I spend a lot of my time reading and talking about changes in grant making and philanthropy. But has there been any real change in practice? Is talk of trust and shifting power getting through to where it matters – on the frontline? In order to see if there is a gap between rhetoric and reality, I have embarked on a series of interviews with charity leaders. Not the big names but leaders of the smaller charities working hard across my patch, the South West of England.
In this first interview, I would love you to meet Fiona Mahoney, Chief Executive of Reminiscence Learning based in South Somerset. The charity specialises in dementia care and training including the Archie project, an intergenerational dementia awareness project that links primary schools, care homes, businesses, and community members to create dementia friendly communities. Fiona explains what it takes to keep going in the charity sector and makes a heartfelt plea for ‘sloppy funding’.
What are you like as a charity leader?
Fiona: I love my job. When I wake up in the morning, I am excited to go to work. I never know what’s going to happen. I am unusual in that my background as an OT means I am very hands-on. I make a plan, write new courses, create an activity, and then deliver this so that I can experience it. Only then will I let it go. I wouldn’t expect anyone in my team to do something that I haven’t. I have an amazing group of people around me who support me with the areas that are not my excellence. With their support I do the job I’m best at doing: leading, motivating, being innovative, taking a few risks.
You have been a charity leader for 20 years what keeps you going?
Fiona: The fact that I know I make a difference to people’s lives – both those with dementia and their carers.
How much time do you spend fundraising?
Fiona: I think about it every day. I do a lot of planning, a lot of budgeting and spend my time trying to work out how we can spread the money further. I feel like a ‘professional beggar’ as I am always asking for money, for raffle prizes, auction prizes, funding for a project, or sponsorship. I spend weeks and months filling in forms, uploading different documents and films, and selling my soul to show how we are the best. Then the “we are sorry to inform you” letter comes, and you have to be like a Weeble and bounce back up. You have to be resilient and love what you are doing so that you can show your anxious staff that it’s all fine and you are not worried that you didn’t get that funding.
Have you seen changes in funding practice?
Fiona: During Covid we had unrestricted funding but now it has gone back to how it was before. The majority of funders won’t give you core, sustainable funding. Ring-fenced funding is the most frustrating thing. You have to put in an element of refreshments, transport and everything else. If you don’t then spend the grant in exactly that way you often end up being questioned. I had a grant recently where I started to feel it wasn’t worth it because they asked for so much detail. A proportion of the costs were salaries and the funder asked to see staff pay slips. When I said no, they wanted to know why I would not provide this evidence. Why can’t they trust that I pay my staff?
The thing that gets to me most is that funders are always looking for something new that will be exciting for them to report on. When we first created the Archie project, everyone wanted to fund it. Once it was established and others were also delivering intergenerational projects funders were not interested in funding it to continue. The Archie project is about long-term prevention. If we teach children about dementia, it helps reduce the stigma; they will be prepared when their family members have dementia; and they may join the caring workforce with knowledge and skills. I shouldn’t be teaching dementia awareness to care home staff. I should be teaching it in every primary school across the country. That long-term work needs long-term funding not one-year grants.
What changes would you like to see in funding practice?
Fiona: In a small charity you need ‘sloppy funding’. Enthusiasm and drive is great but this work is exhausting. You need enough funding to have some slack so you can pull in extra staff when you need to.
There is a compelling case for donors and funders to provide multi-year funding with less restriction. For example, see IVAR’s report Making the case for unrestricted funding. It is frustrating to learn that changes in funding practice that happened in Covid have not been sustained for Fiona and her team.