LandAid is one of over 90 funders who have signed up to eight commitments and joined a community of practice with other funders and charities to improve practice together.
The ambition of IVAR and London Funders is to see these commitments extend beyond the COVID-19 crisis: to become standard practice in the sector.
The eight commitments are:
- Don’t waste time – funders will be open, transparent and clear about all of their priorities, requirements and exclusions.
- Ask relevant questions – funders will test their application forms to ensure clarity, relevance and avoid repetition, only collecting information that genuinely informs a funding decision.
- Accept risk – funders will clearly explain how risk is assessed and be realistic about how much assurance applicants can provide.
- Act with urgency – funders will aim to make decisions as quickly as possible by publishing and sticking to timeframes to ensure they work at a pace that meets the needs of applicants.
- Be open – funders will provide feedback, including reasons for rejections. They will analyse and share relevant data, including publishing success rates.
- Enable flexibility – funders will aim to give unrestricted funding; where they can’t (or are a specialist funder), they will ensure their funding is as flexible as possible.
- Communicate with purpose – a funders contact is positive and purposeful. They will be realistic about their time commitments.
- Be proportionate – funders will ensure that their formal reporting requirements are well understood, proportionate and meaningful.
To see who else has signed up and read more about these eight commitments, visit IVAR’s website: www.ivar.org.uk/flexible-funders.
You can also join the conversation on Twitter using #FlexibleFunders.
Read more about LandAid’s grantmaking programme here.