Funding for place-based systems change: Navigating the current climate

Community of Practice, 24th October 12:30-14:00

Our October session of the Place-Based Systems Change Community of Practice focused on an issue that has dominated our recent conversations with place-based organisations – the current funding crisis that has seen organisations closing on what feels like a weekly basis this past year.

The Place-based Systems Change Community of Practice includes a range of actors driving systems change in places, including housing associations, local authorities, philanthropic funders, researchers and charities. The meeting in October was largely comprised of practitioners, many of whom deliver frontline services as part of their place-based systems change work.

Community members shared their experiences of the current funding crisis and how it is impacting their ability to work systemically in place:

With increasingly limited public and philanthropic funding, growing competition to access this funding has driven organisations to pitch how “needy” their community is rather than focusing on the assets and skills in their place, leading to a lamentable return to deficit-based working for many organisations that have been trying to adopt an asset-based approach.
Many organisations have found that funding for strategic infrastructure in place has been the first to go. This includes infrastructure such as the administration of local sector or cross-sector forums and learning spaces that support systemic, collaborative working. The lack of funding for this work means that those organisations providing this infrastructure have had to abandon it and devote their limited capacity to funded delivery.
There is an increasing gap between what organisations are paid by commissioners to deliver services and the resources needed for effective delivery, making it less financially viable for small place-based organisations to take on public sector contracts.
With funding levels failing to keep up with the requirements of service delivery, the pressures on staff increase but organisations are not able to invest in supporting their wellbeing and development, or offer pay increases. This has hit staff morale in many organisations and led to loss of staff.
In the context of increased competition for limited funding, it is incredibly challenging for organisations to access funding for the long-term, person-led services that can support systemic change. Organisations have found that delivering relational services that can provide long-term support in line with individual needs and ambitions it is not seen as good value for money.

From here, we discussed what this group could do to mobilise against the current funding crisis, and build an environment where systemic working still feels possible. Ideas that were shared included:

Building advisory relationships with philanthropic funders to enable ongoing advocacy for more equitable, long-term and flexible funding.
Supporting funders to understand that shifting towards funding systemically requires continuing to fund ongoing delivery alongside systemic work, but delivery in a way that is systemic (power-shifting, relational, person-led, long-term).
Exploring and sharing learning about alternative and mixed financing that can move organisations away from grant dependency, including outcomes-based financing, social investment bonds, social finance, share offers, membership models and social enterprise models.
Standing by the evidence of the voluntary sector’s value and collectively pushing back on underfunding, as the private sector lobbies the government when they are in financial crisis.
Collectively advocating for more transparency and clarity from commissioners when they have a preferred delivery partner, to reduce competition and wasted resources.

If this conversation resonated with you – it’s one we are continuing! We are bringing together a partnership of organisations who are both funding and delivering place-based systemic change work, to help shape an inquiry into Funding for Place-Based Systemic Change. This enquiry will build on the collaborative inquiry we led across 2019 and 2020 (see findings here) to bring together funders, delivery organisations and facilitators to understand what funding systemically looks and feels like today, and what we can do better, together. Please reach out to Beth Stout (b.stout@renaisi.com) for a conversation about getting involved.

About the community of practice

The community of practice is open to place-based practitioners, working at any scale, and funders of place-based work. Find out more about the community.

Our next Community of Practice meeting will be on Tuesday 21^st January 2025, from 12:30-14:00.

The discussion will explore how organisations are approaching partnership building as part of their place-based systems change work, particularly focusing on how to involve people at the following four levels: policy makers, devolved powers, VSCE infrastructure bodies, and grassroots organisations and the community. We’ll share some of our learning from working with organisations, invite others from the community to share their experiences and hold space for you all to share your insights and work through your own questions and challenges in working with local stakeholders.