Our COVID-19 response
In response to the unprecedented challenges being faced by the charitable sector, we are making some changes.
Assurances to our current and future grant award holders
In response to the unprecedented challenges being faced by the charitable sector, donors in the UK are now committing to funding flexibly and with fewer restrictions.
We are committed to funding more flexibly during the 2021 grant round and beyond, enabling both existing, and new grant holders, to focus more of their attention on providing goods and services to their beneficiaries and less time on administration and grant reporting to us.
We recognise that over the last decade there has been much talk by funders – particularly trusts and foundations – about trying to become less burdensome, more straightforward, and quicker in their dealings with applicants and grantees. The coronavirus pandemic has turbocharged this effort, demonstrating what is possible when we are all forced to step outside of the normal.
We are committed to you
If your community, services, or organisation are affected by the covid-19 pandemic, and you either have or are applying for grant funding from us, we make these commitments to you.
Adapting activities
We recognise that you may experience difficulties achieving some of the outputs or outcomes we agreed for your grant during the outbreak. We would like to be able to maintain our grant payments to you at the originally agreed levels during this period, so please have a conversation with us if you are affected in this way.
Discussing dates
We do not want to add any pressure at this time, so if you think you will struggle to meet a reporting deadline, simply get in touch with us so that we can agree on a more realistic timeline.
Financial flexibility
We know that you may need to use your funding to help cover sickness, purchase equipment or deliver services differently. We will be reasonable if you need to move money between budget headings to ensure that your work can continue.
Listening to you
We do not want to add any pressure at this time, so if you think you will struggle to meet a reporting deadline, simply get in touch with us so that we can agree on a more realistic timeline.
We are a flexible funder
We have joined IVAR’s Flexible Funders campaign, with its eight commitments for open & trusting grant-making.
As a flexible funder, the Charles Plater Trust commits to the following:
1
We will not waste your time
We will be open, transparent and clear about all our priorities, requirements and exclusions.
2
We will only ask relevant questions
We have produced and tested our new application forms to ensure that they are clear, relevant, and avoid repetition, only collecting information that genuinely informs how we make a funding decision.
3
We will accept reasonable risk
We will clearly explain how risk is assessed and be realistic about how much assurance applicants can provide.
4
We will act with urgency
As a funder, we will aim to make decisions as quickly as possible by publishing and sticking to our published timeframes to ensure we work at a pace that meets the needs of our applicants.
5
We will be open
We will provide feedback, including our reasons for any rejections and we will analyse and share relevant data with applicants, including publishing our grant application success rate in 2021 and future grant-making rounds. Historically, we have only been able to fund about one in every five applications that we have received.
6
We will enable flexibility
We will ensure our funding is as flexible as possible in the arrangements we make with you.
7
We will communicate with purpose
We aim for all our contact with applicants to be both positive and purposeful. We will be realistic in setting time commitments with successful grant recipients.
8
We will be proportionate
We will do our best to ensure that formal reporting requirements with grant recipients are well understood, proportionate and meaningful.
Our processes, going forward will
We have internally reviewed all our existing application documentation, criteria and decision-making systems in advance of the 2021 grant round to ensure that our current processes better reflect these eight commitments. We have tried to find the best balance possible between accountability and flexible support. We are keen to redress the inevitable power imbalance between funders and grantees and are open to hearing from you at any stage if you feel our processes are not helpful to you.
Still have questions?
If you have any further questions, please get in touch with us.
