Introducing London Funders

From the arts to zoos, and from Barking to Barnet our members invest in every aspect of London’s life. They support the capital through grants, commissioning, social investment, and more, as well as directly to Londoners.

We’re here to:

• enable a movement of members to have strong and trusted connections, based on shared values and ambitions;
• to facilitate and lead collaborative programmes where only working together can achieve the change that’s needed;
• and to drive a learning culture, where shared data, intelligence and insight lead to better decision making and action.

The need for London Funders

London is a complex city and its funding landscape is changing dramatically. This change is being driven by a combination of factors including the redefining of the role of the state (both national and local), the changing profile of poverty and the needs of the population within London, and the increasingly complex governance and public policy landscape that our members operate within.

Other regions and countries in the UK have particular needs and disadvantages but in London their scale and complexity are masked by areas of extreme affluence. Funders need to know about how policy affects the capital and how funding can be developed to meet the diverse needs of London’s communities.

Our Beliefs

• We believe that Londoners should be at the heart of our work, and that of our members – with their needs, their strengths and their hopes driving developments in the funding community. 
• We believe that effective and resilient civil society organisations are essential to enabling London’s people and communities to thrive. 
• We believe that civil society organisations are best supported to meet the needs of Londoners when funding is based on a shared understanding of need, with good funding practices, and a collaborative approach to funding that ensures resources are channelled to the right places. 
• We believe that social systems - the policy framework within which civil society operates, and how funding is accessed by civil society organisations - can be altered to meet the needs of Londoners better. As part of this, we believe that funders can be active advocates for changes to policies and structures that affect civil society organisations.