Inclusive Grantmaking: a look into our Processes
In November 2022, we launched the Climate, Health, and Community Fund, in collaboration with Impact on Urban Health (IoUH). It aimed to support Black and Brown-led organisations working in the climate, environment, and health sphere, with the goal to understand how the communities that these organisations support experience climate action and the consequences of the crisis. You can find out more about the funded organisations here.
In the spirit of Do it Now Now (DiNN)’s heartfelt commitment to continual growth and improvement, below we reflected on the behind-the-scenes processes; what we learned and what gaps we found, sharing our learnings with the grantmaking community and other organisations conducting similar programmes.
Introduction to the fund and DiNN’s approach to grantmaking
The fund provided grants to organisations operating in the London boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth on the frontline of environmental, health and climate problems. These organisations have typically been excluded from mainstream climate conversations. Being that Black and Brown communities are over indexed in evidence around people experiencing poor health outcomes linked to the climate crisis, it is a high priority of both DiNN and IoUH to provide more platforms for financial support as well as amplify the voices of such organisations in being part of developing solutions.
Earlier in the year, we reported on various funding inequalities that are a result of the power imbalance in the traditional models of grantmaking and we are dedicated to rebuilding the systems and changing the narrative to enhance equity, inclusion, and diversity in the grantmaking process. This includes, but is not limited to:
Identifying and acknowledging the barriers that prevent funding equality
Provide the (potential) funded organisations support to navigate the grantmaking process to increase chances of matching funding criteria
Work with independent, first-hand-experience community representatives (assessors and panellists) to democratise the grantmaking approach
Continually learn from all stakeholders throughout the process to find ways to adjust or improve as necessary.
Below we will provide a sample of findings from the full review conducted in June 2023. We hope that our learnings can be utilised by others and help democratise the grantmaking process.
Our mid-way evaluation aimed to:
Understand the value exchange between the potential funded organisations and the delivery team from application to awards stage
Highlight key external challenges organisations face (for securing funding as well as access to information)
Identify capacity issues for the organisations
Explore the pain points identified through all stages of the process.
Registration, sessions, and health checks
The call for potentially funded organisations to register their interest was sent through social channels and newsletters. Most people that registered interest were peer recommended as these areas (Southwark and Lambeth) are close-knit and collaborative communities. In the first month, we ran information sessions to present the aims of the fund, provide clarification and prompt discussions across climate and health within Black and Brown communities. These sessions were well received by the organisations who gave feedback saying that the sessions gave them sufficient details on how to prepare their applications and boosted their confidence in their eligibility for the grant.
We offered several 30 minute 1-2-1 sessions across different times of the day and week, to accommodate for availability. These gave the organisations the opportunity to discuss their applications directly with DiNN. Many expressed that this service was rare in their funding experience, and increased clarity on the process before and beyond application and as such, boosted their confidence. They noted that discussions at the information session and 1-2-1 sessions reassured their sense of belonging and that their voices and lived experiences are invaluable to the aims of the fund.
Health checks were completed with shortlisted organisations to facilitate reflection on their organisational structures and functions. We made a decision to embed this step into our process to ensure that those that did not receive funding also had the opportunity to take something meaningful away from the process. Potentially funded organisations expressed a strong belief that participating in the health check was one of the most beneficial activities as it provided an opportunity to examine different elements of their organisation structure and deepen business understanding. The health checks gave clear insight into aims for strengthening systems, provided a comprehensive framework to enhance the organisation’s operations and assist in re-evaluating their strategies for improved performance.
Challenges to these initial stages included:
The large online groups in the info sessions meant that it was hard for all participants to engage, hence the 1-2-1 sessions suited some much better
Language in the application was found to be, at times, alienating, therefore attention to phrasing and tone should be overseen to mitigate this
Health checks were compulsory and organisations were encouraged to engage in introspection on important issues they may have overlooked, an exercise often neglected but highly beneficial, was a big success.
Assessors, panellists, and grantmakers
Assessment criteria were set out by IoUH and the role of assessors was to assess grant applications using this criteria. The assessors provided written feedback and analysis, and determined conclusions that were submitted to the grant panellists, who made decisions on who would receive funding. The assessment process involved individuals from different sectors within the social impact space, who had experience in grantmaking or applying for funding.
The panellists were a mix of local residents and experts within the climate and health space, predominantly Black or Brown, as well as identifying across other protected characteristics. Convening this group was a unique opportunity to give them the lead on addressing climate and health issues that directly impact their communities, and a subject of which they had lived and learned experience. This shift was seen as positive by the participating organisations, as it prioritised a traditionally sidelined experience, and symbolised a change in narrative.
The role of grant managers provided sense-checks, ensuring that the programme was well structured and that networks were established.
Learnings from the assessors, panellists and grantmakers included:
After the assessment exercise there was no interaction between the assessors and the panellists and this was seen as a missed opportunity by both
Increased communications with updates and learnings along the way, could have been beneficial across the different groups of stakeholders, even if they had no further activity in the process, it would have improved their sense of involvement in the broader project
Differing opinions arose during panel deliberation as a result of understanding the funding criteria and ambiguity/lack of clarity in their interpretation
Training and guidelines for assessors would have avoided protracted work for the panellists’ understanding of the funding criteria
The same standard approach did not work for all of the organisations. We remained agile and adapted to a personalised approach once it was apparent that a blanket approach did not suit the needs of most organisations.
Conclusions and our learnings
Undergoing this reflection has been enormously beneficial to providing insights that allow us to improve effectiveness of programmes like this and how they are best run to enhance equity, diversity and inclusion. DiNN’s grantmaking approach for the Climate, Health, and Community Fund took strides to centralise a democratic process grown from the facilitation of learning and adjusting as the programme progressed.
Communication is key; continually keeping all participants in the grantmaking process involved and informed, by providing wording for the application, criteria, guidelines, and timeline that is concise and without ambiguity, as well as inclusive language and tone. This boosts the sense of co-ownership in the process regardless of previous experience or knowledge. It is also necessary to build a strong common language around issues relating to climate as well as examples of work that can be done by organisations to be more involved. Watch this space for more information on the funded organisations.
Earlier engagement with all participants across the grantmaking process would support the group to establish an agreed vision, way of working, and expectations. Including potential funded organisations in the design of the grantmaking process would introduce democracy from an even earlier point in the process. It would also highlight roles and responsibilities and encourage collaboration. Changes to processes and steps should be minimised once the programme has launched, and changes that are made need to be relayed across to all.
Overall, the process was community driven, and maintained strong participation from the DiNN staff who were available to support all stakeholders. Blanket approaches do not work. Organisations, like individuals, require time and resources on a case-by-case basis, with an awareness that what makes them unique is also the value they provide in their impact.
Please note, the above article is a sample of the full review and includes the most important aspects that we wanted to share. Introspection in the review stage of our programmes means that we can achieve our goals to perform to our best abilities and serve our participants, funded organisations, experts, partners, and team, nourishing a collaborative spirit that is built on insight and growth. Organisations like ours are not often given the support needed to undertake reviews, to learn from mistakes and evolve systems based on experience and with organisational sustainability as a goal that outlives individual programmes.
To learn more about our work, our thoughts, and our commitment to our community, sign up to our newsletters.
