Strengthening Our Commitment to Open and Trusting Grant-making

We are proud to share that we have officially signed up to the Open and Trusting Grant-making commitments developed by the Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR), joining a growing network of funders committed to making funding processes fairer, more flexible and more responsive to the realities facing voluntary and community organisations.

IVAR’s eight commitments were developed with charities and funders to ensure that how grants are made reflects trust, respect and a shared understanding of the pressures voluntary organisations face. The commitments were officially announced in 2021, with IVAR calling on funders to permanently adopt more open and trusting practices that make life easier for those they fund. The commitments closely align with our 2025–2030 strategy, our values and our vision of fair, resilient and thriving communities across Wiltshire and Swindon.

By signing up, we are making a clear commitment to continue strengthening the way we support local groups across Wiltshire and Swindon, reflecting and reinforcing our long-standing approach: listening to communities, building trusted relationships and enabling organisations to respond to changing circumstances.

In practice, this means that we are committed to:

• Designing application and reporting processes that are proportionate and don’t waste time
• Asking only for information that is relevant and genuinely useful
• Acting with urgency when communities face immediate challenges
• Being open about our decisions and learning
• Communicating clearly and with purpose
• Enabling flexibility so organisations can adapt to changing needs
• Accepting that delivering impact involves risk, and approaching this in a constructive and supportive way

Commenting on the initiative, Fiona Oliver, Joint Chief Executive, said: “Signing up to IVAR’s Open and Trusting commitments formalises something that has long been important to us — that how we fund matters just as much as what we fund.

“Voluntary organisations need flexible funding to deliver better outcomes for communities. In a context of rising demand and limited resources, working together towards shared goals — and making the best use of precious time and resources on all sides — leads to greater impact.

“Our role is not only to distribute grants, but to build trusted relationships and ensure local organisations can focus their energy where it is most needed: supporting people and communities across Wiltshire and Swindon.”

To find out more about IVAR’s Open and Trusting Grant-making commitments and how we are working to embed them, please click here.