholder in the business, ensuring that it, and the good work we can do

INDEPENDENT AGE

Our mission at Independent Age is to ensure that as we grow older, we all have the opportunity to live well with dignity, choice and purpose.

That’s why we offer free advice and information on the issues that matter to people over 65 – care and support, money and benefits, health and housing. We also offer grants to smaller charities and local community support for people to get involved in things they enjoy, as well as campaigning with a strong voice for older people.

In key local areas, we provide a new community-based offer for people over 65. We work alongside individuals, especially those experiencing loneliness and isolation, who are looking to reconnect with their local communities. Grant-making is a relatively new element to Independent Age’s offer, but an increasingly important one. In the past two years, through our Covid-19 grant programme, we were able

BRIDGES IMPACT FOUNDATION

through it, will continue to grow as we do.

The foundation has six approved objectives:

• relief of sickness

• relief of poverty

• relief of disasters

• relief of unemployment

• advancement of education

• environmental sustainability. howdengroupholdings.com/ our-approach/howden-groupfoundation

The Bridges Impact Foundation was launched in 2007 by the founders of Bridges Fund Management, a specialist sustainable and impact investor. The goal was to achieve impact in line with Bridges’ mission using philanthropic capital, while also engaging the team and protecting that mission (via an ownership stake in the management company).

to support 278 organisations working with older people across the country. This includes the African French Speaking Community Support organisation in Sandwell (pictured). In total, we distributed £3.3m, including almost £900,000 from corporate partners and foundations.

We’re now beginning to roll out our new local grant programme, and plan to distribute £750,000 over the next two years to help develop partnerships and build capacity among community organisations working with older people, particularly those facing poverty and/or inequalities. Alongside our local grants programme,

Independent Age works alongside individuals looking to reconnect with their local communities

Photo: African French Speaking Community Support

we’re supporting the National Lead for Older People at the National Academy for Social Prescribing and working with The Cares Family to support The Multiplier programme. With the support of ACF and working with colleagues at The Mercers’ Company, we’ve begun efforts to bring together the Older People Funder Collaborative. We look forward to making further progress with the collaborative in 2022.

independentage.org

Today, the Foundation's mission is to provide catalytic support for innovative solutions that drive better outcomes for underserved people and the planet. It’s currently focused on supporting important programmes in two key thematic areas: young people’s mental health and genderbased violence. It also invests in catalytic ventures with the potential to build their market or drive systemic change, including outcomes-based partnerships.

The Foundation is funded primarily by the Bridges team, who donate 10% of all their profits from the firm’s investment funds, while also providing pro bono support and volunteering to the Foundation's charity partners.

bridgesfundmanagement. com/bridges-impactfoundation/

Barbara Storch, director, Bridges Impact Foundation

Clare Ballantine Howden Group Foundation

POP

POP provides infrastructure for Plymouth’s grassroots voluntary, community and social enterprise sector through strategic networking, capacity building, citizen action, place-based funding and advocacy on the sector’s behalf. Plymouth is a resilient city, full of creative people with energy, aspiration, and a desire for meaningful change. POP aims to support and amplify the impact of grassroots organisations that are equipped to lead and empowered to collaborate. We value trusting relationships, collaborative practice, innovative solutions and practical learning.

POP provide opportunities for:

• connection through themed and neighbourhood

networks, developing relationships, providing opportunities and growing through peer learning

• capacity building through core skills training and bespoke advice in areas such as funding and governance

• citizen action opportunities through the Positive People programme, which helps people who are out of work to build their confidence and develop their skills

• funding with the intention of fostering collaborative practice.

POP have a voice in Plymouth, advocating for grassroots organisations and leading on co-design processes that knit our various strands of work together. plymouthoctopus.org

JAMES MARSHALL FOUNDATION

This year, the James Marshall Foundation (JMF) celebrates its 300th anniversary – it was established in 1722 on the death of landowner, James Marshall. The foundation awards grants to young people, aged 25 and under, who need support for education and career development opportunities. The grants are specifically for young people living in Harpenden,

Wheathampstead, Kimpton, Redbourn, Flamstead and Markyate in Hertfordshire. JMF awards around 500 grants a year, totalling up to £250,000. jamesmarshallfoundation. co.uk

Motability: responding to disabled people’s transport needs

MOTABILITY

Motability’s vision is that no disabled person shall be disadvantaged due to poor access to transportation. As a national charity, Motability has responded to the transport needs of disabled people for

45 years. We currently offer assistance through a range of programmes:

• Motability Scheme-Related Grant Programmes –providing financial support to disabled people who want to join the Motability Scheme but who need help with the cost of A dvance Payments and adaptations

• Access to Mobility Grant Programmes – providing financial help towards mobility support for disabled people, outside of the Motability Scheme

• Special Grant Programme –supporting other charities or

non-profit organisations who share our ambition to develop new routes to impact for disabled people.

We make a positive impact on the lives of disabled people and contribute to improving their quality of life. We generate significant benefit for disabled people and our grant recipients consistently experience a greater benefit from improved personal mobility than other disabled people with access to cars. motability.org.uk

James Marshall Foundation: Supporting young people for education and career development opportunities

GENERATIONS OF GIVING

At 93, Annette Wallis is about to take well-deserved retirement from her role as a trustee at the Southall Trust. She talks to Sarah Myers about her six decades at the family-run grant-maker, which was founded by her grandfather Wilfred Francis Southall in the 1930s.

Could you tell us about your grandfather, Wilfred, who set up the Southall Trust?

He was quite a personality and a real people person. He had a big house on the outskirts of Birmingham and was quite ‘well to do’. He was a good man. He wanted to use the money he’d made [from the family pharmaceutical company, Southall Bros & Barclay] to do something positive. I remember he had a particular interest in helping people in the poorer housing estates of Birmingham.

My grandmother once wrote a humorous poem about him called ‘The man who came to Sunday dinner’, because he was so busy and involved in his social work that he never seemed to be at home.

Did charity and social justice play a significant role in your childhood?

Yes, it did. Charitable giving, peace and human rights were very much part of our upbringing and our Quaker faith. My father, Corder Catchpool, was a pacifist. During the first world war he’d served voluntarily in the Friends Ambulance Unit, which was founded by the Quakers. But when conscription came in, he’d been a conscientious objector and was imprisoned for more than two years for his pacifist views. During the second world war, he set up the Bombing Restriction Committee with Vera Brittain [which called upon both Britain and Germany to stop bombing civilians]. So, working for peace has always been important to me.

When did you first become involved with the Southall Trust?

My mother Gwen ran the trust with her brother, Kenneth Southall, and I was invited to help them. That was over 60 years ago now and I’ve been involved ever since. Even today, I’ve been reviewing funding applications. I consult with my

daughter who’s now a trustee. The trust is run by members of the extended family.

You must have seen a lot of changes since you joined…

The trust has changed enormously. It began as a small-scale, localised trust for the Birmingham area. I remember my

mother and uncle consulting each other about cheques for amounts like £40 or £50. That’s enormously different from what it is today. It’s grown in an amazing way. It has a real power to help change things.

A lot of the funding we’ve been giving recently has been for poverty-related projects. That’s just how circumstances are at the moment. I particularly enjoy supporting efforts to do with working for peace – I’m very glad when we get those applications.

I believe the trust can make so much difference and really alter lives for the better. It’s very worthwhile – and not a bit boring!

How do you feel about stepping down after 60 years?

I do feel a little sad. The trust is important to me, and I’ve always spent quite a lot of time thinking about the funding applications and investigating some more closely, as well as going to meetings with the other trustees. It’s always felt like a useful thing that I could do for others.

But I’m in my 90s now, so I think it’s the right time. It feels appropriate, because we have new trustees joining – another granddaughter and my great niece. They’ll bring in some new, young thinking and it’ll be really interesting to have them there.

