Like it or not there is an imbalance of power in the
relationship between the funder and fund seeker. The funder has the money and
makes the decisions about who gets it. Whilst we can argue that without organisations
to give the money to, the funder cannot fulfil their mission (so they need you as
much as you need them), it rarely feels like that to those who are applying.
But
this imbalance of power can get in the way of funders being able to help. For
example, if you have received a grant from a funder who offers ‘funding plus’,
there can be additional support on top of the grant. This can be the chance to network
with peers; additional training; employee engagement for corporate funders or
paid-for expertise such as an accountant or consultant. If the grant recipient
does not feel able to openly reveal areas of organisational weakness, they can
miss out on this valuable opportunity. And
if they do say they want help with e.g. business planning but feel unable to
mention that there are issues in the leadership team, then any help provided is
unlikely to succeed.
On the other hand, the funder may have noticed an area
which needs strengthening. We get to see lots of examples of good practice and
may by comparison observe areas for improvement in e.g. user involvement or
governance. Our motivation is to help strengthen the organisations we fund. We
want to improve outcomes for service users or increase the chances of the
organisation continuing and securing other funding. At an individual level, I feel
it is my duty to share anything I have noticed. However, funders are not
experts in delivery and won’t have the complete picture. So my observations may
well be wrong or other inter-related issues may rightly have a higher priority.
If I tell the grantee my thoughts and they do not feel able to disagree then
they may go ahead with my suggestion in order to ‘please the funder'. This results in wasted effort as the support
could be misplaced and the organisation is unlikely to give it their full
attention and commitment.
Not surprisingly, the urge to please a funder is strong.
But it shouldn’t get in the way of working in partnership. As the one with the
power, it is up to the funder to try and create the conditions for a grantee to
be open, to feel able to disagree, to challenge suggestions and decline offers
of support. When I ask for feedback on our funding process, it is a strangely reaffirming
experience if I get negative feedback from a charity we fund. It means they
feel able to ‘speak truth to power’ and we are all the better for it.
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