Is it better to be responsive or proactive in your philanthropy? There are downsides to both: being responsive can mean efforts are dispersed and impact diluted, whereas being proactive risks a funder driving the agenda without full knowledge and therefore missing opportunities. How does it work in practice?

The way we use words reflects changes in ethos and practice. Recently it has seemed that grants were under attack as the word ‘grant’ diminished in use.

Grant giving is not just a transfer of funds or a process, but an expression of trust. Awarding a grant is trusting that the organisation supported will do what they said they would with the money and will do their best to achieve what they are setting out to do. Whilst it is right to pay attention to the risks and to measure impact, I find that very little attention is paid to the other side of the coin: trust.

I love listening to podcasts – they are an intimate medium, you can listen when you want to, they are often advert-free and they offer a length and depth of experience that can fully absorb you on an otherwise boring commute. So which podcasts might be good for a philanthropist or philanthropy professional to listen to?

Ask any funder their top reason for turning down an application and they will say “because the applicant did not read the guidance”. Which begs the question: why don’t people read the guidance? Or if they do read it, why do they go ahead and apply anyway even though they don’t fit with the criteria. Here are the seven reasons I have come up with.

Being proportionate should also be a guiding principle for funders. The application, assessment and reporting processes should all be mindful of the effort spent by the applicant and grant holder. But the lack of external challenge and accountability means it is easy for funders to place taxing and time-consuming requirements on those seeking their funds.

Different funding models rise and fall in popularity and right now it is impact investment that is riding the crest of the wave. But just how welcome is the rise in impact investing? It all depends on where you are standing.

Does Charity Begin at Home? There are good arguments on both sides: on the one hand, the need in developing countries is greater and the value of our money there can save lives; and on the other, there is a need to learn and be generous at home before you can extend that generosity to others.

‘Just writing a cheque’ has become a disparaging remark in philanthropy. Terms like ‘beyond chequebook philanthropy’ are used to describe more strategic and involved forms of giving. The assumption is that writing a cheque is a thought-free act. But giving money as a one-off donation does not necessarily mean that the donor has not thought long and hard about their gift.

The purpose of grant assessments is to determine the quality and eligibility of a proposal. It is these judgments that help a funder decide how best to allocate their resources. Reviewing the application form and supporting documents such as annual accounts, business plans and policies, gives an assessor one picture of the organisation.  But if, as they say, “culture eats strategy for breakfast” then it is worth assessing culture as an important factor of a successful organisation. So how do we assess this?

After six years in the role, I am about to finish being a Grant Manager with Lloyds Bank Foundation. On reflection, the most significant shift over this period has been from being a more traditional ‘assess and monitor’ funder to a ‘relationship’ funder. 

Independent funders are not accountable to the public and they don't have to base their giving on research. They use several mechanisms to hold themselves to account. Can change be driven - or at least accelerated - by bringing more external pressure to bear?

At the recent STEP Special Interest Spotlight event, I was delighted to be in a room full of private client advisors who had all signed up for the breakfast session on philanthropy. Read on for my five take-away points from the speakers and discussions.

As you decide how to join in with Giving Tuesday 2017, don’t let these common myths about charities hold you back. Charities of all sizes are doing amazing work and need your support.

Congratulations, your hard work has paid off and you have secured a grant. You now need to get on with delivering whatever activity you set out in your bid. But you have another job to do: to maintain the relationship with your funder. Just how much of a relationship you can develop will depend on the size and length of the grant and the nature of the funder.