The trust will be looking at new directions and new ways of working. I think there’s exciting changes coming and exciting times ahead. I’ll watch with great interest. But I will miss it.

The Southall Trust awards grants totalling around £350,000 a year to charities focusing on environmental action and sustainability, peace and reconciliation, social action, or Quaker work.

BECOMING STRONGER FOUNDATIONS

This evidence-gathering inquiry resulted in the creation of 40 ‘pillars of stronger foundation practice’.

It’s been over a year since we launched our Stronger Foundations self-assessment tool. Max Rutherford, ACF’s head of policy and practice, shares what the tool tells us about our community’s pursuit of ambitious and effective practice, particularly when it comes to strategy and governance.

Many ACF members have told us that the pandemic offered a stark reminder of why being a stronger foundation is so important. Perhaps more than ever, foundations are seeking to ensure all their resources achieve as much impact as possible for the causes and communities they serve.

Many ACF members told us that the pandemic offered a stark reminder of why being a stronger foundation is so important. Perhaps more than ever, foundations are seeking to ensure that all their resources achieve as much impact as possible for the causes and communities they serve.

Through the Stronger Foundations initiative, ACF members set themselves a high bar to pursue ambitious and effective practice across all areas of their work. Just before the pandemic began, six member-led working groups involving 100 foundation representatives explored a variety of thematic areas:

This report summarises data gathered through the tool over a 14-month period, from when it was launched in December 2020 through to February 2022. It finds that amid a pandemic that put unprecedented demand on their people and resources, foundations across the UK – from the very largest and most wellresourced, to those that are small and volunteer-run – continued to improve their practice and achieve even greater impact.

these pillars. They also described their current practice and their plans to go further. When using the tool, each agreed to share their anonymised results more widely, to give a better understanding of where foundations are strongest and where they have further to travel.

Through the Stronger Foundations initiative, ACF members set themselves a high bar to pursue ambitious and effective practice across all areas of their work. Just before the pandemic began, six member-led working groups involving 100 foundation representatives had explored a variety of thematic areas below:

A new report, Becoming Stronger Foundations , published in March 2022, summarises data gathered over a 14-month period, from the tool’s launch in December 2020 through to February 2022. It finds that amid a pandemic that put unprecedented demand on their people and resources, foundations across the UK – from the largest and most well-

This report celebrates these efforts and aims to inspire all ACF members to find ways to become stronger foundations in the years ahead.

This evidence-gathering inquiry led to the creation of 40 ‘pillars of stronger foundation practice’.

Over the last year, more than 50 ACF members completed a total of 110 selfassessment tool surveys to score their own performance against some or all of

EXAMPLES OF AMBITIOUS AND EFFECTIVE PRACTICE

Over the last year, more than 50 ACF members completed a total of 110 self-assessment tool surveys to score their own performance against these pillars. They also described their current practice and their plans to go further. When using the tool, each agreed to share their anonymised results more widely to give a better understanding of where foundations are strongest and where they have further to travel.

Trustees and staff from all kinds and sizes of foundation told us that they used the self-assessment tool in a variety of contexts, such as board meetings, away days and strategic reviews. The benefits of the tool were summarised in an initial ACF report in 2021, Measuring the strength of your own foundations , with one foundation director stating: “Undertaking the Stronger Foundations self-assessment has been incredibly helpful for our foundation and really helped us to shape our strategic and operational

This through period, December It finds unprecedented and UK –resourced, volunteer-run practice This aims ways the

FUNDING PRACTICES:

resourced, to those that are small and volunteer-run – continued to improve their practice and achieve even greater impact.

The report celebrates these efforts and aims to inspire all ACF members to find ways to become stronger foundations in the years ahead.

priorities. For a small outlay of time, the self-assessments are a tool that we can return to time and again, and they are really helping us to keep track of the progress we are making.”

As well as supporting individual foundations, the self-assessment tool

TEGY AND RNANCE

offers an extraordinary insight into sectorwide practices. This allows a detailed exploration of the practice described by ACF members in relation to each pillar. The data can also be filtered by size and type of foundation, allowing for a more nuanced understanding.

The thematic sections of the report offer a selection of examples of ambitious and effective practice that foundations reported in their self-assessment surveys. The examples chosen are selected highlights that we think represent an ambitious implementation of a pillar and are not intended to be representative of all responses received.

governance are incredibly to take for granted. is fit for purpose, notice it. When things might get away with and with a strategy to lead you to make for your mission. when they are worth because when times are unexpected challenges in the last two years, really need strong strategy that makes resources.

More than half of the examples are from smaller foundations awarding less than £1m in grants per year (the majority of both grant-making charities and ACF members are smaller foundations), and no type of foundation has a monopoly on ambitious practice. All foundations reported areas where they had a significant distance to travel, and at least one area where they felt they were at an advanced stage.

Good governance and an effective strategy are at the heart of what makes for an ambitious and effective organisation which maximises its potential for social good. For foundations – who frequently have few of the checks and balances that come with the need to raise funds, or to deliver services – these are especially important issues.

A strong strategic and governance framework is therefore vital to clearly set out what the organisation is working towards and how decisions are made and recorded to achieve that, allowing trustees, staff and stakeholders the confidence to know that decisions serve the public benefit the charity is committed to deliver.

7 PILLARS OF STRONGER FOUNDATION PRACTICE

1

HAS A DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF ITS VISION, MISSION AND VALUES AND ARTICULATES THEM PUBLICLY

CONTINUALLY STRENGTHENS ITS GOVERNANCE, INCLUDING ITS DIVERSITY 2

RECOGNISES THE IMPORTANCE AND IMPLICATIONS OF TIME 5

Here are some examples of what ACF members told us they are doing to pursue the seven pillars of stronger foundation practice in relation to strategy and governance.

IS AWARE OF THE EXTERNAL CONTEXT AND ITS ROLE IN THE WIDER ECOSYSTEM 6

INFORMS ITS STRATEGY WITH DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES AND A RANGE OF EVIDENCE 3

4

DESIGNS ITS STR ATEGY TO MAKE THE MOST OF ALL AVAIL ABLE RESOURCES, AND SUPPORTS GOOD GOVERNANCE IN THOSE IT FUNDS

IS ACCOUNTABLE, OPEN TO FEEDBACK AND RESPONSIVE TO CHALLENGE 7

“We have a five-year programme of improving governance. Fixed trustee terms have been introduced, as well as yearly appraisals. Skills audits are carried out, and new trustees were recruited to fill missing areas. We review the board against the Charity Governance Code annually. The board acknowledges improvements are needed in board diversity. Although there is good diversity of experience and age, there’s not enough ethnic and gender diversity. Targets for improving board diversity have been introduced.”

Small international foundation

“We follow the Charity Governance Code and review it annually. A DEI statement is in place and an action plan in progress”

Medium-sized corporate foundation

Governance

and an effective heart of what makes effective organisation potential for social foundations – who frequently checks and balances that to raise funds, or to these are especially and governance therefore vital to clearly organisation is working decisions are made achieve that, allowing stakeholders the that decisions benefit the charity deliver.

1

STRATEGY AND GOVERNANCE

HAS A DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF ITS VISION, MISSION AND VALUES AND ARTICULATES THEM PUBLICLY

RECOGNISES THE IMPORTANCE AND IMPLICATIONS OF TIME 5

Strategy and governance are incredibly important and easy to take for granted. When governance is fit for purpose, you tend not to notice it. When things are going well you might get away with poor governance and with a strategy that doesn’t need to lead you to make the best decisions for your mission. But that’s exactly when they are worth attending to. When times aren’t so good or unexpected challenges arise, as they have in the last two years, that’s when you really need strong governance and a strategy that makes the most of your resources.

