Enhancing Grant-making to the LGBT+ Community & Voluntary - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Enhancing Grant-making to the LGBT+ Community & Voluntary Sector

Introducing ourselves

• Heather Salmon, Funding Officer, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
• Joanne Raw, Funding Manager, National Lottery Community

Fund

• Paul Roberts, Consortium
• Maria Antoniou, Consortium
• Your name, role & organisation?

Background

• The LGBT Funding Project supported by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation & National Lottery

Fund

• To explore potential for a sector-wide funding model “how can we increase, enhance

and sustain income to the LGBT+ sector?” and support LGBT+ groups to fundraise 1) Consultation with

• LGBT+ groups
• LGBT+ donors
• Grant-makers
• Other stakeholders

2) Plus mapping existing models, feasibility of models, business planning… One of the models is an online giving / fundraising platform 3) Report to Consortium Trustees in April 4) Advisory Group to help develop chosen model and decide on Consortium’s role 5) Implementation & launch of model (future funding…)

Background

The grant-makers’ perspectives…

Today’s Roundtable Session

• Aims:
• Share info & experiences of the LGBT+ sector

community sector (questions encouraged)

• Discuss ways of making LGBT+ community
• rganisations stronger and more sustainable
• Consider ways of increasing or enhancing support to the

sector, including collaborative approaches

About Consortium

• Infrastructure and Membership organisation
• UK’s largest network of LGBT+ groups, projects &
• rganisations with 325 Members and growing…
• Infrastructure support 1-2-1, training, resources, networks
• Advocating & advising – Government LGBT+ Working Group
• Grant-making – new LGBT+ Futures fund
• Annual Insight survey – ‘state of the sector’ over last 5 years

The LGBT+ Sector in the UK

• 325 Members – Estimated 3,000+ LGBT+ groups in UK
• Benefitting 4.5 million people – LGBT+ people, their friends & families (2018

Insight report)

• Support, sports, youth, campaigning, older people, professional networks, arts,

meetups…

• 45 Trans groups in our Trans Organisations Network (400+ in UK, Tranzwiki)
• 110 Members in London = 1/5 of LGBT+ groups in London
• Number of ‘out’ LGBT+ people in the UK is increasing, but figures conflicting:
• ONS, 2016: 1 million / 2 % of population is LGB (including 4.1% of 16-24 yr olds);

euroClinix, 2018: 9 million / 13 % of population is LGB (24% of 18-24 year olds)

• (‘Out’) Trans & gender non-conforming people = a rapidly growing population
• GEO 2018: Up to 500k Trans people. ONS to include gender identity in 2021

census

Funding the sector

• Gradual increase in funding for LGBT+ causes globally, but also fluctuations
• 1980s AIDS pandemic – funding for LGBT+ (MSM) projects in global North
• 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando
• Funders for LGBTQ Issues, 2018: 0.17% of foundation funding globally (in practice the

global North), and 0.04% of government funding currently goes to LGBT issues

• GrantNav, UK context, analysis of data to July 2018:
• 41% of funders have funded LGBT+ projects; grants to LGBT+ projects
• 0.2% of total grants awarded were to LGBT+ projects
• Largest proportion (39%) of LGBT+ grants = £5-10k (89% of these from National

Lottery Community Fund – largest funder on the site giving 66% of all grants)

• Over last 10 years, giving to LGBT causes has risen but also fluctuated. 2008, 14

grants listed. Jan - Jul 2018 = 55 grants. 2016 peaked at 101 grants, fell to 88 in 2017

• Regional variations: Highest number of grants: 17% of grants went to North West;

15% to London; 10% to Scotland.

• Lowest number of grants: South Central (1.5%), Northern Ireland (1.5%), East of

England (2%).

Insight survey: Group income?

Insight survey: Main income source?

NB: Small & medium sized groups are closer to their communities, so have a higher % of individual giving than larger orgs. 18% of participants had successfully run crowdfunding campaigns.

Biggest challenge re. grants

10 20 30 40 50 60 We do not apply for any grant funding. The time it takes to write a funding bid Having to educate funders in LGBT issues and terminology Finding appropriate funding Costing out work and projects Complicated application processes A lack of reliable evidence and statistics A lack of in-house fundraising skills Other - Please tell us Percent

Reasons for being turned down

Key challenges of LGBT+ groups

Small groups with same challenges as all small groups…

• Capacity & skills – particularly if volunteer-run
• High demand on services
• Covering core costs
• Funding projects and services
• Sustainability
• Good governance
• Recruiting trustees & other volunteers
• Concerns about Brexit & funding cuts

Key challenges of LGBT+ groups

BUT also…

• LGBT+ people continue to face discrimination in all spheres
• f life
• Leads to…
• LGBT+ groups reluctant to approach funders
• Reluctance to make themselves visible and vulnerable
• Find themselves ‘educating’ funders about needs
• Some geographically concentrated, but largely

dispersed across UK. So, disadvantaged in place-based funding initiatives.

