Five ways KPE4 took a trust based approach to funding.

In comparison to many well established Charitable Trusts, KPE4 is a relatively new charitable fund and as such we are often not aware of what a conventional approach looks like. Added to this, we are small (just two trustees and two part time staff) which means we can be very agile in our approach. The result is that we often do things differently - here are five ways we have challenged the status quo with our approach to funding.

1. We prioritise relationships.

   We meet with staff, the leadership team, service users, volunteers and sit in as an observer in staff and board meetings. This allows us to really get to know the charities and develop our understanding, including the challenges they face. The result is that they can be open and honest with us if issues arise and also means we are less reliant on an application or assessment form to tell us what impact they will have/are having.

   
   

2. We let the organisations tell us what success looks like.

   It doesn't make sense for us to decide what good looks like just so that it fits a goal we have set. As the people closest to the community and with years of experience, we ask the charities and organisations to tell us what impact they would expect to have. We don't judge them on vantity metrics such as the number of individuals they work with but instead let them show us their impact through case studies and other results as they see fit.

   
   

3. We give autonomy to those on the ground

   There is a huge responsibility for funders to select the charities that will have the most impact in addressing the needs of service users. Based in the heart of the community, schools have a strong understanding of what their pupils need most. So rather than funding a charity who then approaches the school to offer them a fully funded service, we trust the schools to recommend which charities they think we should fund.

   
   

4. We trust charities on how and when to report back to us

   We have always taken a lean approch and kept the requirement for reporting light, however a new iteration this year is that we no longer have an assessment form to be completed at the end of the year. Instead charities are simply asked to tell us what they think we should know about what they have achieved and problems encountered, in 500 words or less. They are able to provide this at any point over the year that makes sense to them (eg timing it when perhaps other reporting requires to be completed. The hope is that reducing the admin, gives them more time on delivery.

   
   

5. We fail forward!

   We love innovation and want to encourage charities to think about different ways they could tackle a problem, without fearing failure. We fund their suggestions and regardless of how successful they are in delivering the aim, we recognise the huge value that comes from testing and learning (and potentially trying again with an iterated approach).