CONTINUALLY STRENGTHENS ITS GOVERNANCE, INCLUDING ITS DIVERSITY 2

IS AWARE OF THE EXTERNAL CONTEXT AND ITS ROLE IN THE WIDER ECOSYSTEM 6

INFORMS ITS STRATEGY WITH DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES AND A RANGE OF EVIDENCE 3

IS ACCOUNTABLE, OPEN TO FEEDBACK AND RESPONSIVE TO CHALLENGE 7

4

Good governance and an effective strategy are at the heart of what makes for an ambitious and effective organisation which maximises its potential for social good. Foundations generally have few of the checks and balances that come with fundraising or service delivery. Therefore, a strong strategic and governance framework is vital to clearly set out what the organisation is working towards and how decisions are made and recorded to achieve that. It gives trustees, staff and stakeholders the confidence to know that decisions serve the public benefit the charity is committed to deliver.

DESIGNS ITS STR ATEGY TO MAKE THE MOST OF ALL AVAIL ABLE RESOURCES, AND SUPPORTS GOOD GOVERNANCE IN THOSE IT FUNDS

STRATEGY AND GOVERNANCE:THE P LLARS OF STRONGER FOUNDAT ON PRACTICE

STRONGER FOUNDATIONS

STRATEGY AND GOVERNANCE:

THE

“We have made some improvements in governance in the last two years, including a governance review, recruiting of a new chair and three new committee members with lived experience. We have also improved our governance systems.”

Small corporate foundation

“We are reviewing our charity's operations, who it serves, why, and how.”

Small corporate foundation

“We ask and explore governance as part of our assessment criteria. We are planning to do more by way of articulating an overall organisational strategy and a funder plus offer.”

Large independent foundation

“We consider time horizons for our endowment, but also on our grant-making”

Large local foundation

“We collaborate with organisations serving the same groups of people to ensure we support our communities and individuals across a number of areas. We will continue to consult with our beneficiaries to ensure the charity stays relevant, focused and delivers on its objectives.”

Small corporate foundation

“We were very transparent when developing our strategy and invited feedback from those in sector, people with lived experience and other funders. We fully embraced the feedback received.”

Small corporate foundation

HOW WE APPROACHED OUR TRANSFORMATION

WHAT CAN FOUNDATIONS DO NEXT?

We hope that the new report will inspire all foundations to pursue the pillars of stronger foundation practice across all six themes. Our invitation to all ACF members is:

• If you’ve not yet used the selfassessment tool, give it a try.

– Consider taking it to a board meeting as the basis for a discussion about strategy, governance or operations

– Ask trustees or investment committee members to complete the Investment survey

–

Invite staff and trustees to complete separate surveys and compare answers

– Use it at a staff away day

If you’re the only member of staff at your organisation, consider using it to start a discussion with your board or inform a board paper

• If you’ve used it already, consider using it again in the future.

– We recommend foundations repeat the process after six to 12 months to track progress and allow enough time for changes

• Share your experiences.

You could write a blog, put some headline findings in your newsletter, or tweet about your experience using the hashtag #StrongerFoundations

• Please let us know how you get on and send us any suggestions for improvement.

Email feedback to policy@acf.org.uk

– Complete the two-minute feedback form at the end of each survey

• Keep an eye on ACF’s learning and events programme, which aligns to the pillars of practice and will support your journey towards becoming a stronger foundation.

Jo Wells, director of the Blagrave Trust, chaired the Stronger Foundations working group on strategy and governance. Here, she reflects on her organisation’s strategic approach to their recent transformation.

In 2021, the Blagrave Trust launched its four-year strategy. It was the culmination of a deep and complete transformation – from a modest and broad focused regional funder, to one that focuses on 14 to 25 year olds and is known for its passionate and authentic commitment to their lived experience and potential as changemakers. I’ve been asked to reflect on some of the defining features of our strategic approach that have supported this transformation.

Many foundations think deeply about their relevance to context in a rapidly changing world and how an analysis of power plays out in strategy and governance decisions – elements we cited in the Stronger Foundations report. But perhaps if anything marks out Blagrave as distinct, it’s the scale and speed of the change. I’d like to share the ingredients that have supported that clarity of purpose.

PROXIMITY TO MISSION

Throughout our evolution, we have consciously sought to be proximate to the partners we fund. We have always understood that creating space in our day to day for conversations that go beyond transactional grant-making deepens understanding and connection to mission, something I described as ‘reducing the social distance’ in a blog some years ago*.

In the last three to four years, we became more intentional about cultivating and diversifying our networks of young people, outside mediated youth sector interactions. And, explicitly centering young people in our day to day, through ongoing board reform, including young people in our team, and working with whole groups of paid young advisors.

While there is still so much more for us to do, this proximity has been the driving force of decisions and culture and is translatable to any foundation with any remit. For example:

• Young people bring clarity on racial justice and rights; responsible investing; attention to care and wellbeing; and most importantly, what it means to grow up feeling marginalised and what they need to change that (for example, voice, power, access to resources, to be listened to). You don’t need to be have direct relationships with your so-called ‘end users’ to know these things. You can read about them anywhere, and yet, deep work of this nature rooted in social justice is still marginal. I believe that proximity has created urgency, empathy and a responsibility to act, which in turn drives accountability.

• Rejecting a thematic focus. This can feel counter-intuitive when it comes to strategy – investing in a sector to focus impact is a compelling and legitimate choice. But, young people facing and challenging social injustice remind us that it’s the distance between those with power and those they profess to serve that perpetuates the systems that aren’t working for them. This has stretched our understanding of intersectionality and centred our strategy away from unaccountable systems to facilitating and strengthening voice, empowerment and listening as the route to change.

• By directly knowing young changemakers, we have genuine confidence in young people’s potential. We do not believe for a second that all young people can or want to be changemakers. But for those who do, we do not confuse token participation with genuine access to power. There is no question that we would not have had the confidence to start funding young campaigners

directly, had we not already had direct relationships, and without a diverse and young board that instinctively understands this work. It has enabled us to take risks that we wouldn’t otherwise have done.

• Proximity has given us credibility in the eyes of young people and that is a precious asset. It has also meant that the people applying to us as young advisors, trustees, or team members has naturally diversified. At a time when foundations continue to rightfully be under scrutiny for their lack of diversity, this is worth reflecting on. In our recent recruitment for a new staff post, we stated we would shortlist a minimum 40% ethnic diversity, but were easily able to meet a much higher percentage. This must be a joyous, collaborative and interesting journey, not a painful tick-box exercise to be delivered.

• Finally, closing the gap between the CEO who leads on strategy and those we serve, is crucial – there is no place for distance when it comes to centrality of mission. We all strive to be good and do the right thing, but not knowing people directly allows us to avoid confronting human truths.

MINDSET AND CULTURE

They say culture eats strategy for breakfast, and it’s taken me some time to fully grasp how important the connection between strategy and culture is in the field of social change (too long, actually). Elements of our culture that have been key to our change include:

• A commitment to living our values. If you want to change the world, you surely have to start by changing yourself. Any acts of trust, active listening or bringing in new voices to our work, subvert the philanthropic status quo and helps to unlock deeper understanding. The way we behave

towards our partners and each other, the tone of our board meetings, who's allowed in the space, is intrinsic to systems change. As a team we have learnt a huge amount, with more to come, about how we are creating safe, inclusive and equitable spaces for young people internally and across our programmes, and how we can model a philanthropy that rejects traditional assumptions about people’s abilities and knowledge. This learning takes time and is not always easy as it requires an introspection and honesty that doesn’t align naturally with a ‘professional’ setting. But self-reflection is essential if we are to stand in solidarity with those who are using their lived experience to create change. It deepens our understanding of where we need to cede control, and a greater emphasis on how we act in service of others, not ourselves.

• Not being limited by what we know. So much of what we envisage and imagine is limited by the parameters of existing sector norms and what we think is doable, rather than what might be possible. Call it innovation if you will but I rather think of it simply as optimism. Taking a punt on trying the new has been a big part of our learning journey, as well as a conscious attempt to subvert power dynamics that exist:

– changing governance to bring in lived experience and young people with no previous governance experience

– setting up a fund that focuses entirely around the concept of listening (thelisteningfund.org)

– resourcing young campaigners directly in a process designed and led by them

– convening funders around an idea and using our power to leverage wider funds (youngtrusteesmovement. org) saving our partners time and bureaucracy.

