Asif Afridi, Barrow Cadbury Trust Chief Executive, sets out how we are approaching our regular strategic review.
This month, we are beginning a regular, five-year strategic review of our work.
It comes at a challenging time for many charities. Against a background of economic insecurity, rising inequalities and social division, we know that sometimes this work feels harder than ever and that real, deep change can take time. Many are looking to foundations to meet this moment by speeding up the flow of resources and engaging more directly with those most affected by inequality and injustice.
This raises important questions for us as a Trust committed to social justice. How can we best contribute to a landscape that looks very different from five years ago? Are we making the most of the strengths and the resources we have at our disposal? Where can we have the greatest impact alongside others? And what needs to change in the way we work if we are to respond effectively to the realities of today?
As we renew our commitment to our mission, our goal is to ensure we are focused on where we can make the biggest impact in the years ahead.
The question that will guide this work is simple: what is ours to do?
Our mission
Our founders, Barrow and Geraldine Cadbury, took a long-term view when they first established the Trust, more than 100 years ago. They recognised that the causes of poverty and inequality run deep and that lasting progress relies on the efforts of many people working together, with patience and persistence, on issues that may take generations to shift.
The Trust’s mission today reflects that long-term commitment: to use all of our assets, especially our money, to work with others to bring about structural change for a more just and equal society.
Across our work, we remain committed to addressing the structural causes of inequality and social injustice.
What we’ll be reviewing
A strategic review means thinking carefully about where the Trust is uniquely placed to make a difference in line with our mission. We know we can’t do everything, and we know there are other funders and organisations with different strengths, and often much deeper pockets than ours.
Over the coming year, we’ll be taking a fresh look at the work we fund across our main programme areas: criminal justice, migration and economic justice. We’ll also be looking at how we work with partners, how we approach grant-making, and the role of our wider social investment activity.
This isn’t just a review of programmes. It’s also a chance to think about how we operate, how we collaborate and learn with others, and how we can best support efforts to tackle inequality in the current context.
Alongside this, we’ll be drawing on learning from recent work, including our criminal justice programme and Economic Justice Brum. We’ll also be taking a deeper look at areas such as migration and social investment to understand what our experience so far tells us about where we should focus in future.
We want to hear from you
This strategy process will only be as good as the conversations we have. It will require us to listen well – including listening to voices we might not regularly hear.
Between now and September, we’ll be talking to current and former funded partners, and a wider range of stakeholders through roundtables, a survey and ongoing conversations. We want to know what we’re doing well, where we could do more, and where we should perhaps do things differently.
We will be reaching out directly to many of our existing funded partners—and encourage you to contact us if you have any questions or thoughts you would like to share.
We are also keen to hear from those who may not have worked with us recently, or at all, but who have a view on what is most needed at this moment from funders like us.
Our survey is now open. We’d be very grateful if you could spare a few minutes to share your thoughts.
We also recognise that these conversations don’t happen on a level playing field. Funders often ask organisations for feedback while holding resources that are important to them. We want to acknowledge that reality and we will do our best to create spaces where people feel able to be open, honest and candid.
What happens next?
This engagement phase will run until Autumn.
We’ll then spend Winter developing and testing different strategic options, including sharing emerging ideas with some of those who contributed to the process. Our aim is to publish a new strategy around the middle of 2027.
A final word
I know that whenever a funder talks about reviewing its strategy, people can understandably wonder what it means for existing priorities and partnerships, as well as the flow of money to the sector.
So let me offer some reassurance.
We’re committed to continuing our work throughout this process. The fact that we work on a long-term basis with many of our partners means that funds are largely committed for the year ahead, although we remain open to enquiries through Economic Justice Brum. We are not pressing pause while we undertake the review.
We’re also committed to being open about what we’re learning and how decisions are being made. If changes emerge from the process, we’ll communicate them clearly and create opportunities for people to give feedback along the way.
At the end of the day, this review is about making sure we are using the resources and influence we have in the best way we can. We welcome practical and critical feedback. We know we don’t have all the answers, which is exactly why we’re starting by listening.
Let us know what you think
We would really appreciate it if you could take our survey to let us know what you think.
In the UK, the voluntary sector plays a vital role in providing services, supporting those most at risk of engagement in the criminal justice system, campaigning for policy reform, informing the media and influencing public debate.
The sector is diverse but, due to historic underfunding, organisations run by and for people from Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic groups tend to be smaller and find it harder to achieve critical mass and sustainability.
Informal conversations between independent trusts and foundations and organisations run by and for people from Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic backgrounds concluded that investing in leadership development could be transformative and contribute to positive social change for people in the criminal justice system and wider society.
Barrow Cadbury Trust and Lloyds Bank Foundation now wish to commission an organisation (or a partnership) to design and deliver the pilot programme over two years to support Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic leaders.
About the Community Leadership Development Programme
What is the primary objective of the programme?
