Participatory grant-making: Giving communities a voice

Philanthropy is a powerful thing.

Yet there’s an innate power imbalance at the heart of it.

As Kirsty Gannon explains in a Fluxx blog post, ‘one of the biggest challenges of the traditional grant-making model is the power imbalance between funders and grantees. Funders hold the purse strings, and grantees have to cater to funders’ priorities and preferences rather than pursue their mission and vision.”

She argues that this ‘top-down’ approach limits the autonomy and creativity of grantees, hindering their ability to respond to the needs of the communities they serve.

To address the imbalance, a small but growing group of funders are taking a participatory approach to grant-making.

Before we go any further, let’s look at a definition.

What is participatory grant-making?

Learning for Funders describes it as “the practice of ceding decision-making power about funding – including the strategy and criteria behind those decisions – to the very communities that funders aim to serve.”

A collaborative approach, it sees community members with lived experience design and drive funding programmes.

They help set the funding criteria, decide how resources are allocated, and evaluate the success of the programmes.

Proponents of the approach say it leads to better funding outcomes, as funders are able to better align their grant-making with the needs of local communities.

Participatory grant-making in action

That’s participatory grant-making in a nutshell. But what does it look like?

Let’s look at Camden Giving; an independent charity working to end local poverty and inequality in Camden.

It was set up in 2017 as a participatory funder because it believes ‘the people who are surviving inequality are the people who can, and should, fund the solutions to the challenges facing communities in Camden.’

Each year, the charity recruits 50 people with first-hand experience of inequality to decide how grants are awarded.

They’re split into teams of 8-12 people to form grant-making panels.

The panels set the funding priorities, review applications, visit grantees, and decide who receives the funding.

Since launching, the charity has awarded over £6 million, with the help of 200 people with lived experience of the issues it addresses.

And, having tested the model for seven years, the charity is a staunch advocate of the model.

“We know that participatory grant-making leads to better outcomes for individuals, communities, and civil society than traditional grant-making. We know that funders and policymakers benefit from being informed by the deep knowledge and experiences of citizens that traditional grant-making struggles to capture. This ultimately means that funding goes to places where it is most helpful. It also builds power, connectivity, and networks for individuals and communities.”

Radical shift

Participatory grant-making may be a radical shift in the way institutional philanthropy operates, but its time may have come.

After all, the challenges we’re facing today, from climate change to poverty, are so vast and complex, they require new ways of working for grantmakers to have an impact.

This means shaking off traditional models and working with the communities most impacted.

But, as Dennis van Wanrooij says in a Grantcraft report, “employing it effectively requires funders to let go. Participation is not just about making funding decisions. It’s about rethinking your role as a funder and seeking community participation in all layers of your work.

True participation is about supporting, learning from, and partnering with grantees.”

Looking for a savvy trust fundraiser? Give us a call on 020 3750 3111 or email us at info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to get the ball rolling.