There is so much more work to do across the funding system – so

many bold and fresh ideas, end up translated into a transactional set of grants. These grants comprise a large proportion of Blagrave’s work, so we are by no means immune, but we try to be alive to greater possibility.

• Listen, learn, adapt … listen, learn, evolve … repeat!

Continuous evolution is something that any grassroots voluntary sector organisation learns to be adept at, surviving and responding to their communities, political and socioeconomic context. It requires energy, and the humility to course correct and acknowledge failure. And while listening without acting is de-motivating and can be extractive, listening then iterating is also exciting and motivating in its offer of progress. An entrepreneurial mindset is not to be confused with a lack of strategy – we understand that taking a long view is something that independent funders are uniquely privileged to do. But a long-term strategy that has no place for learning in real-time, in the fastmoving world of today, can quickly lack relevance – if not in its vision, which may be bold and important, then in its execution.

So, back to strategy. Aside from the obvious direction setting, a first function of strategy should be to transparently communicate who we are and what and for whom we stand for. We hope our new strategy is accessible, clear and inspiring for any current or future partner, individual or organisation, but first and foremost to young people (who helped us shape it of course!).

The last function of strategy, should be to hold us to account. We know that if we stray, young people will lose interest in being proximate with us, and that provides us with a real clarity of purpose.

*blagravetrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/

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OVERCOMING OBSTACLES IN INTERNATIONAL GRANT-MAKING

Amidst rising global humanitarian need, UK-based international grant-makers contribute substantially to development aid.1 Cutbacks in UK government spending mean philanthropic funding is ever more vital. Despite its importance, however, there has been little research on how organisations deal with the difficult policy, practice and information challenges of international grant-making, and its demands on resources. This article reports some findings from new research aiming to build the evidence base on internal policymaking and increase understanding and engagement in international philanthropy. 2

International grant-making policy within philanthropy in the UK Muslim context

The research focused on UK grantmakers in the Muslim context because of the potential to learn from the experience of organisations which have strong cultural links and relationships with vulnerable global communities. It built on earlier mapping work 3, using a definition of Muslim philanthropy which is geographic, cultural and not only faith-based but faith-expressive 4. Data were gathered from research literature, analysis of 24 international grant-makers’ annual reports, websites and six in-depth interviews with senior staff.

OVERCOMING THE CHALLENGES OF FINANCE AND RISK

International grant-giving involves a constant balance between the demands of regulatory and financial compliance and

considerations of regional risk and need. The Charity Commission’s guidance on risk management when working overseas runs to five pages5, covering risk assessment in unstable countries, local employment rules, protection of staff and beneficiaries, terrorism, auditable track of finances, fraud and financial crime, risks of money transfers and due diligence on local organisations. Additional guidance covers safeguarding.

The frustrations that can arise when trying to build compliant stable systems in difficult international contexts are illustrated vividly in one grant-maker’s annual report: “(We work) in difficult circumstances where both social and political factors may give rise to security or access problems that frustrate our ability to put in place the infrastructure and long-term initiatives necessary to alleviate poverty and suffering.”

Operational challenges have been compounded by an increasingly harsh regulatory environment and growing scrutiny over recent years. This has been globally recognised, including by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 6 and the UK Charities Tax Group (CTG):

“… global activities are not without risk, and charities making grants globally must be mindful of the restrictions that charity law and taxation impose ... (they) will need to consider the risk profile of their activities in the round” 7

1 hummedia.manchester.ac.uk/institutes/gdi/publications/workingpapers/GDI/GDI-working-paper-2019035-banksbrockington.pdf

2 bayes.city.ac.uk/faculties-and-research/centres/cgap/research/_nocache

3 Pharoah, C. (2020) Building a picture of Muslim philanthropy in the UK foundation context: The scope of existing data. cass.city.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/543721/Pharoah-Muslim-philanthropy-in-UK-context.pdf

4 El Taraboulsi,S. The Muslim Philanthropy Digital Library Case 5 gov.uk/guidance/charities-how-to-manage-risks-when-working-internationally

6 See for example globalindices.iupui.edu/environment-2022/themes/index.html and oecd.org/dac/private-philanthropy-for-development-9789264085190-en.htm

7 Charities Tax Group CTG | 31 May 2019 Making grants overseas: a refresher on HMRC rules for charities

In this context, the research found considerable policy-making was devoted to internal financial controls, protocols and special arrangements for compliant finance distribution in overseas locations with weak or non-existent banking systems. The need to adapt, coupled with regulatory penalties if things go wrong, gives rise to ongoing anxieties, and the difficulties have been taken up by the UK Muslim Charities Forum (MCF). Compliance issues are resourceintensive and lead to more exclusive and risk-averse grant-making. One interviewee wryly observed:

“There is a German proverb that ‘trust is good, but control is better’. We do not trust anybody: we trust our systems, procedures, and processes … We never have one partner in one country, but a minimum of three, as part of our policy to minimise potential risks in handling the grants money.”

A major risk to systems, however, as another interviewee said, is the volatility in many developing regions:

“Sometimes urgent needs do determine interventions and decisions on grant-making, because emergencies are exceptions and … you cannot do strategy exercises.”

NEW MODELS OF PARTNERSHIP

The research found that partnership is fundamental to international grant-making, but that identifying and managing suitable partners can be challenging, resourceintensive and a source of anxiety. To ensure capacity to meet UK regulatory and governance requirements, there is considerable policy-making around partner recruitment, with stringent upfront selection criteria. For example, one interviewee noted:

Cathy Pharoah, Ikhlaq Hussain, Jenny Harrow

Cathy Pharoah, Ikhlaq Hussain and Jenny Harrow from Bayes Business School discuss their latest research into policy-making by international grant-makers working in the context of UK Muslim philanthropy.

“(Overseas partners) must ... pass our selection criteria with 95% on a score card covering law, compliance, governance, financial robustness and organisational capacity ...”

They also said that these demonstrate synergies in constitution and mission, clearance checks on trustees and key managers (such as on fraud and terrorism), and a good track record. Further policies cover standards, good practice, finance management and recordkeeping, sometimes individually tailored to local capacity.

Sadly, finding and managing partners is most difficult in risky and needy areas, as two interviewees commented:

“In those countries which are wartorn half-broken countries, we don’t have much choice … it’s not like going to the supermarket and buying bread … Finding partners in those countries is hard.”

While cultural links give access and ‘mileage’, they don’t automatically solve everything. One interviewee felt shared faith and values were not enough to build trust, saying: “Trust comes with time and how we communicate … transparency is essential.” Power imbalances remain, and funders must prove ‘added value’ through expertise, collaboration and empowerment.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Grant-making foundations and charities are ever more vital to overseas aid as government funding cuts back.

• Policy-making towards international giving is increasingly complex, resource-intensive and demanding.

• Higher donor expectations, harsher regulatory environments and the growth of partnership are driving greater pressure on policy.

International grant-making policy within philanthropy in the UK Muslim context

“When someone is in a different country … 12 months is a lot of time. Sometimes things change very fast – trustees change, someone may have been convicted of fraud, or there may be a change in government policy or conflict in the area.”

The challenges of partnership mean many grant-makers value long-term relationships, and have policies to support weaker local partners, as these two interviewees highlighted:

“When we are not happy with feedback, we will try our best to fix the issue, and support them … so that we don’t have to go to a stage where we have to replace them.”

‘‘We are always working to improve the capacity of our partners. For example, we provide annual training to our overseas partners, face to face.”

