I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous in the lead up to the event. My apprehension started the first time I mentioned the event to a funder that wasn’t able to make it, who said of their participating colleagues ‘wow, those funders are brave’. When I questioned whether it was brave to speak to grantholders, the response came quickly: ‘I just hope they’re ready to be pitched at’. But it wasn’t just funders predicting some sort of pitching pandemonium, but fundraisers too who would comment anything from ‘oh god, those poor funders’ to at its most extreme ‘they’re going to be like lambs to the slaughter’.
Worries aside, I knew that this was an event we needed to produce. This autumn, we released two reports, the latest iteration of Where the Green Grants Went and a new report Increasing the effectiveness of environmental funder-fundraiser relationships. Combined they paint a picture of the environmental funding ecosystem we are all working within and despite some good news – namely that environmental funding from UK philanthropic sources has nearly trebled – behind the headline numbers, it isn’t so pretty. As a sector, our resources are spread incredibly thinly; the median grant size is only £10,000 and there are over 1,250 grants valued at £3,600 or under, which is the estimated cost of an application to the grant-seeker. On top of that, there are still archaic application processes and unrealistic reporting expectations. All of this clearly points towards a need to get funders and fundraisers in a room together, despite how scary grant-seekers sound.
On the day, I strolled along the Thames to get to WWT London, a really beautiful site (I recommend it for the otters alone!). The walk was a nice connection point with nature before I would be thrown into the rushes of hosting an event. I saw a dog flushing out birds from the overgrown edges of the path. The owner saw me smiling at her energetic springer, ‘I don’t know why he bothers; he’s never going to catch one’, she said in a tone resigned to her spaniel’s actions. The moment stuck with me. It summed up my fears for the day ahead. Are we bringing a bunch of gun dogs into a wildfowl reserve? Will the event be a series of fundraisers chasing funders into flight?
Alarmingly, when attendees started streaming in, there was no discernible difference between the funders and fundraisers, and they were all being really friendly. Too friendly. How was I going to protect the funders if I couldn’t tell these two groups apart?
Ambitiously, we opened the event asking, ‘What should and could an effective environmental funding ecosystem look like?’. An open question that I hoped we could find some consensus around. At the very least, it shouldn’t serve to shorten the fuse on the ticking time-bomb this event was doomed to be. As I heard the last words of the opening remarks leave my colleague’s mouth, I turned to the room expecting the phoney smiles they’d entered with to dissipate and their true colours to reveal themselves.
To my surprise, it didn’t happen. As the day went on, I started to realise maybe I’d got this all wrong. Was I worrying over nothing? The day was civil, friendly, at points I’d say it was even fun. The only disruption was the occasional rowdy goose. Throughout the roundtables, panels, discussions around mental health and even the lunch break, I didn’t see a single funder cornered or held upside down and shaken for loose change.
Despite the warnings, the event was a success. Both funders and fundraisers were able to come together to explore the challenges they’re both facing. Don’t just take my word for it:
“Congratulations. I thought yesterday was ace. It was a pleasure to join and host – thank you for the invitation. I thought it very valuable to bring funders and fundraisers together to discuss some meaty topics relating to funding practice. It seems lots of others did too. Very glad of the work you’re doing at the funder/fundraisers interface and excited to see what comes next!” – Funder
“An excellent event – and it really shouted the desire to bring funders and fundraisers together more often. A great time to do this, and let’s do it more often.” – Funder
“It was a real pleasure being with you and in a room of people with such shared agendas and challenges, in such inspiring surroundings. You all gave us a really helpful overview of what is going on currently in the environmental fundraising sector and to be able, at the same time, to share thoughts with both fellow environmental fundraisers and also environmental funders was a treat.” – Fundraiser
“Thank you, Environmental Funders Network for a really useful and interesting event yesterday. It was so good to have funders and fundraisers working together on shared challenges and opportunities.” – Fundraiser
“A really superb event that I was really privileged to have been given the opportunity to attend. Sometimes the scale of the challenges we are trying to fix in the conservation sector is a bit overwhelming and the constant battle for chasing funding can really exacerbate that. Having the space to come together with colleagues from both a funder and fundee perspective to chat about some of the issues we are facing while working toward a common goal of a healthier environment was productive, positive and powerful. A big thank you to the always excellent … Environmental Funders Network team for an event that’s left me feeling re- energised and optimistic.” – Fundraiser
So, I hear you ask, ‘what did you learn from the day?’
- Fundraisers aren’t scary and they don’t bite. But if that’s true, why would a funder need bravery to talk to a grant-seeker? I learned that funders aren’t scared of fundraisers (or their teeth), they’re scared of having to say no. Each foundation has limited resources to distribute, every funding choice is a trade-off.
- The line between funders and fundraisers isn’t clear cut. Both groups wear multiple hats, they’re often trustees, volunteers and supporters of multiple different organisations. The us/them divide is easily broken down when you get the chance to talk.
- Funder challenges are not widely understood. Since our founding EFN has been working with funders to support them, understand their challenges and build resources, events and spaces to help them be overcome; however, so much of that knowledge stays within the network. We need to get better at sharing that knowledge outside of funder circles.
- When we talk about effectiveness, we can’t ignore mental health. As a sector we’re teetering on burnout. Neither funders nor fundraisers are immune to the pressure and stress that comes with limited resources, existential and growing challenges, and an active opposition to their work. If we want to protect our world, we need to get better at protecting those fighting to protect it.
Going forward I’ll be less nervous bringing these funders and fundraisers together, and will be creating more joint spaces for conversations, collaborations and amicable disagreement in the new year. Keep an eye out for our newsletter for updates.