The perfect post-Tory storm of high inflation, a cost-of-living crisis and a crumbling NHS has put more pressure on charity services and has thrust funders and funding practices back into the spotlight, especially as so many are pausing grantmaking.

So why is this happening and what does it mean longer term? Funders are saying that they are pausing funding because of the sudden and prolonged surge in applications. They are pausing to review how they allocate grants, to focus on equity, diversity and inclusion practices, address power imbalances and revisit criteria. Funders are also saying that they are getting swamped by applications that are scattergun in nature – unfocused, not providing relevant information and not meeting criteria.

This leads to an insurmountable amount of processing for which funders say they haven’t got the resources to handle.

Fundraisers for their part are telling me they are desperate and that they are being let down by funders just when charities need them the most. Surely the rise in demand was not unforeseeable given the economic and social quagmire that the UK has been floundering around in over recent years. Why don’t those gatekeepers with healthy endowments have the resources to cope better with the processes they created in the first place? Why don’t they hire more people? Why does it take upward of 18 months to redefine funding practices? All the time with funding paused.

During Covid, criteria was relaxed, unrestricted funding became more common, and grants were hitting charity bank accounts more speedily. Many fundraisers are questioning why funders are unable to view the challenges post-pandemic with the same urgency, despite the need being as great, if not greater.

Reviewing funding practices is something the fundraising sector has been urging for eons. So, in the long run, if it does lead to a more equitable, simplified funding system, with fewer hoops for fundraisers to jump through, then it’s got to be a good thing. Let’s just hope there are enough charities left at the end of it to benefit from reform.

@stevejcotterill is the editor of Fundraising Magazine 

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