One interviewee highlighted that preexisting knowledge of good partners and access to certain areas strongly influenced final grant-making choices and policies. Direct geographical and cultural links between donors and grantees can also significantly reduce uncertainties. They said:

“We do a lot of community fundraising … some of our mosques have local communities from different countries and want us to work in those specific areas and deliver specific projects.”

The development of good partnership models for international grant-making is an evolving area. While some are rooted in historic diaspora relationships, the problems and costs of managing in-country offices are driving a shift towards working with independent organisations, selected on merit, and managed through service agreements. Some of these are still closely linked but separately constituted, and one interviewee emphasised a growing local engagement:

“We believe it’s always good to work with grassroots organisations for bigger impact, because they understand their local problems better, and they know the solutions.”

Nonetheless, some grant-makers reduce their risk profile by working only through UK charities with international partners, and another model is to work with a single overseas partner.

Future expansion of aid – for example, in Africa – will depend on successful partnership models, and the research has revealed how knowledge and experience could valuably be shared. Internal policymaking by global grant-makers in this study is growing in complexity and importance as it aims to combine compliance with sensitivity and adaptability to local capacity, and a focus on beneficiary need. Surprisingly, there has been no impact assessment of the additional costs of international grant-making, which are carried by donors and grant-makers. If international giving is to grow, government, regulatory bodies and other stakeholders need to consider how to reduce or mitigate these additional burdens. They could start by initiating more sympathetic consultations with international grantmakers, particularly drawing on the experience of Muslim philanthropy.

• There has been little impact assessment of the additional ‘red tape’ demands and costs placed on international grant-makers.

• Regulatory authorities and other stakeholders should consult with organisations, including those working in Muslim philanthropy, about how to reduce barriers and ease giving towards vulnerable and higher-risk communities.

About the authors

Cathy Pharoah is visiting professor of charity funding and co-director of the Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy at Bayes Business School, City, University of London. She has researched and published widely on trends in the funding and finances of the charity sector.

Ikhlaq Hussain is a visiting lecturer at Bayes Business School, City, University of London. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising and a PhD candidate at the University of Hull. Ikhlaq is a philanthropy and marketing specialist and regular contributor in sector-led media outlets.

Jenny Harrow is professor in management and co-director of the Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy at Bayes Business School, City, University of London. Her research on institutional philanthropy is conducted collaboratively with academic and practice colleagues and organisations, nationally and internationally.

Cathy Pharoah, Ikhlaq Hussain, Jenny Harrow

LEVELLING UP THE UNITED KINGDOM

What does the government’s Levelling Up White Paper really mean for our communities?

Ailbhe McNabola, director of policy and communications at Power to Change, an independent trust that supports community businesses in England, finds out.

In February 2022, the government released its long-awaited Levelling Up White Paper. Like many other trusts and foundations that support community-led initiatives, we were keen to see what it would say about the role local people play in delivering the government’s levelling up ambitions. On that level, we weren’t disappointed: the white paper signalled an embracing of community power and a recognition of the important role that communities can play in revitalising leftbehind communities across the UK.

Alongside the expected emphasis on jobs and investment, and research and development spending, there was a welcome focus on community, quality of life and quality of place, social capital and wellbeing. The rhetoric and the analysis of

the root causes of the problem are good. But it’s in the implementation where real success and real change will be delivered. Now that the shape of the government’s ambitions is clear, there are a few specific areas where we hope to see real progress being made:

1. SHIFTING POWER OUT OF LONDON AND DOWN TO NEIGHBOURHOOD LEVEL

For some time at Power to Change, we’ve been calling for a radical reimagining of who can exercise power in this country. With this white paper, it’s promising to see government starting to devolve funding and decision making out of

Whitehall. This is matched with an aspiration for this to happen universally across the country, not in the fragmented way it has so far.

But for power to really shift outside of London, decision making will need to take place at the most localised level at which it can be most effectively performed – the principle of subsidiarity. To limit devolution to metro and county mayor level is a missed opportunity that doesn’t align with this principle of subsidiarity. For levelling up to succeed, it must go further and empower people at a neighbourhood level – because local people are best placed to understand and deliver against the needs of their communities. The neighbourhood is, so often, the level at which decision making is most effectively performed.

2. BEGINNING TO EMPOWER COMMUNITIES AND NEIGHBOURHOODS

So, while more (and more consistent) devolution to mayoral combined authorities or via county deals is a good start, it’s the commitment to pilot new models of community partnership, including community covenants, that we’re really excited about. These new covenants would see the local state and community working together to address challenges, enhance places and improve public services.

I’d like to see these pilots move forward urgently, for them to begin testing how this approach can be scaled up and given powers and funding over time. If it works well, then it could be the ideal local vehicle for deciding how the UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocations are spent. With mayors increasingly pulling powers down from Westminster, there needs to be a strong layer of neighbourhood governance that can work with them, particularly in the many places that do not have town or parish councils.

The white paper also commits government to exploring changes to neighbourhood governance, such as Community Improvement Districts which would give local communities more say in the development or regeneration of their high streets and town centres. At Power to Change, we are working with others to develop the concept of a Community Improvement District and are currently piloting this model with the Mayor of London, in Kilburn and Wood Green. We plan to expand these pilots to other places this year.

3. DRIVING UP COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP

We have long argued that community ownership of assets, such as buildings or green spaces, underpins community power. The white paper recognises that the Community Ownership Fund (launched last year) is not yet reaching the communities that need it most. The

white paper commits government to a review of how the fund is delivered –which is the right thing to do. The fund represents a huge opportunity to grow community ownership, so it’s important we get it right.

Alongside this, the white paper also recognises that Community Asset Transfer, and the listing of Assets of Community Value (part of the Community Right to Bid), should be looked at and strengthened. In 2019, we first called for the Community Right to Bid to be boosted, creating a Community Right to Buy that gives local people first refusal if a cherished local asset comes up for sale (see our Take Back the High Street report). We’re not alone in that view and still believe today that stronger community rights would complement some of the white paper’s moves towards empowering people in their local neighbourhoods to get involved in shaping their places for the better.

WHAT THIS WHITE PAPER MEANS FOR US

A final word on what the white paper means for a trust like ours, that is working to enable and support communityled enterprise and to grow the social economy to deliver better places.

Andy Haldane, permanent secretary for Levelling Up at the Cabinet Office, has described this white paper as the ‘starting gun’; the beginning of what will be a long-term endeavour. That much is obvious, I suppose. Deep-rooted regional inequalities such as those that exist in the UK won’t be shifted overnight. And our perspective is much less ‘macro’ than Andy’s, perhaps. We are looking at neighbourhoods and places that have felt neglected for many years. Where inward investment isn’t the easy answer to high street decline. Turning that around will require a concerted effort, letting go of central Whitehall control and empowering places to make their own best decisions.

Our work over the coming year or more will focus on continuing to build the evidence base, and make the case for, community-led development of place and

an empowerment of local people. We will support pilots such as Community Improvement Districts and continue to work to support greater community asset ownership through direct support and through policy change.

We will work in partnership with combined and local authorities to develop and implement new strategies and ways of growing and strengthening their social, community-focused economies. We will soon launch a new programme of work with the British Academy, focused on the social infrastructure of the UK and how this contributes to addressing inequality and disadvantage. And we will work to ensure the government’s new Strategy for Community Spaces and Relationships, flagged in the white paper, draws on what many of us know about the importance of shared community space (social infrastructure) and the relationships that are built and sustained in those spaces. This was clearly set out in the white paper – now we need to see it made a reality in policy and funding decisions.

“Social capital and social infrastructure amplify the forces of economic agglomeration. Good housing, high streets, and leisure and cultural activities serve as a magnet for skilled people, meaning those places continue to steam ahead … The opposite dynamic is in play in left behind places. There, poor endowments of social capital and social infrastructure give rise to unsafe and unclean streets, weak community and cultural institutions, and poor sports and recreational facilities. This amplifies the centrifugal economic and financial forces impacting these places.

