Funders were not simply seen as financial backers but as co-producers of change.
Pooled funds are one of the most ambitious things funders can do together. They demand a deeper form of collaboration than most are used to – shared governance, joint decision-making, and a willingness to relinquish control in ways that can feel – in the words of one “a bit scary”. Adding citizen-led grant-making to the mix intensifies that challenge: power must be transferred not just to the pool, but to communities themselves.
So how do you set one up well?
This report focuses on the development phase – before formal agreements are signed and money starts to change hands. Authors Ben Cairns and Chris Mills argue that this is decisive point – where funders align on purpose, design governance and build the trust required to devolve power, that sets the tone for the collaboration to follow.
By committing first to the why, funders could tolerate ambiguity about the how without the collaboration fragmenting.
The report draws out lessons from three pioneering funds in Scotland:
- The Clackmannanshire Transformation Space
- The Independent Human Rights Fund for Scotland
- The Regenerative Futures Fund
Each tackles a different issue, in a different place, with a different combination of funders. What they share is a commitment to ensuring that people whose lives are affected by funding decisions are involved in shaping them – and a recognition that getting there requires funders to change familiar systems, habits and expectations.
We couldn’t be in that position now if we didn’t have a really collaborative set of actors in the little ecosystem that we have now. They’re not all on the funding side, but everybody has a role to play.“
Based on interviews with funders, host organisations and community participants across all three funds, the report covers:
- How funders build a shared purpose strong enough to hold together different institutional agendas
- How to make citizen-led grant-making real rather than advisory
- Where accountability sits in a model designed to distribute power
- The value created when funders treat collaboration as more than pooled money
There should be no vetoes in ceding power. Funders must give it away and be comfortable with that. That’s why we paid our full amount upfront, rather than drip-feeding it into the fund. That demonstrates trust.“
How to Develop a Citizen-led Pooled fund: 6 Key Themes
1. Collaborative leadership and project management
Development commonly took three-to-five years and required visionary, active and inclusive leadership to build momentum and trust among funders and communities. It also benefited from dedicated project management resources to resolve detailed governance and operating questions, coordinate stakeholders across different stages of the development cycle and secure funder approvals.
3. Harnessing synergistic value
Collaboration created value beyond money. Combining complementary roles and assets across public and charitable funders, fund hosts, civil society and citizens expanded access to expertise, networks and legitimacy.
5. Committing to citizen-led grant-making
Securing citizen involvement depended on making power-sharing real (not advisory), agreeing on CLG processes, recognising and recompensing community members, and selecting experienced fund hosts able to recruit, train and support citizen panels to ensure informed and fair decision-making.
2. Establishing clarity of purpose
Funds were strongest when they began with a shared diagnosis of what was working for communities, commissioned independent scoping to build a common evidence base, and repeatedly returned to a single shared ‘north star’ underpinned by common values that could hold together various institutional agendas.
4. Pooling sovereignty
Funders realised that contributing to a pooled fund was ‘not just another grant’. It required ceding unilateral control, avoiding vetoes, adapting internal approval processes, tolerating uncertainty and adopting a posture of stewardship rather than ownership.
6. Understanding accountability
CLG pooled funds involve multiple actors, which can blur lines of responsibility. It was therefore important to clarify where accountability would lie within the funds’ governance structures. Effective models created oversight boards to shoulder responsibility and protect citizens on CLG panels, without undermining the CLG panel’s decision-making.
With thanks to Leah Black from Foundation Scotland, Lynn Hendry from The Hunter Foundations and Elaine Wilson from Corra for acting as the project advisory group and helping to steer this research.
