Lloyds Bank Foundation report: Lessons for Funder Practice
‘The past five years have exposed some difficult lessons for the Foundation, and we must acknowledge that some of our previous practice did not maximise benefit to the charities and communities we want to support.’
To launch their new strategy, Lloyds Bank Foundation reflect on their past strategy for England and Wales from 2018 to 2022.
In this report, Lloyds Bank Foundation sets out eight lessons in funder practice. Drawing on internal and external evaluations and highlighting lessons which worked well and where they realised they were getting things wrong. This varies from grantmaking processes to the biggest questions of equity, power dynamics and what it takes to work in genuine partnership with frontline charities.
The eight lessons are:
Listen actively
Fund flexibly
Lighter touch doesn’t mean less robust
Equity requires action
You can’t do it alone
Relationships unlock progress
Acknowledge your trade-offs
Make use of all your assets
Under the 4th lesson, Equity requires action, Lloyds Bank Foundation used the audit tool to better understand how they were distributing their funding, and which processes were putting charities led by-and-for Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities at a disadvantage. This led to improvements in their grantmaking, data collection, monitoring as well as building internal knowledge and culture around EDI.
‘The challenges of the next five years will be no less daunting, which is why we hope that adopting these practices for the long term will help the Foundation make the greatest positive impact for charities and the communities.’
The 2022-26 strategy, Building a Better Future, prioritises equity, diversity and inclusion. It commits to helping small charities become more resilient, communities to grow stronger, and people to overcome complex issues and barriers so they can transform their lives.