The characteristics of responsible funding

In October 2015, Ben Cairns spoke at a conference for Scottish funders, sharing IVAR’s learning from over 40 research and evaluation projects for, with and about UK trusts and foundations. The focus of much of this work has been small to medium (£100k to £1m income p.a.) social welfare voluntary and community organisations – organisations working to relieve poverty and disadvantage, tackle injustice, and work for social change. As IVAR marks its fifteenth birthday, we have begun to draw together disparate findings and observations into a commentary about the role and contribution of charitable funder.