New Training Alert!

We’ve developed some new training for anyone setting up a brand new grantmaking organisation, whether private, public or corporate. It is focused on how to get the basics right, how to avoid making early choices that will cause problems later, and how to make sure that a new funder is truly aligned with Modern Grantmaking values and principles. To express interest in this training, drop us a line here. 


The illuminating perspectives of grant-makers turned grant-seekers 

It is not unusual for people who have done grant-seeking work in charities and nonprofits to end up as grant-makers in funding organisations. Moving from grant-seeking to grant-making is quite a common career trajectory, and one we think is very healthy. It’s great when funders employ people who know what it is like to be a grant-seeker in the domains those organisations seek to support. 

But it is far more rare and unusual for people who have done the job of giving out money to change into jobs which involve getting hold of money instead. Apart from anything else, grant-making jobs are often both more financially secure and better paid than jobs that involve fund-raising, so the temptation to stick on the grant-maker side of the table is huge.

But it does happen: some people do leave grant-making jobs and end up back on the other side of the funding table, asking for money instead of giving it out.

The most common motivation for such a career shift is normally that working for a funder just doesn’t scratch the itch that some people feel to get really stuck deep into the detail of solving problems. Being a funder can sometimes feel a bit too far away from the real work of making the world a better place. And, of course, sometimes people leave funders because they can be frustrating places to work, and they just want a change of working environment.

Whatever the reason, a small number of ex-grantmakers do end up in roles that are partly or entirely about grant-seeking. And these people have fascinating perspectives because they sometimes come to realise what they could or should have done different when they were giving out the money.

So this week we thought we’d share a few learnings supplied to us by five grant-makers turned grant-seekers working in the UK and the US. We’re quoting these anonymously, so a big huge thanks to the contributors - we are super grateful for your reflections.

So, what did they say?

In their own words

“I wish we had been encouraged to get to know our grantees, form long-term relationships with them, and place earned trust in them -- and then get out of the way.“

“Don't think you're any busier than practitioners in the field. Funders need to answer their emails promptly and respectfully, even if it's just an acknowledgement or a no!”

“I wish I had stood up to senior leadership more on behalf of grantees, they really didn’t understand the pressures of charities and had a very ‘if they want the money they will do what we want’ and this was a damaging way of thinking for the sector, forcing a power dynamic that results in a lack of trust and truthful feedback.”

“Looking back, I see obvious areas which clearly deserve more philanthropic funding and attention. It's maddening that philanthropy is MIA when it comes to public interest media which is central to survival of democracy. It's also puzzling that individual campaigners are underfunded given their ability to shape conversations and drive change.”

“I wish I had not been captured by the navel-gazing internal logic of the philanthropic organization I worked for, and had -- instead of trying to meet the implicit goals prioritized in that environment --  just focused on doing anything I could to support grantees and get them as much money as possible as quickly as possible.”

“I wish I didn’t get sucked into using the grantmaker jargon when working for a funder, it's easy to play inside baseball but talk like a real human.”

“I also wish that the narrative (pervasive at the philanthropic organisation I worked at) that the program officers were very much protagonists and critical actors had been more actively challenged.”

“I wish I'd had more insight into how university bureaucracy and nonprofit work, especially for action-oriented research, interact. The bureaucratic directives of universities have a pretty large effect on the kinds of projects and people that can do their best from a university placement, and I wish I'd had some insights earlier to try to make those work better.”

“Talk to other funders about potential changes in strategy, before you make them. There is so little coordination on strategic vision and planning between grant-making institutions (whereas coordination happens quite frequently and often effectively on implementation).“

“General operating support is great and in most cases should be considered the gold standard. But funders can do more to support both organizational sustainability and safety. For example, organizational leaders are often reluctant to spend valuable funding on their own development as leaders, yet that development is critical for organizational success, as so many leaders burn out or fail to manage growing organizations”

“I wish I had had the confidence to push for more field-building money to convene grantees and support them in non-programmatic-funding way.”


Are you a grant-maker turned grant-seeker? Got any "I wish I had known..." thoughts you'd like to share? Get in touch.


Latest Reading - Modern Grantmaking recommends 

• Big news in the world of US philanthropy! Ford Foundation President Darren Walker to depart in 2025. Walker has been at Ford for a decade and oversaw the evolution of its mission to focus more on inequality and social justice. The search for a new President of one of the US’s largest foundations begins…
• And big news in the world of UK philanthropy! Halima Khan has been apponted as Chief Executive of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
• The Crappy Funding Practices LinkedIn group now has over 20,000 followers. It’s filled with funny and frank exposes of absurd processes and is a healthy counterweight to the tendency to load ever more onto the shoulders of grantees. 
• Global Fund for Children has published a new resource, Trust in Action: The Bridge Between Grantmakers and the Grassroots. It provides community-based organisations with the language and framework to advocate for trust-based partnerships. Formulated in solidarity with the growing movement to shift power in philanthropy and global development, it’s a call to action for funders and International Development Organisations to embrace a more equitable approach.
• Reos Partners, Impact on Urban Health, and The Ubele Initiative hosted a webinar to share insights from the ‘Black Systemic Safety Fund’, a social lab process that implemented a unique approach to participatory grantmaking in Black communities in the UK. Watch the webinar here. 
• The Association for Charitable Foundations in the UK recently launched new guidance for foundations exploring their wealth origins for connections with the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans. You can access this new ‘origins of wealth’ toolkit here.  
• Finally, the Australian Government’s Productivity Commission has produced a final Inquiry Report, Future Foundations for Giving. This report provides findings and recommendations about how to grow philanthropy across Australia in future. 
  

How about a new job or trustee role in grantmaking?

• Trust for London (UK) is hiring for Grants manager - social security lead. £57,418 per annum (pro-rata for part time). Deadline is 12 August 2024.
• The Tudor Trust (UK) is hiring for a Head of Finance & Operations. £70k per year. Deadline is 3pm, Wednesday 14 August 2024.
• Founders Pledge is hiring for a Grants & Monitoring Officer. £30-£35k per year (remote, UK). No deadline provided. 
• The AIM Foundation (UK) is searching for new trustees. Positions are voluntary. Deadline is 5pm on Friday 16 August 2024. 
• The Robertson Trust (UK) is looking for a new Chair. Voluntary position. Deadline is 18 August. 

Want to see your job ad in next month’s newsletter? Ping us, it’s free! Just… #ShowTheSalary

Grantmaking 'joke' of the month

What's more suspicious than a three pound coin?

The "Total people reached" section of a funder's annual report.


Got any terrible or actually funny grantmaking jokes to share?......tell us. 


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Who are we?

Gemma Bull and Tom Steinberg run Modern Grantmaking, and we write this newsletter. We do consulting and training exclusively for funders, and wrote a book on how to be a modern grantmaker, too.