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Blog written by Jenny Wildblood, Development Officer and Funding Lead at Voscur. |
I remember, more years ago than I care to think about, when no grant funder would even have considered awarding core funding. Back then the system was clear – statutory funders provided the core funding, trusts and foundations topped that up a little and kept projects going. Those of us who were fundraisers in those days well remember the formula “we will not support any costs previously met by your local authority”.
All this started to change as statutory funding, particularly from local councils, started to melt away. And at the same time as the funding was disappearing the demand was increasing as statutory services were cut back. The result was a funding crisis for local charities who don’t have the same access to individual giving as the major players.
It took a while for charitable funders to realise what was happening but over the last few years I’ve seen an astonishing change. Many trusts will now support your core costs, give funding for many years and even award unrestricted funds so that you can use them in any way you need.
And now a foundation has actually produced a report that you can use to make your best case for core funding. Take a look and think about how you can use these insights to help make your charity more sustainable.