Instead, more and more funders are increasingly recognising that in order for things to change, organisations and community groups need to be supported to tackle the root cause of issues, not just the symptoms.
But, as we heard during the Festival, while systemic change is high on the radar for many funders, it can be hard to know where to start or how to keep going when you get stuck.
What does it mean to fund and work in ways that truly support systemic change? How do you translate big ambitions of change into tangible action? And what conditions are enabling, rather than hindering real changes to the systems we work in?
Systemic change is at the heart of London Funders’ collaborations – we have been working with different funders and civil society groups over the years to test, support and observe what it takes to tackle underlying systemic inequality facing Londoners. And at the forefront of this has been asking and learning how the wider funding system can change to enable this work to happen. Through our previous learning programmes, we’ve heard that for many funders, supporting their grantees to work systemically often means rethinking their own systems and processes, including addressing power structures, approaching risk differently or opening up for more participatory approaches to decisions about where money goes.
The work we’ve done with members over the years has also shown us that there is a real desire to work together to create change but we’re often held back by organisational cultures and processes while also having to operate in a highly uncertain environment that has seen prices increase, inequality grow and divisions deepen.
The learning we’ve gained from this has been a driving force behind the launch of the Collaboration Circle last month, a new subsidiary company of London Funders which will enable money to be ‘pooled’ by funders and where people from the funding and social justice space will come together to design and design how this money should be used. We think this has the potential to change the way funding works and pave the way for deeper, more radical and long-term work.
Alongside our wider work with members – from our long-term funder collaboration, Propel to our newly established Resource Hub – and as part of our learning focus for the next few months, we’re inviting further discussion and debate with members, changemakers and colleagues across the world to explore what it takes to fund and work in a way that drives systemic change.
We’ve already lined up learning from some great contributors who are working to create systemic change in the coming months, but if you have learning to share about systemic change or ideas about what you would find useful to understand better as a member of London Funders, get in touch with our Learning and Communications Manager, Malene here.