Focus groups with 44 LGBT+ groups

• Asking about their fundraising and consulting on possible solutions
• Trans groups: Mainly small, volunteer-run: ‘How do I ask for money?, ‘Where do we

start’? ‘How do you open a dialogue with a potential funder?’, ‘How do we find funds?’

• LGBT+ groups of various sizes:

“We [as a sector] rely on the same 4-5 funders that we know fund LGBT groups.” “Their [funders’] priorities often don’t match the work we see a need for in LGBT communities” “We need longer-term funding as our communities are harder to reach and ‘recruit’ to projects” “We take risks and develop innovative projects. We need funders to take a risk by funding us.”

Howe & Frazer, ‘Strength in Numbers’ 2018

• Europe-wide study, for ILGA
• LGBT+ organisations’ sustainability and resiliency is challenged by a lack of

paid staff and lack of long-term and flexible funding

• LGBT+ organisations undertake many activities, but the activities that are

most likely to be fully funded do not align with activities they identify as priorities (most funded = HIV prevention, documenting human rights violations, legal work around LGBT+ rights),

• LGBT+ organisations perceive that funding opportunities do not match their

priorities (priorities = community organising e.g. campaigns against anti- LGBT+ policies, LGBT+ media, social services for LGBT+ people)

• Organisations that focus on a subset of LGBT+ people are more likely to

have smaller budgets and fewer paid staff e.g. trans, BAME, faith, older…

Discussion…

• In small groups of 3-4 consider:

1) What are your impressions, insights or experiences of the LGBT+ sector? e.g. groups you’ve funded, impressions of the material presented… 2) What’s the key question / challenge for your

• rganisation re. funding LGBT+ groups?

3) How can current funders of LGBT+ work help other grant-makers to get on board?

Write on post-it notes & then share your answers in your group.

What can we do to increase or enhance support to the LGBT+ community & voluntary sector?

Exploring potential models

Small changes requested by groups

Grant-makers’ websites & comms:

• Say you welcome LGBT+ applications
• Show examples of previous support for LGBT+ groups
• Display your diversity & inclusion policies
• Mention inclusion and inter-sectionality when inviting applications on broader themes e.g.
• lder people, youth, mental health…

Also:

• Talk with / listen to LGBT+ groups
• Reach out directly to LGBT+ groups and invite applications e.g. via Consortium
• Keep a balance between geography-focused funding and communities of identity
• Take more risks with innovative projects
• Consider longer-term funding for LGBT+ and other hard to reach & engage groups
• Specific LGBT+ funding streams welcome, but not essential

Model: Accreditation scheme

Could Consortium deliver an accreditation scheme for grant-makers that includes:

• LGBT+ awareness raising for staff & boards
• Help with inclusion & diversity statements
• Help with communications materials e.g. websites
• Help with monitoring & evaluation
• Examples of good practice?

Similar to Stonewall’s Diversity Champions scheme for employers; or LGBT Foundation’s Pride in Practice for healthcare sector

Model: Community involvement

Could a panel of Consortium Members help to:

• Design grants criteria
• Visit and assess projects
• Design website & comms?

There’s a community involvement pilot with young people in North London – supported by The Blagrave Trust and The Cripplegate Foundation.

A Model: Grant-maker’s Network

Based on the U.S. network: Funders for LGBTQ issues

• Membership network for funders interested in LGBT+ issues
• Special interest groups e.g. older LGBT+ people, BAME, trans groups…
• Annual event – roundtable or day conference
• Joint funding initiatives or joint awareness-raising campaigns
• Resources – Best practice guides; briefings; e-news with info on the

LGBT+ sector and funding to the sector

Model: Centralised LGBT+ Fund

Consortium has been exploring potential models with LGBT+ groups:

• Online giving platform for LGBT+ community groups (e.g. Justgiving)
• Online crowdfunding platform, with match funding from companies and other
• rganinsations (e.g. Crowdfund London)
• LGBT+ community foundation, managing and distributing named funds and

providing training & support for groups What’s the role of grant-making organisations within these, any?

• Would you match fund via a crowdfunding platform?
• Would you hold a named fund within an LGBT + community foundation?
• …

Discussion

• What do you like / not like about the suggested

models?

• Do you know of other models that might work?

Make notes on post-its, discuss in your groups & then stick on the relevant flip chart sheets

Next steps

We will:

• Send you this slide presentation by email
• Look at your feedback & identify priority areas
• Continue consulting with LGBT+ groups
• Consider organising a second roundtable session

to move ideas forward

• Anything else?

Thank you!

Contact: maria.antoniou@lgbtconsortium.org.uk