The overarching objective of the programme is to challenge and change the criminal justice system, from policy through to service design and delivery. To do this a stronger and more experienced specialist sector should be empowered and enfranchised to promote radical change and advocate for new approaches. The programme should be a unique leadership development programme tailored to Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic leaders working in criminal justice.
The pilot programme will have four core elements:
- wellbeing;
- networking;
- policy development and influencing; and
- organisational development.
The aim is to increase the resilience and capabilities of current leaders, supporting them to lead social change.
What sort of knowledge and expertise is needed?
We expect the provider to be, or work in partnership with, an organisation which is led by people from Black, Asian or minoritised ethnic communities, and have knowledge of the policy context for criminal justice charities and leadership development for charities. The provider/partnership should have clear demonstrable experience of delivering work in line with the programme design brief.
Will the programme be monitored and evaluated?
Over the course of the programme the provider will be expected to capture learning and feedback. The provider will be expected to design and implement a robust monitoring and outcome evaluation framework as part of the programme delivery model. The Barrow Cadbury Trust and Lloyds Bank Foundation are considering an external evaluation this which will be funded separately.
How much budget is available?
The Barrow Cadbury Trust and Lloyds Bank Foundation have a budget of up to £200K for this programme.
What is the Application Process?
This is a two stage application process. The deadline for the first stage is 5pm 27 March, with the preferred supplier appointed at the end of June.
Download a copy of the full programme design brief
Download a copy of the bidder profile form
On 10 February 2021, the first grantmakers signed up to IVAR’s eight commitments to funding charities in an open and trusting way. One year on, over 100 trusts and foundations are working actively with each other and with charities to make these commitments a reality.
Looking back, we are struck by six imperatives that shape this work and will help drive it forward in 2022 and beyond.
- Change is urgent
COVID-19 has been a wake-up call on funding practice. Its key challenges to funders – relieving pressure on charities; freeing them to respond flexibly to the evolving needs of the communities and causes they serve; and facing up to biases and assumptions that perpetuate entrenched injustice and inequity – long predate the pandemic. But events of 2020 – the first COVID-19 lockdown and the murder of George Floyd – showed that communities’ needs are evolving; and funders’ responses demonstrated that change is possible. The time for a simpler, more respectful, and more inclusive philanthropy is now. We all need to play our part in building greater momentum.
- Charities must be the judge of progress
A strong, diverse charity voice is critical to this effort – but hard to achieve. Power dynamics mean charities are wary of giving robust feedback to funders. And too often new rhetoric makes little or no difference to what funders do in practice. With extreme pressure on capacity and widespread cynicism about the influence they have, many charities see no point in engaging. We will all benefit from broader and deeper conversations between the charity sector and the funding sector. But only if these conversations lead to visible and meaningful change.
- Confident practice comes from deep roots
Even small changes in practice by grantmakers – a more streamlined application form, the opportunity to pick up the phone and ask a question, quick replies to emails – make a real difference to charities. But open, trusting and respectful practice cannot flourish unless it mirrors and is supported by organisational culture, structure and leadership. In a busy foundation, it can be hard to step back and scrutinise – at all levels – how well-established assumptions and ways of working are supporting the commitment to be more open and trusting. But this is an essential step in achieving the best possible alignment between ‘how we do things’ and ‘what we are trying to achieve’.
- ‘Making our thinking visible’ is a powerful mechanism for change
Thinking out loud with each other provides an opportunity for people to offer alternative perspectives or identify the powerful questions that enable action. By working together, sharing ideas, difficulties and experiences in a spirit of positive challenge, we are all encouraged to act, learn and do better next time.
- Acting like a partner, not an auditor
Open and trusting grant-making calls for a new mindset – one that starts from the assumption that charities know their own business, and will make informed judgements about how to adapt and adjust as things change. They can be trusted to be thoughtful and reflective, to know what ‘success’ looks like, to collect useful data, and to share it as part of their own commitment to improve the quality of what they do. A trusting relationship is ultimately about shifting power, not shifting paperwork. And the single most powerful thing funders can do to be more trusting is to give charities greater control over their own spending and reporting through unrestricted or highly flexible grants.
- Making good progress means ‘starting from where we are’
Independent grantmakers are far from uniform in their scope, size, interests, priorities and governance. They face different opportunities and constraints. Being more open and trusting does not look the same everywhere – one size does not fit all. But, together, we are uncovering the principles that frame an open and trusting approach, enabling funders of all kinds to start from where they are and take positive steps to improve.
Now is the moment for transformative change in UK grant-making. To achieve this, funders, charities and their learning partners will all need to be persistent, determined and in it for the long term.
IVAR Trustees and staff are committed to supporting this momentum for change. Please join our Open and Trusting grant-making community by signing up to through our webpage or getting in touch. Charities can hold funders to account by signing up here.
With thanks to Shaady Salehi at Trust-based Philanthropy and to our community of open and trusting grantmakers for helping to inform and develop our thinking over the last year.
This blog is cross-posted from the IVAR website.