When grantees talk about Hyde Foundation they don’t refer to the team as funders, but as advocates, connectors, convenors, champions and, importantly, partners. And when Hyde talks about its funded organisations they are “community partners”, rather than grantees.
This language says a lot. As a foundation, Hyde takes a deliberately relational approach. As the charitable arm of a housing association rooted in place, the foundation is closely connected to a wide network of community organisations, some funded and some not, supporting them through relationships, connection and practical support as well as grants.
Last year, IVAR worked with the foundation to explore the impact of their grant-making, extended ‘funder-plus’ offer and social value activities.
What partners consistently described wasn’t just what the Hyde Foundation funded, but how they showed up: a picture of how to build a more relational, human approach to funding, and the impact this approach can have.
Prioritising human connection
Unsurprisingly, strong relationships are a key part of relational funding. According to their community partners, Hyde’s staff were visible and accessible. Relationships felt trusting, reciprocal and – as 95% of survey respondents noted – collaborative. This meant meetings weren’t transactional or tied to reporting cycles; they were part of ongoing conversations about what was happening on the ground, and what was needed next.
As one community partner stated:
‘[name omitted] has been phenomenal. She shows such support, not just for the work we do with Hyde but for the charity itself. We meet regularly; it is never just “Here is the money, get on with it”.’
A sense of being accompanied rather than overseen came through strongly. Partners experienced the foundation as human, grounded and responsive, with staff willing to listen and adapt. Even small choices – like the choice of what to call grantees – reflected this ethos.
Tipping the power dynamic
Because trust was high, partners felt able to be honest about challenges. They were keen to respond to requests, but they didn’t feel managed or pressured. Hyde did not insist on visibility or credit at every turn, and the absence of those demands mattered.
‘Hyde has given me a push and given me the drive. I already had the tools, but needed support from behind.’ (Non-funded community partner)
What this really means is that organisations were able to take the lead on decisions about what mattered most to them and the communities they serve. This trust meant partners often felt able to test out new concepts or ideas.
‘One of the biggest ways we add value is by enabling [residents] to be the heroes of their own story … We provide investment in whatever shape or form that looks like, following on from listening to the needs, and then stepping back and allowing people to do what they need to do’. (Hyde staff member)
For some organisations, Hyde’s support arrived at critical moments. Proactive grant-giving, including additional funding during the COVID-19 pandemic, was described as timely and meaningful. In more than one case, it kept services running when they might otherwise have closed. For others, the funding wasn’t about survival, but capacity; it created room to test new approaches, expand existing work, or invest in outreach.
Joining the dots
We meet regularly; it is never just “Here is the money, get on with it”.’
Partners consistently described Hyde’s role as a connector as crucial. Because staff were embedded locally, they were well placed to spot shared interests, broker introductions, and to open up opportunities for collaboration. The relational approach meant connection was experienced as organic and responsive.
Staff brought together people who wanted to work in similar ways. They joined the dots between organisations that might not otherwise meet. For smaller partners in particular, access to these networks was as valuable as the funding itself.
‘She seems to go round and collect people who she knows want to work that way and then put them in touch with each other.’ (Funded community partner)
Nearly all community partners reported being connected to other organisations through Hyde. These connections led to referrals, collaborative projects, and new ways of working. In practice, this meant Hyde was not just funding activity, but helping to create the conditions for longer-term impact.
Where relational gets tested
While many partners described strong, trusting relationships, experiences sometimes depended on who a partner’s primary contact was. In some ways, that variability is inevitable, as relational work is carried by people, and people bring different styles, capacities, and constraints.
But it raises a deeper organisational question: how does a funder commit to working relationally, without relying on individual staff members going above and beyond?
This points to an organisational challenge that sits underneath relational funding: how to embed shared values and ways of working that prioritise genuine partnership over transactional relationships. Not in the sense of asking individuals to constantly go above and beyond, but in how funders recruit, support and retain colleagues who bring both relational skills and local knowledge — so this way of working is sustained, consistent and intentional.
The view from Hyde – why we wanted to review our approach
Felicity Hunt, Communities & Social Impact Director at The Hyde Group
“Over the last 10 years, we have developed a relational funding model based on Hyde being an active and committed member of the network of organisations that are vital to the well-being of the communities we are based in. We recognise our role as an anchor institution, and how we can leverage that to benefit our community partners.
We have been successful in collecting data and stories about the work our funded partners do, and the impact that has on individuals and communities, but over the last few years we have realised that we haven’t successfully been telling the bigger story – the story of our ‘funder-plus’ work.
Signing up to IVAR’s Open and Trusting commitments was a first step in recognising that, while not perfect, we were already taking an open and trusting approach with our funded partners, and that this approach went beyond the funding. We had some great examples of team members going the extra mile in supporting a partner to find new funding, or develop their business model.
Our partners told us brilliant stories of the help they had received and why they loved working with us. What we didn’t have was a way to collect that information, or tell a bigger story of how that work and support was having an impact.
Having read about some of the work IVAR had been doing with other funders, developing a set of learning questions seemed like it could be the answer we had been looking for. The IVAR team’s approach has given us a thoughtfully tried and tested set of learning questions, some fantastic insight into our partners’ experience of working with us over the last few years, and we also got the reflections of a very experienced research and learning partner. This is helping us to demonstrate the impact we have, beyond just funding.
The findings from the IVAR team have shone a spotlight on our strengths and areas for development, such as how we successfully embed the relational approach consistently for our partners.
Together, these experiences point to relational funding as something that has to be actively made: through time, proximity, attention to power, and investment in connection. It isn’t an add-on to funding, but part of the connective tissue of how funding is be done. And well worth the investment.
Find out more about Hyde Foundations strategic direction here
Hyde is a member of IVAR’s Open and Trusting – a community and movement for grant-makers who want to fund differently.
