Oxfordshire Community Foundation (OCF) has signed up to the Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR) Open and Trusting grant-making commitment, marking the latest step as it strives towards being a gold-standard grant-maker.
Bringing together funders from across the UK, the initiative encourages more accessible and effective grant-making. For OCF, this builds on work already in place to strengthen its grant-making approach and ensure funding processes work better for applicants.
IVAR developed the framework as part of its work to strengthen communities through research, learning and practical support for charities, foundations and public agencies. Over the past decade, IVAR has played a leading role in encouraging more open, flexible and effective approaches to funding.
Open and Trusting grant-making commitments
At the heart of the initiative are eight commitments that encourage funders to reduce unnecessary barriers and build stronger relationships with the organisations they support. By signing up, we are committing to:
- Don’t waste time – explaining funding priorities clearly and being transparent about requirements and exclusions
- Ask relevant questions – only collecting information needed to make funding decisions
- Accept risk – taking a realistic approach to risk and being clear about how it is assessed
- Act with urgency – working at a pace that meets the needs of applicants
- Be open – providing feedback and being transparent about decision-making
- Be flexible – enabling organisations to respond to changing needs
- Communicate with purpose – ensuring communication is clear and meaningful
- Be proportionate – keeping reporting requirements light-touch and appropriate
Importantly, many of these principles are already embedded in OCF’s approach to grant-making, making this a natural next step. We also recognise that how funding is delivered can be just as important as the funding itself. By keeping processes proportionate and encouraging open dialogue, funders can help organisations spend less time on administration and more time helping local people.
Daisy Ryan, Head of Grants and Inclusion at Oxfordshire Community Foundation, said:
“Trust is at the heart of good grant-making. We want charities and community groups to feel that our processes support them in their work, rather than add to the pressures they already face.
Many of the principles within the Open and Trusting grant-making commitment already underpin our approach. By signing up, we are making a public commitment to keep listening to the organisations we fund and to keep looking at how we can make our processes simpler and more effective.”
As Oxfordshire continues to grow, we are committed to ensuring that funding helps build a stronger, fairer and more resilient grassroots charitable sector. Signing the Open and Trusting grant-making commitment marks an important milestone in that journey and reinforces our long-term commitment to supporting organisations that are making a difference every day across the county.