New principles for grant reporting

Over the course of two workshops in April and September 2018, a group of funders and funded organisations developed a set of principles to make grant reporting a shared, more meaningful and mutually beneficial experience.

Our intention from the outset was to see how much progress could be made over two workshops and early on we decided to focus on core funding, rather than project funding. At the end of the second session we all felt there was merit in sharing and testing the principles we had developed:

1. Funders explain why they have awarded a grant.
2. Funders and funded organisations are clear about what grant reporting will look like.
3. Funders are clear about the type of relationship they would like to have with the organisations they fund.
4. Funders only ask for information they need and use, and question whether they need bespoke reporting.
5. Funders give feedback on any grant reporting they receive, and share their thoughts on the progress of the work.
6. Funders describe what they do with the information they obtain from funded organisations.

For each funder, this will mean something different. For some, the principles will facilitate internal conversations and thinking; for others, they will be directly applied to a grant-making programme.