There is strong evidence these social factors are important drivers of agglomeration in their own right, influencing where people live and their lived experience in their communities.”

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DEVELOPING ACF'S STRATEGIC AMBITION

ACF’s chief executive Carol Mack OBE shares a snapshot of our recent conversations with members and how these insights will shape our future strategy.

In the six years since we developed our last strategy at ACF, we’ve seen a dramatic shift in the environment we all operate in: most notably with the emergence of Covid-19 and the ongoing effects of the pandemic which still reverberate. Covid-19 both exacerbated and made more visible existing inequalities, and we have all heard the urgent call for action to tackle racial injustice. We’ve also been grappling with the scale of climate threat. The size of the solutions needed means that this is an urgent issue for all parts of civil society, and for all charitable foundations. As we navigate these challenges and face new ones, it’s never been more vital to support, represent and bring together foundations. Since the beginning of the year, we’ve been working to give members the opportunity to influence ACF’s new strategic direction. We want to hear from you about how we can support you more effectively – so that you can be at your best.

In February, we launched a monthlong conversation with a wide range of members and stakeholders. We posed a series of questions across our newsletters, social media and on our website.

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

In the first week, we asked about the challenges and opportunities for foundations. What stood out for me in the many comments received was the undaunted commitment of foundations to address the many challenges we face; in relation to poverty and inequality, racial justice and the climate crisis, as well as a myriad of other, more specialist concerns reflecting the hyper-diversity of the missions of individual foundations. Perhaps surprisingly for a sector defined by its wealth, the key challenge expressed was that of resources ―

primarily limited grants budgets, but also scarce staff capacity. But given the scale of the challenges foundations are seeking to address, this is not so much unexpected, as completely understandable.

Foundations’ views of the future foresee an opportunity for genuine partnership working with wider civil society and communities, with collaboration repeatedly mentioned. For many, this was linked to a keenness to ‘try to shift power’, while wrestling with the implications for governance and agency. ‘Trying to shift power … within a strategy that we decide on our own. Can we do this?’

Many spoke of the power of good grant-making and the value of this work. Others also talked about the challenges of refreshing their own foundation or renewal within foundations more generally, particularly with younger people coming to boards or as staff.

IT’S IMPORTANT THAT WE FIND A PATH TO BECOME INSPIRING, MODERN, ACTIVE AND DYNAMIC. IT’S CRUCIAL OUR NEW STRATEGY GIVES US THIS AMBITION.

ALIGNING WITH OUR VALUES

For the second week, we had a more bracing conversation as we turned the spotlight on ACF and listened to the three words members would use to describe us. To help us make sense of the very different words we heard back, we mapped them against ACF’s four organisational values:

– we care

– we are open

– we are ambitious

– we are evidence-based

Encouragingly, the feedback chimed with our values – particularly ‘open’ and ‘evidence-based’. However, we had less resonance on ‘care’ and much further to go on ‘ambitious’.

When discussing care, it was fantastic to see the words ‘committed’ and ‘champion’ being used by our members. There is real strength in these qualities, and they speak to where we want to be as an organisation. Building on this will be something for us to focus on in the new strategy.

Personally, I rejoiced to see the words ‘friendly’ and ‘supportive’. As a membership association this is a really important part of our organisational culture. But clearly this is not how all members feel. The words ‘fringefocused’, ‘semi-detached’ and ‘unresponsive to phone calls’ suggested that we need to be more in touch and attend to the practicalities.

On open there was a lot of alignment, with foundations describing us as ‘collaborative’, ‘connected’ and an ‘enabler’. Some saw barriers to participation – notably that we were ‘expensive’ or ‘exclusive’. Removing obstacles to engaging with us will be something we think hard about as we consider our strategic priorities and future business model.

Evidence-based also resonated with members – describing ACF as ‘relevant’, ‘useful’ and ‘informative’. The words ‘academic’, ‘research’ and ‘neutral’ suggest that perhaps we can do more to apply the evidence we have to reach a wider audience.

We had the least alignment on ambitious and the strongest words in opposition: ‘uninspiring’, ‘old-fashioned’, and even ‘extinct’. These all indicate we have the furthest to go in this area and the most work to do with our new strategy. It’s important that we find a path to become the opposite of these words – inspiring, modern, active and dynamic. It’s crucial our new strategy gives us this ambition.

This set up our third week where we asked one simple question: what two things would help foundations be even more ambitious and effective?

Any strategy review worth its salt prompts you to think outside the box. This question’s feedback did just that, noting that ‘effectiveness is certainly important’ but also, ‘Why do we need to be more ambitious?’,

Ambitious in the thesaurus is linked to meanings like ‘determined, resourceful, hopeful’, all of which seem admirably suited to the challenges of the current time. But the thesaurus also suggests a darker side to ambition as being ‘aggressive, pushy, power-loving’ – all contrary to the behaviours identified in Stronger Foundations.

WORKING TOGETHER

For the final week of phase one of our conversations with members, we looked at collaboration. With 97% of ACF members who responded to a recent survey telling us that they want to collaborate with others, it’s clearly important for foundations.

But collaborate on what? And with whom? And what role should ACF play in this?

The overarching theme from our responses was that ‘collaboration should be a means to an end, and that end will vary depending on the objectives of particular foundations at particular points in time’.

And collaboration wasn’t just about working with other foundations. It was important to ‘facilitate relationships between different charities so they can share learning’, and ‘giving organisations [that foundations fund] a voice’. In tackling systemic issues, foundations

are part of a broader ecosystem that includes other funders and civil society organisations.

Indeed, working collaboratively is in the very DNA of most foundations, turning private wealth into public benefit through activities like grant-making, social investment and working in partnership with others. Foundations cannot achieve their mission on their own – working well with others is key to their success.

The role that ACF should play was wide-ranging, including ‘bringing people together’, ‘pulling together learning’, ‘agreeing and disseminating good practice’, and ‘making the funding process better for both sides’, with an eye to ‘deepening engagement and empowerment of communities’ and ‘equitable grant-making’.

Collaboration is at the heart of what any membership association is about and ACF is no exception. During the pandemic we stepped up our support to members, and other funders, in their collaborative work. This included ACF co-founding, co-developing and hosting the Funders’ Collaborative Hub. The Hub is designed specifically to support emerging and active collaborations, and currently showcases 88 different collaborations between funders, from networks to pooled funds. It has generated a wealth of insight on collaboration for ACF to build on as we develop our strategy for the next five years.

This conversation has been exciting, intriguing and inspiring. We are so grateful to the many people, in the foundation sector and beyond, who took the time to talk with us. We’re now digesting everything we’ve read and heard and will share it with our trustees – all of whom are drawn from ACF’s diverse membership. We’ll be using the insights to develop our strategic ambition, the options for getting us there and the choices we need to make to do this. And we’ll be sharing our thinking with members as we go – especially at our AGM on 15 June 2022. Our aim is to finalise and communicate our new strategy by the end of the year.

ESG –GOING MAINSTREAM IN PRIVATE MARKETS

Mercer’s head of alternatives for EMEA and Asia Pacific, Garvan McCarthy, discusses how sustainability is evolving across the private markets sector and why it’s well placed to lead the way on ESG investing.

Back in November last year, at Mercer’s Private Markets Global Conference, we fired out a bold prediction to our delegates: that environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing is set to become a mainstream approach across private markets* over the next few years, despite much of the asset management industry just finding their feet in the space.

Foundation investors across the alternative asset classes** increasingly have a razor-sharp focus on all matters ESG-related, including diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) considerations. Certainly, at Mercer, we have seen how quickly sustainability has become a prominent framework through which our foundation and university clients consider their own allocation decisions.

