Collective funding for social change

25 May 2005

The Funding Network holds events which profile a diverse range of social change projects, both local and international. This gives potential funders individuals, and some representatives from companies charity committees the privilege of actually meeting those doing frontline social change work, hearing their presentations and being able to ask questions. There is no obligation to give, but those who do decide to do so (minimum pledge £100) have the satisfaction of seeing their donation combine with that of others to really make a difference. TFN has been running since 2002, and has raised over £700,000 for social change causes. Each project typically raises between £3,000 and £8,000. Pledges are mostly made during the groundbreaking open pledging session, meaning that the total is known by the end of the day. This model, in which TFN administers the grants, also means that individual donors can contribute to projects without fearing that they will be pestered later, as TFN keeps attendees details confidential.

The idea is to make giving as enriching to the donor as to the recipient. Member Scilla Elworthy remarked I come because TFN is gripping - like good theatre. Im on the edge of my seat when the bidding begins. Moved sometimes to tears by what people are brave enough to undertake. Furious at the facts revealed. Delighted by people's spontaneous generosity. The formula does seem to work - Karina Vestergaard, for example, regularly travels from her home in Brussels to attend Funding Network meetings: What I like is that the group of people who have been brought together are very diverse, of all ages and backgrounds. If you want to give something back to society, it's a great way to do it. Members are encouraged to challenge themselves with their giving because giving feels best when it is somewhere between a gesture and a sacrifice.

TFN seems to have struck a chord local Community Foundations have teamed up with individual donors to set up TFN branches in the South West, Scotland, and Cambridge, and the first international TFN is currently being launched in Toronto. How are the projects selected? The organisation does not have the resources to process unsolicited applications, so all projects are put forward by members and then screened by a selection committee. Anyone can sponsor a project by joining TFN (£60 annual fee) and attending and pledging at a funding event before they sponsor; if the sponsors project is selected, (s)he also commits to pledging the first £250 as a bona fide.

The next TFN event is on Thursday 9th June, 6.30-9.30pm at The Amwell Practice, 4 Naoroji Street, London, WC1 (nearest tube: Angel). It will feature 5 diverse projects: The Marefat Education Centre, educating girls and young women in Afghanistan; Behind Bars, creating a unique online insight into the realities of prison life, for use in UK schools; Peace Brigades International UK section, supporting unarmed witnesses in international conflict situations; Bretton Woods Project, providing transparent information, networking and watchdog services regarding the activities of the World Bank and the IMF; and the Berega Hospital, Tanzania: provision of solar lighting for the hospital.

The following London event will be on Saturday 24th September when TFN will hold a special Funding Day on the theme of Make Poverty History: Trade, Aid and Debt.

If you would like to attend the June 9th event, or request a postal pledge form, or simply find out more, contact TFN co-ordinator, Sarah Kuehne:

The Funding Network, 83 Belsize Park Gardens, London NW3 4NJ.
Phone: 0207 586 1442. Email: info@thefundingnetwork.org.uk.
Registration for the evening (to cover catering and administration) costs £10 for members and £20 for guests. Please register by June 3rd.