In a world rife with systemic inequalities, key aspects of societal structure demand re-evaluation and reconstruction. One such critical area is the grant funding environment, which plays a pivotal role in sustaining organisations dedicated to social justice, particularly within the women's sector.

Delving into the intricacies of grant funding, we uncover a landscape marred by competitiveness and short-sightedness. The urgency to secure funding often leads to organisations operating on precarious financial footing, unable to plan beyond the immediate future. This predicament not only stifles growth but perpetuates cycles of insecurity within the sector.

In this blog, CEO Vivienne Hayes dissects the underlying issues plaguing grant funding, from the scarcity of core or unrestricted funding to the limitations imposed by outdated procurement processes. Vivienne sheds light on the detrimental effects of these practices and proposes actionable steps toward meaningful change.

---

What can be done to influence the grants and foundation sector to shift grant funding towards longer-term commitments?

The grant funding environment has plunged the sector into a constant state of competitiveness. There are significant things that independent trusts and foundations could do to lead the way in transforming how the women's sector is funded.

The first thing they can do is name us in their criteria, please! The second thing they can do is apply full cost recovery that we have been talking about for decades, and still, we are limited by a percentage. Ten per cent if you are lucky, occasionally 15, even rarer 20.

The other thing we have been asking for decades is core or unrestricted funding. I was fortunate enough to be part of what was called the Equity Partners to London Funders around emergency funding. We made some great inroads. More ‘led by and for’ equalities organisations were funded, including women's organisations and Black women's organisations. However, only a handful of funders were interested in giving core or unrestricted grants. That is a massive problem.

Would you expect anybody to run an organisation based upon only being able to do one or three-year projections on your budget and finances? Nobody would suggest that was an effective way to run anything, and yet we are supposed to be able to do that, again keeping women working in the sector in poverty and insecure employment. The knowledge and expertise drain from the sector is another issue, so we are constantly retraining. Spending more money that we don't have and losing the historical knowledge that has been built up over decades with an iterative dynamic, dialectical relationship with the women working in the organisations and the women using the services.

That is how we develop; we lose that when we have to say goodbye to women. Most women do not earn a lot of money in the sector already. We are on low wages comparatively. We do it because we are warrior women who want a revolution. But we still must eat, we still have to pay our rent, we still have to bring our children up, look after our parents or perform all the other caring responsibilities that fall upon us. So that would be my plea: to fund us. The biggest thing you can do is full cost recovery and core unrestricted funding. And can you tell me why you do not want to offer core funding? Because the message we get is that you do not trust us. 

The current public procurement and competitive commissioning processes are not actual value for money. It is money thrown down the drain because it is all too often given to generic non-expert organisations who do not have a human rights-based approach, who do not care about women's liberation or rights, and so what are you achieving in the long term? Also, we know in terms of social return on investment that studies show women's organisations deliver at least five times the amount that they are given. As a sector, we are excellent value for money. It has got nothing to do with that.

We are conned into believing, ‘Oh, there's not enough money. There is only this bit of money, that bit of money. What are we going to do? How are we going to share it?’ This is untrue. We are one of the richest countries in the world. There is lots and lots of money! The problem is the political will to put it where it needs to go, not the lack of money.

One of the things I would like to see from the trusts and foundations is them engaging with umbrella bodies and paying us for our support and intelligence to improve their practices. Because there are lots of things that could be done quite simply, and we are here ready to help them.

Vivienne Hayes, CEO
Women’s Resource Centre

---

Sign our petition calling for a National Women's Fund demanding that community-based organisations are funded to do their life-saving work.