Lucy White: Inclusion through participatory grant-making

Lucy White, Head of Partnerships at Camden Giving, explores the growing momentum around participatory grant-making, its positive impact on the success of community projects, and the complexities of fundraising.

Participatory grant-making (PGM), for anyone who’s new to it, is a way of funding community projects that ensures those with lived experience of the issues trying to be solved are the same people who decide how funding is spent. This means that local people affected by and understanding the issues make up the funding panel which, with support and training, is ultimately responsible for deciding how the available money is used. The underlying principle of PGM is “nothing about us, without us” which leads to more effective decision making, more inclusive practices, and stronger communities.

It is important to note that PGM is not new, but has certainly been gaining momentum in recent years. Kelley Buhles describes how “The Funding Exchange, founded in 1979, is often seen as initiating PGM within modern philanthropy. The group, founded by young progressive activists with inherited wealth, called for ‘change, not charity’.” Hundreds of activists and organisations have pushed forward this work, and today the Participatory Grant Making Community of Practice has members from 73 different countries across the world. The Red Umbrella Fund  is a fantastic example of an organisation doing revolutionary work in shifting power, in their case to those with lived experience of sex work.

More widely, there is a trend in philanthropy of wealthy individuals and trusts recognising the problematic nature not only of their own wealth, but also how traditional philanthropy systems are often perpetuating inequality, instead of reducing it. Marlene Engelhorn, David Clarke and Lankelly Chase are all giving significant sums of funding, by either putting the decision making into the hands of others, or funding work which aims to challenge these systems.

Donor-driven PGM is becoming a trend, so nonprofits can’t afford to ignore it. However, there is more than financial gain to be had here. PGM is an ethical funding model that is much more transparent and inclusive in its approach.

How does participatory grant making work at Camden Giving?

At Camden Giving, we work with roughly fifty Camden residents a year, who decide which citizens and grassroots organisations are best placed to reduce inequalities in the London borough. My role as Head of Partnerships is to work closely with our corporate partners, supporting them to be good Camden neighbours in many ways, but primarily through funding.

Here are some of the top insights I have gained regarding how to fundraise for PGM:

You’re asking funders to take a leap into the unknown 

Supporting PGM involves relinquishing control on how funding will be spent, which can feel uncomfortable for funders. Much as there are themes and structures that sit behind a PGM process, you never know which projects will speak most loudly to panellists and be awarded a grant. As a fundraiser you need to create ways to make the ask feel as tangible as possible despite this uncertainty. Bridging this gap looks different for every organisation, from sharing past successes and drawing on previous grantees to give a flavour of the kind of work that might be supported, to being as transparent as possible in terms of what a PGM decision making process looks like.

I was lucky to join Camden Giving six years into its journey, so there is already a strong track record of PGM delivery, with an incredible existing pool of grantees to involve when fundraising. To support this, funders feel close to our work because they are quite literally physically close to it, either working or living in Camden. We know there is a strong desire from corporate employees to be more connected to the communities they are working in, so we ensure that meeting this need is a thread that runs throughout our fundraising strategy.

As a participatory grantmaker, you fill a gap other funders would struggle to effectively step into 

As a participatory grantmaker you act as a facilitator, ensuring funding isn’t just parachuted to whichever organisation has the most contacts or the strongest marketing campaign. It is crucial that as a PGM organisation you have strong sector networks and can demonstrate the value of these networks when building relationships.

In Camden Giving’s case, we know that corporate organisations we’re pitching to will not have the same level of robust networks as we do in the borough. As well as strong links in the voluntary sector and with residents, over 50% of the Camden Giving staff team have lived and worked in the Camden. As corporate organisations don’t have easy access to this knowledge and expertise, they would struggle to effectively fund work in Camden without a lot of external guidance.

PGM will always double the impact of a donation

Funders have the joy of knowing that if they support PGM, they are enabling two different kinds of social impact, firstly, the social impact achieved through the hard work of grantees, but also the social impact PGM creates in and of itself, with participants consistently reporting increased confidence and wellbeing, and often going on to be involved in further civil society work. Supporting PGM means being part of a global movement.

As Georgia Gould, Leader of Camden Council describes, “Camden Council have delegated funding through Camden Giving across a number of grant programmes because we know that we can reach communities who are underfunded more effectively. We also know that, beyond participatory grant-making, our involvement with Camden Giving is influencing global businesses to shift their approaches to community consultation projects, putting Camden residents at the heart of decision-making about changes that affect them directly, empowering them to elevate their voice and access roles they otherwise might not access.”

It’s important to know when to lead with the participatory model and when to frame your work differently

For some funders, PGM is more of a ‘nice to have’; they may be drawn to working with you for other reasons, such as volunteering opportunities, the variety of work you deliver, or because recent crises, such as the cost-of living, have motivated them to give back. As with all pitches, it’s important to be alert for indicators as to what has drawn a potential funder to your work early, so you can know how best to motivate them to give to your cause.

We know PGM takes too long an amount of explanation and time to be an effective hook on social media. Much as we love to talk about PGM all day long, sometimes we have to lean into other aspects of our work, such as tangible grantee stories, to capture people’s attention, and then later down the line we can hopefully get them as excited as we are about PGM. However, for some of our corporate partners, PGM is absolutely at the heart of why they want to support us, and from the word go they fully buy into the concept.

I hope this blog has given some interesting insights into the world of PGM, and how to navigate making what can at times feel like a more complex ask to funders. One of the most fulfilling moments I have when pitching for funding and explaining PGM to someone outside of the sector, is that they look slightly confused, and ask me “isn’t that always how funding is decided?” I look forward to the day when I can answer yes, that is always how funding is decided.

Lucy White

About Lucy White

Lucy White has worked in the UK charity sector for over ten years, initially developing mentoring and consultancy programmes between the charity and corporate sectors, and more recently fundraising and building partnerships at Camden Giving, engaging with businesses to support local charities and grassroots organisations that tackle the most pressing issues in the area.

Camden Giving is an independent charity working to end local poverty and inequality in Camden, London, where 40% of children live in poverty and Black Londoners are twice as likely to regularly go without basics compared to White Londoners. The charity was set up in 2017 as a participatory funder and to promote racially just communities. 

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