One of the UK’s largest independent grant-makers, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, has launched a new strategy with a focus on tackling injustice.
The Foundation’s new strategy for the period 2020-2025 will see one of the country’s largest grantmakers focus on three interdependent aims and play a more active influencing role.
Its three aims are:
1. Improving the natural world.
2. Tackling injustice to deliver a fairer future, and
3. Nurturing creative, confident communities.
The funder expects to continue to spend around £40m a year on grants and social investments, but work outside of its new aims will no longer be funded.
The strategy is intended to respond to some of the key challenges of today including climate change and the impact of Covid-19 on existing inequalities.
Under the new strategy, the funder will be providing larger and longer-term grants as well as strategic support to organisations or initiatives with “brilliant ideas” for working towards its aims.
This new approach will mean making fewer grants but achieving “better and more lasting results”.
In addition to providing grants and social investments, the Foundation will also play a more active role in using its influence, its position as an asset owner and its ability to broker alliances and remove barriers.
The new strategy is underpinned by the need to tackle structural inequality, racism and the causes and impacts of climate change.
New application process
The Foundation is open to new applications now, with a new process that it hopes will make it quicker and easier for organisations to find out if funding from Esmée is a possibility for them.
Organisations will be able to check their eligibility before submitting an expression of interest.
For further information about the Foundation’s Strategic Plan for 2020-2025, please visit its website.