But I want to make an even bolder prediction. Yes, ESG is becoming mainstream and wholesale across all private assets, but this is happening at

‘PRIVATE

describes investments in privately owned companies. These investments are open to institutional investors, such as foundations, but not to the general public. In contrast, public companies are traded on the stock market and can be invested in by the general public.

a much faster rate, and far sooner, than perhaps many people in alternatives had foreseen. Supply and demand factors are driving fully integrated ESG factors into all decision-making, both at investorallocator and asset manager level.

WHAT MIGHT ESG LOOK LIKE IN PRIVATE MARKETS?

Sustainability has been at the core of Mercer’s outlook since 2014. In that sense, it is by no means a new focus area for our business. Much of our portfolios have been shaped by themes such as population growth, resource scarcity and energy efficiency, as well as by net-zero emissions targets. Yet sustainability is evolving rapidly and that presents new challenges. Pressure from foundation and university clients to achieve results is ramping up further every year, for example. And there is a growing body of regulations

‘ALTERNATIVE ASSET CLASSES’

are financial assets that do not fall into one of the conventional investment categories such as stocks, bonds, and cash. Alternative investments can include private equity or venture capital, infrastructure, art and antiques, clean energy and commodities. Asset allocation is deciding which assets to invest in within a portfolio.

and reporting requirements to get our heads around and adhere to. We need to consider and assess the long-term impact of the choices we make, while also learning to accept the potential short-term impact that sustainable investing might have on portfolios. It can all feel like a bit of a balancing act.

Challenges can sometimes feel more like obstacles, but the very structure of private markets mean they are well placed to meet them and lead the way on sustainability.

Private market managers have direct ownership over their portfolio companies. This means they can play a leading role in shaping the ESG journey of the assets they own, integrating and demonstrating ESG best practice.

Timeframes are also a factor. Private market managers tend to own companies for relatively long periods of time. So, they are better able to drive change on key ESG issues.

MARKETS’

MY FIVE TAKE-AWAYS about ESG in private markets, which every investor should keep in mind

1.

ESG will rise to even greater prominence in 2022. ESG momentum will continue to build, becoming mainstream across wholesale and private markets sooner than expected.

2. Private markets will find it easier than traditional assets to integrate ESG. Private market managers have the advantage of direct ownership when integrating ESG into their decision making, as well as relatively long timeframes to improve in key ESG and DEI-related areas.

3.

Demand factors are driving ESG integration. Stakeholders, trustees, staff and beneficiaries now expect foundations to better demonstrate how they consider ESG and DEI in their investment portfolios.

4.

Supply factors are driving ESG. As private market managers try to differentiate themselves, ESG and DEI are becoming key areas to excel and prove their positions. Ensuring metrics are well designed and correctly reported on will be vital.

5.

ESG is here to stay. ESG and DEI are no longer niche areas. They are now integrated across the investment management industry with the potential to drive real-world change and long-term performance growth.

LISTENING, LEARNING AND LEADING

Janet Morrison OBE, who recently stepped down as chair of ACF, spoke to Sarah Myers about her pride in the ACF community and her hopes for the future of our sector.

I've always been driven by social justice. But I'm a head and heart person. I need to have an intellectual challenge as well as a purpose to believe in. I want to know that what I’m doing is, somehow, making the world a better place. My career has taken me everywhere from NCVO to the BBC, Nesta to a rehabilitation charity. In March this year I started as the CEO of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee which represents and supports the interests of all NHS community pharmacies in England.

I’ve worked with trusts and foundations throughout my career, but always in a non-executive capacity. I got to know a huge range of charities, voluntary sector bodies, and trusts and foundations when I was a director of NCVO. I was part of a deregulation taskforce, looking at simplifying rules for charities, including the Trustee Investments Act and Charities Act 1993. The taskforce was headed up by Tessa Baring, chair of the Baring Foundation. Tessa was a fantastic person, really committed and insightful, with so much knowledge of the sector. We got on like a house on fire. Many years later, I was approached to become a trustee of the Baring Foundation and then chair. I later ended up becoming chair of ACF – as Tessa had been too. It was lovely to follow a little way in her footsteps.

What I loved most about the Baring Foundation was the way it cared about the overall health and independence of civil society. During my time as a trustee, we were on a progressive path. Our Strengthening Civil Society programme funded legal action to tackle discrimination and disadvantage at a time of real challenge to human rights. I was initially asked to join in 2014 because they were setting up a funding stream for arts and older people. I’d been chief executive of Independent Age for nearly 12 years and a founder of the Campaign to End Loneliness, so I understood the benefits of creativity to add meaning and improve mental and physical health and inclusion. I loved the projects we supported – it really challenged perceptions of older people and gave them voice.

When Barings Bank collapsed, the foundation lost a huge amount of money, so they had to think much harder about how to be an impactful funder. When they had less to work with they had to think about how to invest in field building [growing the community of organisations and individuals working together in support of a common goal] to add value to direct funding with strategic research – sharing learning, developing partnerships and leveraging other funders. It wasn’t just about grants but understanding the space we were operating in and making a strategic intervention. With our arts programme,

for example, we worked with all four arts councils as well as other foundations.

Setting up the Campaign to End Loneliness was very exciting and important to me personally. I was involved for around 10 years. We partnered with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation – they were a very inspired start-up funder who really believed in what we were doing. We worked closely together, evolving plans as we built a movement of over 10,000 members and ended up with a national loneliness strategy. We influenced a national conversation about loneliness, that’s only grown in significance during Covid-19, but we also went around the world learning and influencing. I personally visited the USA, Australia, the Netherlands, Japan and Finland. I was inspired by so many creative initiatives to engage and involve older people and tackle loneliness.

I'm proud of what ACF has achieved in the three and a half years I’ve been there. We’ve had some great collaborative initiatives like the Funders Commitment on Climate Change, and the Funders Collaborative Hub, which has helped so many organisations to connect and work together. And, of course, the Stronger Foundations initiative … I think ACF has been on an important path leading and influencing the foundation sector and I’m immensely proud of everything it’s achieved at a critical time.

Stronger Foundations was a provocation to think differently and harder, while also giving organisations tools and evidence from authoritative sources on a range of issues for foundations. The whole Stronger Foundations engagement process was extremely valuable – having peers come together to discuss what stronger foundation practice actually looks like, and work through evidence and thinking from around the world. The team then did a brilliant job to support the distillation of principles out of that work, while making it a live debate and discussion with trusts and foundations.

My wish for Stronger Foundations as I leave ACF is that it remains a dynamic process. Thinking always moves on and develops. There’s never one right answer. So, you must keep re-asking the questions. I hope that Stronger Foundations enables dialogue to continue.

Trusts and foundations are born out of inequality. They’re incredibly privileged, with a huge amount of freedom and power. And with that comes a lot of responsibility to justify that privilege and use that power wisely. When you’re putting private money to public purpose, for current and future generations, it comes with an obligation and a need to demonstrate your legitimacy, credibility and ethics.

“WHEN IT COMES TO STRATEGY … IT’S INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TO BE ABLE TO SURFACE EVERY KIND OF QUESTION, DOUBT AND CHALLENGE.”

Not just ESG… a whole world of responsibility

Not just ESG… a whole world of responsibility

What has become known as ESG is second nature to us. We have been investing ethically and responsibly for more than half a century. Let’s work together for a better world. ccla.co.uk

What has become known as ESG is second nature to us. We have been investing ethically and responsibly for more than half a century. Let’s work together for a better world. ccla.co.uk

One of the biggest challenges for ACF is the huge diversity of its members. From the large and well-resourced organisations to the tiny ones doing a really good job giving out small amounts of money that make a truly significant difference.

I’d like to see a bit more sharing between larger and smaller foundations – in both directions. Larger don't necessarily know better. Small organisations may be more tuned in locally, with a better understanding of what's going on in certain areas or communities. I’d like to see both parties sharing expertise, knowledge and aspirations.

