Lancaster University Management School - 54 Degrees Issue 12

T he Covid-19 pandemic brought new, unprecedented, demands on the not-for-pro fi t sector – at a time when income dropped substantially. The sector, including philanthropic foundations, has faced a series of economic challenges over the last 18 months, as it has worked to adapt and adjust in a totally new world. It is estimated that during the fi rst threemonths of the pandemic alone, £4.3 billionwas lost in the social sector through, for example, cancelled charity fundraising events. For most charities, this unprecedented loss of income came at a time when the demand for their services was increasing exponentially. With governments needing to prioritise areas such as healthcare, charities naturally looked to foundations for support in helping them to deliver services to some of the most vulnerable people in society. Over recent years there has been some criticism of foundations and the perceived complexity of grant applications and reporting procedures. However, during the early part of 2020, foundations were quick to respond through acts of humble leadership. Humble leadership f osters an approach that creates a feeling of psychological safety through relationship building, complex group work, diverse workforces and culture. In practical terms, this meant foundations rapidly simpli fi ed their processes for access to and use of funding, together with more streamlined reporting mechanisms. In psychological terms, it demonstrated that foundations were prepared to relinquish some of their ‘power’, to trust their grantees and to listen to them in order to improve outcomes for the most vulnerable in society. In some cases, foundations increased their funding allowance and accessed their endowments to create increased revenue streams in order to o ff er additional support to frontline services. This allowed charities to deliver programmes that o ff ered vital assistance, for example, initiatives that tackled widespread unemployment, isolation among the elderly, discontentment among the young and racial fractures. During the pandemic, The Rank Foundation j oined others in the sector by providing short-term emergency and resilience funding to those charities within its engaged network, RankNet. In addition, it capitalised on the wider sense of humility among those deemed to have the power, by creating a partnership with the UK Government’s Department of Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) and the National Lottery Community Fund t o distribute a new funding stream of £10m to small and medium-sized charities. Having developed its model of ‘engaged philanthropy’ over the last decade, the Rank Foundation had already established values of trust, honesty, respect, empathy, integrity and care for others. These values provided a fi rm base fromwhich to fairly distribute public funds with a compassionate approach. The Foundation’s vision, to sustainably eliminate inequalities by ‘bringing those closest to the pain, closer to the power’, is simple to articulate yet complex to action. No doubt, the pandemic has created the conditions for many foundations to better understand and to trust the charities they serve, allowing them to 20 | It is estimated that during the fi rst three months of the pandemic alone, £4.3 billion was lost in the social sector. .. ‘‘ ’ ’