Collaboration Circle will enable money to be ‘pooled’ by funders working across different sectors, boundaries and geographies. It will be a truly collaborative space where people from across the funding and social justice sectors will come together to design and decide how this money should be used. Rather than being led by funders, the Collaboration Circle is jointly overseen by a new Board of Directors, drawn in equal number from the funding and civil society sectors.
Pooled funds have been shown to achieve lasting change while shifting power in the funding system. The Collaboration Circle builds on some inspiring examples of pooled funds from across the UK and globally, which have tested new ways of grant making and unlocked new learning about how change happens.
London Funders CEO, James Banks, said: “Collaboration Circle responds to calls from civil society and funders who want to see a more equitable funding system, and who want to work alongside each other to test new ideas and solutions. The new space provided by the Collaboration Circle will enable funders to put their money together more easily, take more risk, and crucially work with civil society to make decisions at every stage of the process. This is an ambitious new step to challenge existing funding practice, and we’re hugely excited about its potential for bringing more collaborations to life”.
The Collaboration Circle will be able to host funding collaborations of different sizes, across different sectors and geographies. Each collaboration will be delivered jointly by representatives from funders and civil society to ensure the principle of shared design and decision making are integrated throughout the funding and learning process.
Paul Roberts, Chief Executive of LGBT+ Consortium, and a member of the Collaboration Circle’s Board of Directors said: “Collaboration Circle has a unique opportunity to drive at pace the way funding operates, and I am excited to be on the Board to provide not only practical expertise, but also angles of oversight in equity. This is a special opportunity to create systems that stay community-focused and embed processes that put lived experience in the driving seat of decisions and change-thinking.”
Helen Bushell, Senior Head of Funding at the National Lottery Community Fund and a funder representative on the Board of Directors said: “The Collaboration Circle has the potential to shape the nature of the relationship between funders and civil society for the long term and have a significant impact on issues that really matter. I am particularly excited by the potential of the generative and creative space that Collaboration Circle is opening up. It offers us the opportunity to match the scale of the challenge before us with the scale of response needed.”
To find out more about the Collaboration Circle, and how funders can use it, visit www.collaborationcircle.org.uk or contact info@collaborationcircle.org.uk
Notes to editors:
The Collaboration Circle is a new subsidiary company of London Funders, registered company 15667708.
Collaboration across funders and communities has been at the heart of London Funders’ work over the years. We enabled funders to distribute £4.7m in response to the Grenfell Tower fire, over £57m through the London Community Response to covid-19, and now £100m through Propel an ambitious ten year funding programme.
For press enquiries contact Helen Mathie, Director of Policy and Partnerships at London Funders on helen.mathie@londonfunders.org.uk