Emerging opportunities and tensions in

community foundations’ development in the UK

The lens of localism

Professor Jenny Harrow

The rediscovery of localism

Community Foundations in the UK policy context

• Geographically embedded

philanthropic organisations

with geographical

organisational identities and

an inherent focus on place

• Predestined as community

leaders?

Source: http://www.communityfoundations.org.uk/community_foundations/map/

Method

• Documentary analysis

• Semi-structured interviews • 12 CEs in England

• Chosen from spectrum of size and age

• Thematic analysis

Themes from the literature

• Articulation of the strength of the CF model

• Flexibility and transferability of the model

• Optimism vs Negativity

• Role of state/private foundations

• Key roles of community leadership: leader,

intermediary and overseer

Growing sense of independence, prioritised over place…

• “ (This is the) first year now that we have 75% private funding, finally feel this is what being a community foundation is about – our focus now is on philanthropy ….have a policy for when we do and do not go for European and Government funding – our organisational emphasis from this point onwards is philanthropy”

• “in a way we should be invisible intermediaries, (the) glory should be of the groups we support – but the trouble with (being an) invisible intermediary as a grant-maker is that it makes it difficult to effectively fundraise for endowment –”

• “ for 12 years, a grant-maker no endowment building – in 2009 £180,000 in endowment (before grassroots challenge) – Grassroots challenge was lift off moment! …achieved matched funding, now £3m plus in endowment. It generated a completely different mindset about what a community foundation should be’ - (we have) confidence from the endowment.”

…and:

• “In terms of public policy, how do you choose what to stand up for?.... needs of small groups that will always be the case , so the continued need for grant making, but diificul to chose areas to prioritise in a policy sense – stick with the more general issues…fairness, equity”

• “the grassroots grant fund was not linked to deprivation in any way - challenge for CFS individually is knowing quite where to start with the 'community aspect' or the 'philanthropy aspect' – we still have to reflect the broad range of opinions on giving and community needs in our localities”

• “ the council have decided to prioritise children and young people – not to say that we don’t support that area – but should we fund another area where there are cuts or should we fund what we think local need determines?”

• With relations with local authorities particularly challenging, ranging from the CF which “has a hot desk at the town hall”, to the CF which ““tries and stay away from local government unless it’s strategic relevance, ……we drop in when we need to”

Different notions of place and place leadership

From: Jung, Harrow and Phillips (2013), Developing a better understanding of community foundations in the UK’s localism, Policy & Politics

Differentiated conceptualisations of place and place leadership in UK community foundations

From: Jung, Harrow and Phillips (2013), Developing a better understanding of community foundations in the UK’s localism, Policy & Politics

Reflections I

• Interpretations of localism

producing contrasting foci for

community foundations

• Internal, continuous and

convergent struggle

• Complex interplay between

roles

Reflections II

• Question of necessity/ viability of a single/

singular notion of community foundations

• Question if the English/Welsh predominance

of endowment building might be limiting and

challenging the multi-purpose nature of the

community foundation model

The road ahead…

• Reframing of what community

foundations are away from ‘the agile

servant’ perspective?

• Potential (positive/negative) for

increasing institutional competition?

• Schism between small community

foundations and über-foundations?

• Sense of ‘conditional localism’?