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Sector Pulse - Power and Trust in UK Grantmaking
1.
About the survey and the Grant Givers' Movement
This is a Sector Pulse survey, run by the Grant Givers' Movement. It is an investigation into:
1. What grant-making staff think about the power balance between grant-makers and their grantees;
2. The level of trust that exists in both external grantee relationships and within grant giving organisations.
It is an opportunity to share your opinion and be part of a strong collective voice and response to this topical issue.
Who we want to fill in the survey
The survey is aimed at people who work in grant-making roles in the UK. We welcome input from grants officers, grants managers and indeed all grant-making staff including CEOs and Trustees.
This is not meant to be a scientific survey of all those connected to the sector, but rather an opportunity to take the pulse of and give voice to those who are committed to working towards its improvement.
Definitions
Grant-makers
We use the terms 'trust, foundation, funder and grant-maker' interchangeably. For the purposes of this survey these terms refer to organisations which make grants either to individuals or other organisations, usually charities.
Power and Trust
We understand that power and trust may be viewed as abstract concepts but they are very real notions that we encounter every day. When we talk about power in the context of grant-making this is essentially the power held over resources and the decisions on where to allocate these resources.
Trust is connected to this and refers not only to the relationship between grantees/service-users and grant-makers but also the trust mechanisms within grant-makers themselves.
Lived Experience
When we refer to ‘Experts by Experience’ or ‘Lived Experience’ we mean a representation of the experiences of a given person, and the knowledge they gain from these experiences. For example a person may have studied criminology, but this learned knowledge differs from the knowledge gained by someone who has experienced incarceration.
What’s Next
The information gathered from the survey will help to inform a report on Power and Trust that'll be available to everyone and shared with foundation executives, throughout philanthropic networks and with wider stakeholders. The aim is to inform and influence our own practice, collaborate with others to push for change and gain a better understanding of areas where we could make an impact.
We plan to hold consultations with the staff of operational charities to find out whether the views of survey respondents correlate with their own.
The Grant Givers’ Movement aims to provide a platform for people working in grant-making who share values of transparency and self-improvement, and who want to see the sector reduce power imbalances rather than perpetuate them.
