Summary of research with key stakeholders

Summary of research with key stakeholdersLloyds Bank Foundation, Board meeting

Tim Harrison, Joe Saxton

Objectives

• The overall objectives for this project are to talk to a breadth of stakeholders for the Lloyds TSB Foundation to:

• Find out their understanding and perceptions of the Foundation

• Tease out the key threads of their views – both positive and negative

• Set out clearly those themes, and how the Foundation could act on them going forward

Methodology• nfpSynergy interviewed grantees and applicants between 25th

November and 20th December 2013. • 656 grantees and 56 applicants responded to the online survey; an

overall total of 712. Grantees were defined as having been successful with their most recent grant application; applicants as those who were unsuccessful.

• nfpSynergy interviewed 25 of Lloyds TSB’s key stakeholders between 28th October and 16th December 2013. Stakeholders were divided into the following sectors:• Grantees• Unsuccessful applicants• Lloyds Banking Group staff• Lloyds TSB Foundation staff and trustees• Other grant makers• Infrastructure organisations and voluntary sector bodies• Research organisations and think tanks

Views from grantees and unsuccessful applicants

Both grantees and applicants positive about the application process

Base: 712 grantees and applicantsSource: Lloyds TSB Foundation survey with grantees and applicants, Jan 14, nfpSynergy 5

“How would you rate the overall experience of the application process?”

Full sample Grantees Applicants1% 0% 4%1% 0%

7%3% 2%

21%9% 7%

30%

32%32%

30%54% 58%

5%ExcellentGoodOKPoorNot good at allDon't know

Most respondents hear back within three months

Base: 712 grantees and applicantsSource: Lloyds TSB Foundation survey with grantees and applicants, Jan 14, nfpSynergy 6

“How long did it take for a decision to be made on your grant application?”

Under a month

1 - 3 months

4 – 6 months

7 – 9 months

9 – 12 months

Over a year

Not sure

5%

65%

21%

2%

0%

0%

5%

5%

66%

20%

2%

0%

0%

5%

4%

53%

33%

4%

0%

0%

4%

ApplicantsGranteesFull sample

Grantees do not find reporting back difficult

Base: 656 grantees of Lloyds TSB FoundationSource: Lloyds TSB Foundation survey with grantees and applicants, Jan 14, nfpSynergy 7

“How did you find the reporting back on the grant once it was awarded?”

Full sample3%

25%

29%

42%We are still to report backNot at all dif -ficult Not very dif -ficult Somewhat dif -ficult Very difficult Don't know

Grantees view the Foundation very positively in comparison to other funders

Base: 656 grantees and applicantsSource: Lloyds TSB Foundation survey with grantees and applicants 8

“When you think about your experience of applying for and getting a grant with Lloyds TSB Foundation how would you say they compare with other grant-makers?”

39% 43% 40% 43% 34%

28% 33% 27% 29% 45%

Don't knowMuch worseWorseAbout the sameMuch betterBetter

Inform

ation

abou

t

grants

and

appli

catio

n proc

ess

The e

ase o

f the

appli

catio

n proc

ess

The l

ength

take

n to

make a

n app

licati

on

befor

e a de

cision

The s

peed

of de

cision

Appro

acha

bility

of

Lloyd

s TSB

Foun

datio

n ove

rall

Over two thirds of grantees think the Foundation understand them

Base: 656 grantees and applicantsSource: Lloyds TSB Foundation survey with grantees and applicants 9

“When you think about your experience of applying for and getting a grant with Lloyds TSB Foundation how would you say they compare with other grant-makers?”

Restr

ictive

ness

of gra

nt

progra

mmesAp

propri

ate

grant

monito

ring

Unders

tandin

g

us as

gran

tees

Know

ledge

of

spec

ialist

gra

nt pro

grammes Tre

ating

us

as

partn

ers

26% 34% 37% 30% 32%

17% 22% 32% 20% 24%

-5% -8% -3%-13% -7%

Don't knowMuch worseWorseAbout the sameMuch betterBetter

Applicants understandably do not view the Foundation as positively as grantees

Base: 57 applicants to Lloyds TSB FoundationSource: Lloyds TSB Foundation survey with grantees and applicants, Jan 14, nfpSynergy 10

“When you think about your experience of applying for and NOT getting a grant with Lloyds TSB Foundation how would you say they compare with other grant-makers?”

Inform

ation

abou

t

grants

and

appli

catio

n proc

ess

The e

ase o

f the

appli

catio

n proc

ess

The l

ength

take

n to

make a

n app

licati

on

befor

e a de

cision

The s

peed

of de

cision

Appro

acha

bility

of

Lloyd

s TSB

Foun

datio

n ove

rall

33%30% 16% 32% 32%

4%4% 0%

0% 12%

-5% -15%-16% -9% -12%

0%0%

-2%

0%

-4%-11%

Don't knowMuch worseWorseAbout the sameMuch betterBetter

A third of applicants think other funders understand them better than the Foundation

Base: 57 applicants to Lloyds TSB FoundationSource: Lloyds TSB Foundation survey with grantees and applicants, Jan 14, nfpSynergy 11

“When you think about your experience of applying for and NOT getting a grant with Lloyds TSB Foundation how would you say they compare with other grant-makers?”