Ultimately, ACF is about developing a community. It’s important that we add value by supporting organisations to work with each other. That collaboration, coupled with the openness and transparency that Stronger Foundations talks about, is very important. During Covid-19, we’ve been able to provide a platform for people to discuss important questions: What are you doing in response to the crisis? What can we do together? What are we learning? That's where you can prove your worth as an association, by offering support, as well as pushing for government interventions for the sector.

ACF doesn't have to do everything or know all the answers. But it does need to stay ahead and keep pushing, promoting new thinking and leading. It needs to keep providing spaces, places and platforms for people to convene, to share ideas and innovation – that’s extremely important for the community. There’s lots of potential for the Funders Collaborative Hub to help with this mission.

The voluntary sector is now behind the corporate sector on diversity, equity and inclusion. One of the speakers at ACF’s ‘Community, identity and belonging’ conference pointed that out. It’s a shocking thing to hear, but we need to be honest. It's a difficult journey, but we need to share experiences in an open way and be upfront about the

challenges people face. Organisations benefit from hearing from others, particularly those who’ve tried different things and made progress.

When it comes to strategy, theories and fashions change. But the process is always more important than the product. It’s incredibly important to be able to surface every kind of question, doubt and challenge. If you’ve always wondered why your organisation did – or didn't – do something a certain way, ask. Talk about what you’re proudest of. Encourage that level of engagement and you’ll get buy in. If everyone has thought long and hard about what they want to see happen, your strategy – while maybe not perfect – will be what you need right now.

Your strategy isn't a bible or a rulebook, it's about the principles you want to work to and the outcomes you want to achieve. You don’t need to have all the answers. But the strategy needs to be clear about the goals you're trying to achieve and what you need to do to achieve them. Be clear on the values that underpin each objective and the ethos you want to work to.

I've never seen a strategy that hasn’t had to change somewhere along the way. Life changes and the world changes – as we’ve all seen in the last two years – so don’t over plan. Allow for space to adjust and be creative.

Covid-19 has exacerbated the inequalities that already existed. When we think about what’s coming, in terms of cost of living, energy prices, education, mental health and community resilience, we have to have a huge amount of humility to recognise how great that need is. Because that level of need is shockingly challenging.

We need to recognise where the true expertise is. It’s in the communities and causes that we're trying to serve. If you want to really make an impact in a particular part of the voluntary sector or within a specific community, you need to go there and listen and learn from them.

When you’re in the business of doing good, you need to make sure that threads through every part of what you do. That includes how we treat our staff, our suppliers and everyone else. Do we pay small suppliers’ invoices on time? Do we pay our cleaners a living wage? Do we invest intentionally? Our ethics have to drive every aspect of our business. It’s not just about giving away money.

There’s so much richness and innovation out there when it comes to trusts and foundations. It’s inspiring. But we shouldn’t only value the new or the ‘big’. It’s often the small, tried and tested things that make the biggest difference. I’ll always remember what moved me most at the Baring Foundation was when we gave a small grant to a woman providing support to people experiencing domestic violence in the Traveller community. It’s very challenging to support women in that environment. What was quite a small grant to us meant everything in the world to her – in terms of validation for her work and what she could now go ahead and do to make a difference in her community. Sometimes it's about finding the real commitment and dedication within communities and supporting that. And we must keep making sure we don’t shy away from the challenging or tricky causes.

I’m excited for my next challenge. My new role is demanding and I have lots to learn. I would love to come back to a foundation at some point and I’ll certainly miss all the brilliant people involved.

As I leave ACF, my hope for the future is that it stays on its path of dynamic engagement, and continues to have something to offer every kind of trust or foundation. I know ACF will stay ahead of the curve, thinking creatively about the challenges ahead and finding imaginative ways to build on our fantastic community.

“WE MUST KEEP MAKING SURE WE DON’T SHY AWAY FROM THE CHALLENGING OR TRICKY CAUSES.”

ABOUT YOUR ACF MEMBERSHIP

As an ACF member, your organisation is part of a fantastic community of more than 400 foundations and grant-makers from across the UK. Our membership is inclusive and welcomes family trusts, corporate foundations, livery companies, broadcasting appeals and other grantmakers, ranging in size from small and local grant-makers to some of the world’s largest foundations.

Here’s a reminder of what we do and the exclusive benefits you receive as an ACF member:

We support your staff and trustees with research, guidance and information, and offer a wide-ranging programme of events and learning, and policy and advocacy.

Exclusive to members

Connecting and collaborating

• Exclusive access to 14 member-led networks on areas of funding interest or grant-making practice

• Opportunities to get involved with our policy and advocacy work through the Members’ Policy Forum

Learning and events

• Discounted fees for learning and events programme

• Significant discount to attend our Annual Conference – the flagship foundations and trust sector event of the year

Research and resources

• Our digital newsletters and magazine – packed with sector news, member experiences, and key information UK foundations need to know about changes in charity regulation

• Briefings on key policy issues affecting trusts and foundations, such as safeguarding, governance and fraud guidance

• Free copies of our publications and research, which provide vital reference material and summarise current thinking.

MEMBER NETWORKS

ACF networks provide members with an opportunity to connect with colleagues, discuss a variety of topics and share best practice and learning.

Led by members, our networks meet two or three times a year online. All staff in member organisations are welcome to attend, free of charge. You do not have to be subscribed to a network to attend a meeting.

We have 14 networks for different themes and locations. Find out more here: acf.org.uk/member-networks

CONTACT US

If you have any questions about your membership please contact Natasha Robinson, senior membership manager, at nrobinson@acf. org.uk

For a full list of member benefits visit acf.org.uk/about/membership

RECOMMEND US

Do you know a new foundation looking to develop its network in the sector or an organisation keen to expand its knowledge? They can contact us at membership@acf.org. uk to find out more about joining and becoming part of our community.

USE US

As a member of ACF, everyone in your organisation can register to access the members only content on our website. Once registered, you can manage communications, download publications, book events and network with peers.

“We were very pleased to join ACF and a community of funders willing to share, support and learn from each other. The Stronger Foundations initiative has been inspirational. We look forward to meeting face to face with other members over the course of the coming year.”

Sarah Miller, Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation

ACF INVESTMENT SEMINARS

Our twice-yearly investment seminars are there to help you realise the full potential of your investment assets to achieve your charitable objectives. They explore responsible, sustainable and impact driven investment.

Each event features peer learning led by senior foundation practitioners and expert input from our partners – Cazenove, CCLA, Mercer and Ruffer. The first day’s seminar covers the key strategic issues that foundation trustees need to consider before approaching the investment markets, followed by a second day which looks to equip participants to put their endowment strategy into practice. Investment seminars are open to trustees and senior staff at endowed foundations and are suitable for those new to investment or with experience.

These seminars are free for ACF members. Non-member foundations can attend one (£135) or both days (£260) with a special offer for members of the Association of Charitable Organisations (ACO).

Next investment seminar:

17-18 May 2022 in central London, in person

To book, visit: acf.org.uk/investmentseminars

If you have any questions about investment seminars, please contact acf@acf.org.uk

Here’s what previous participants have said about our investment seminars…

“It was thorough and interesting with an excellent group of presenters.”

“The seminars covered a really good range of topics and helped me to understand what I should be focusing on.”

“An added benefit for me was to connect with people from other similar organisations.”

ACF is very grateful to our official partners for hosting the investment seminars and sharing their expertise with our members.

Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF) is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales, company registration number: 5190466.

Registered charity number: 1105412.

Registered office: ACF, Fourth Floor, 28 Commercial Street, London E1 6LS.

Telephone: 020 7255 4499

Email: acf@acf.org.uk

Website: acf.org.uk

Articles in Trust & Foundation News are copyright to the author and ACF. We are happy for them to be reproduced free of charge, but the author and source should be acknowledged. Views expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the ACF.

Editors: Richard Hebditch, Josephine Hunt and Sarah Myers

Designer: Tom Poslett

ACF contributors: Max Rutherford, Joanna Pienkowska and Carol Mack OBE