Mapping funding equity and justice infrastructure: what we've learnt so far

The importance of strong infrastructure to create a strong civil society is something we’ve long advocated (some of you will remember the Way Ahead report back in 2016). This current project comes at a crucial time. In 2023, 360Giving released their infrastructure report, highlighting the lack of funding going towards infrastructure groups. In 2024, Pro Bono Economics and DCMS reported undertaking research to map the importance of funding infrastructure. Where does funding specifically for equity and justice organisations fit into all of this? This research aims to help us understand this. 

Organisations working to advocate for social equality face newer challenges as a rise in fascist movements continues to influence UK politics. In 2024, far-right groups targeted racialised groups in race riots. According to U.K. government data from 2023, “no religious group faced more hate crimes linked to faith than Britain’s Muslims. In the year ending March 2023, more than 4 in 10 of all recorded religious hate crime offences were targeted against Muslims.” In 2024, the UK also faced the UN for its systemic violation of disability rights. Despite a change in government, there has been no improvement in trans rights in the UK.  

These examples further highlight the need for creating an ecosystem that supports equity & justice organisations to thrive, especially by providing them underlying infrastructure support.  

The literature review has highlighted the following gaps that we are attempting to address in ongoing research:  

1. There is a lack of equity & justice focused literature on infrastructure.
2. There is a lack of accessible data on funding received by equity & justice infrastructure organisations.
3. Research on infrastructure comes largely from funders and/or external evaluators/researchers and misses the direct voice of equity & justice infrastructure organisations.  

We can also start to see what the available literature tells us about the existing state of play for infrastructure and what impact they have on the wider sector: 

1. Infrastructure organisations improve sector collaboration and create sustainable and resilient sectors.
2. Infrastructure organisations, due to the factors of resilience and collaboration they contribute to, indirectly contribute to stronger movement-building - which is considered crucial for systemic change.
3. There is some research measuring the social return on investment (SROI) of infrastructure organisations. An analysis of Voscur, an infrastructure organisation, indicated that Voscur’s social return on investment was £1: £11.82 - for every pound invested in the organisation, Voscur created £11.82 of social value. 

This literature review - available to download here - is a first step towards creating a stronger evidence base about the infrastructure needs of the equity and justice sector, and how this is resourced. As we progress with the next phase, we will be further exploring the gaps, challenges and what works in the current funding landscape, and explore innovative ways to fund the ecosystem into the future.  

A list of all the literature reviewed is available here. If you would like to recommend any existing literature that we might have missed in our review, please email: shreya.gautam@londonfunders.org.uk.