Collaboration Circle aims to create a more equitable and collaborative funding system. It was set up to make it easier to pool money across different geographies and boundaries, and enable funders and civil society to share decision making at every step of the grant making process. Pooling money has a number of benefits: it enables funders to be more flexible and strategic, and means their money can have an even greater impact.
This first collaboration – the Propel Long Term Grants Programme - is being held by Collaboration Circle on behalf of The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK, and City Bridge Foundation, London's biggest independent charity funder. It will see £34m distributed to London’s Communities over the next seven years.
The collaboration will be overseen by a Funding Committee comprised of funders and civil society organisations, bringing a unique combination of skills, expertise and lived experience to all aspects of the grant making process.
Dame Julia Cleverdon, Chair of The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “We’re thrilled to be supporting the first pooled fund to be held by Collaboration Circle, as it shows what’s possible when funders and civil society come together to share expertise and local knowledge. We are committed to working with partners across the sector to change lives in our communities and help people connect, grow and build a better future for themselves.”
Paul Martinelli, City Bridge Foundation Chair, said: “I’m delighted that City Bridge Foundation, as a founding partner of Propel, has been able to pool our funds for this next stage of collaborative funding. The Propel Long Term Grants Programme is an ambitious initiative which is uniting both people and money, leveraging our collective resources to invest in long-term change for London’s communities.”
Ali Ahmed, vice-Chair of the Collaboration Circle Executive Board said: “I’m hugely excited to see the first pooled fund for the Collaboration Circle come to life. It’s an opportunity to really shift the balance of power, and ensure funding decisions reflect a greater diversity of experience and expertise. It marks a new chapter in embedding collaborative funding and I look forward to seeing how other funders can join this approach to help drive lasting, equitable change across our sector.”
The first three-year phase of Propel distributed £45m to 131 organisations in London to develop their work. This brought together eleven funding partners and five equity partners but the funding was distributed by individual funders separately.
For this phase, £34.8m in funding for Propel’s long-term grants programme is pooled through Collaboration Circle, a subsidiary of London Funders, on behalf of City Bridge Foundation and The National Lottery Community Fund. This means partners can advance their ambitions to be more equitable and flexible in this stage of the journey. You can read more about what's different in this phase in this blog from our Director of Collaboration and Development, Geraldine