14% 18% 25% 18% 28%2% 2% 5% 4% 5%

-12%

0%

-23% -7% -9%-9% -11% -7%-5%

-32%-4% -12% -4%

Don't knowMuch worseWorseAbout the sameMuch betterBetter

Restr

ictive

ness

of gra

nt

progra

mmesAp

propri

ate

grant

monito

ring

Unders

tandin

g

us as

gran

tees

Know

ledge

of

spec

ialist

gra

nt pro

grammes Tre

ating

us

as

partn

ers

Core funding and Grant Managers are key strengths

Grant Managers and core funding very helpful

13

• Benefits of Grant Managers include saving the Foundation and applicants time by clearly articulating who the Foundation funds, making helpful suggestions for improvements to charities and improving the quality of the applications that applicants make, not just to the Foundation, but also to other funders.

• Core funding quite rare and a strength.“We have found that by having a grant manager as a clear point of

contact throughout the application process that it can

prove to be a more straight forward and time-effective

process. It also ensures that the grant provider has a better

understanding of the aims and objectives for the work being

delivered with realistic expectations.”

Grantee

“I think their positioning is actually pretty strong in terms of uses, particularly because they

major on core funding and that is so important and there are so

many funders that can’t do it. We can’t do it, I know many funders who won’t do it and I think that a funder that’s really committed in a high profile way to that such as

Lloyds, I think that’s brilliant.”Grant Maker

Lloyds Bank Foundation seen as very approachable during application process

Base: 712 grantees and applicantsSource: Lloyds TSB Foundation survey with grantees and applicants, Jan 14, nfpSynergy 14

“How approachable and helpful were the Lloyds TSB Foundation while making your application?”

Applicants

Grantees

Full sample

4% 5% 11% 26%

7%

9%

47%

90%

87%

Very unhelpful Quite unhelpful Neither Quite helpful Very helpful

Feedback to unsuccessful applicants could be improved

40% of unsuccessful applicants do not receive feedback and would find it useful

Base: 57 applicants to Lloyds TSB FoundationSource: Lloyds TSB Foundation survey with grantees and applicants, Jan 14, nfpSynergy 16

Yes and it was useful

Yes but it wasn’t very useful

No but that was OK

No and I would have found it useful

Can’t remember/Not sure

21%

23%

9%

40%

5%

“Did you receive any feedback on why your proposal was unsuccessful?”

The role of grant makers

Advocating on behalf of grantees at the national level

18

• Stakeholders feel comfortable if the Foundation were to start providing and commissioning research into work of grantees.

• However, reservations over the Foundation ‘jumping on the political bandwagon’ or being associated with campaigning organisations.

“The Rowntree Foundation does a great deal of research and into social and economic research and things and

they’re well respected for that, if a big organisation wants to set up some sort of research side like that, why not and

they could even provide funding for people to do research, so I don't see

why they shouldn’t do that. But academic research is quite different

from jumping on the political bandwagon, or pressure group.”

Grantee

Making evaluation simple

19

• Making sure evaluation is as simple as possible is a concern for all within the sector.

• Fellow grant makers trying to make evaluation as simple as possible.

“We fund a very large number of small

organisations and I speak from experience, we put a

lot of effort into helping them measure so I know

that that’s a real challenge for them.”

Grant Maker

“Clearly if something is relatively inexpensive, an example I always quote is something like an older person’s lunch club, let’s say that’s costing a tenner a

head a meal would feel like a reasonable number. As long as the thing is well

attended, people are voting with their feet and going to it, do you really need

to know much more? Probably not.”

Grant Maker

A very challenging time for funders

20

• The ‘perfect storm’ or increased demand and diminishing supply. Grant makers have seen more applications as applicants seek to replace statutory funding with grants, causing a great challenge in deciding who to fund.

• One respondent warned against thinking this was a unique moment, difficult times have been seen before in the sector and will be seen again.

“A perfect of storm of rising demand and diminishing supply because of

the government cuts and local government cuts and for general

economic climate, I think it means that more people need the support of charities but those charities has less money and less resources.”

Infrastructure organisation

“Danger in getting sucked into a mind-set that this is a unique moment for foundations in terms of the set of

challenges. So I guess one of the major challenges that foundations

face at the moment is not unique to the times, but it is acute, which is

being relevant and useful.”

Research organisation

Recommendations

Recommendations

22

Many of these recommendations speak to a continuation of positive steps taken by the Foundation.

1. Communicate the strengths of the Foundation to key stakeholders – core funding, a strong regional presence with regional Grant Managers and a positive relationship with a major financial institution.

2. Provide unsuccessful applicants with more and better feedback on their application and when they can apply again

3. Continue to build relationships with key contacts within Lloyds Banking Group, and develop strategies which utilise and engage retail staff with the Foundation

4. Identify areas where evaluation and reporting back can be made simpler for grantees

5. Decide if and how the Foundation wants to present itself on the national stage, with a strategy appropriate to the risks involved

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