The National Lottery is looking for up to 5 partners with expertise in involving communities in decisions about grant making. They have £2 million funding for this one year development phase. Partners will support communities to decide how to give out this funding to good causes and will involve communities in decisions in a way that builds their skills, resources and ability to work together.
As part of their strategy, they want to listen to communities and engage them in new ways. As their partner you’ll test out ways to involve communities in decisions about who and what to fund. By communities they mean people who share an identity, interest or experience, or people living in the same place.
The will cover your costs for working with them and other partners, including your involvement in developing these new approaches and in shared learning activities. They expect most partners to use a maximum £80,000 for this.
To be a partner organisation you must:
- show that involving communities is one of your main purposes or activities
- have experience of involving communities in making decisions about grants or what to support in their communities
- have experience of giving out grants to communities
- be committed to equity.
By equity, they mean recognising that not every community starts with the same resources and that to make things fairer, they should support those that need it most.
They want to work with a mix of partners including those who are used to working locally, in-depth, with smaller numbers of people. Also, with organisations used to involving large groups of people at a regional or national level. They want to build learning by trying a mix of approaches to involving people.
They will open to expressions of interest on Wednesday 8 January 2025.
You must be available to work with then and other partners between spring 2025 and spring 2026.