A third of funders in London have increased the value of their charity grants or plan to do so as the cost of living crisis bites, according to a survey.
Foundations in the capital are reacting to a “genuine sense of desperation” among the charities they support, the survey says, as inflation and energy prices rise.
The report, by London Funders, found that more than 40 per cent of foundations said they were making their giving more flexible to help charities during the crisis.
The findings are based on a survey of 54 funders. The majority are charitable foundations, as well as some public bodies and corporate funders.
The paper says 13 per cent of these funders have already applied an uplift to one-year grants, while another 19 per cent said they “were planning” to do so.
It says 13 per cent have also already offered to increase the value of multi-year grants and a further 24 per cent plan to follow suit.
It comes after the National Lottery Community Fund, the country’s biggest grant-maker, announced that it was uplifting some of its grants https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/national-lottery-community-fund-promises-uplift-grants-inflation-bites/fundraising/article/1801232.
London Funders also found that about 80 per cent of foundations had heard from grantees that demand for their services was rising amid the cost of living crisis.
More than half also said that charities faced rising staff costs and were finding it hard to recruit and retain employees.
In August, the think tank Pro Bono Economics described inflation, which has hit a 40-year high, as an “all-hand-on-deck crisis” for the sector.
One funder is quoted in the report saying: “Some of our grantee organisations are reporting that their own staff are struggling with living costs, and some are referring their staff as well as beneficiaries to food banks.”
James Banks, chief executive of London Funders, said: “We saw the power of funders standing with the sector during the pandemic and offering more flexibility and trust so that charities could get on with supporting the most vulnerable in our community.
“Building on this type of funder practice will be even more important as we head into the winter.”