The Tudor Trust has announced a switch to invitation-only funding, with the grant-maker pledging £10m to racial justice organisations in its first round since a major restructure.
As part of its new strategy, the Trust is focused on providing larger, but fewer, longer-term grants to charities tackling racial injustice.
The grant-maker has no plans for open applications, with its second round of funding since the restructure set to be invite-only when it begins in June 2025.
The Trust is continuing to review its grant-making models and hoped to avoid relying on “lengthy, competitive application processes”.
“We want to move away from traditional funding models that can create a sense of competition and pitting organisations against each other,” a spokesperson for the Trust said.
“For this reason, we have no immediate plans for open applications.”
In 2023, the Tudor Trust announced a review of its operations after closing to grant applications the year before.
Its previous board stepped down to allow for a new cohort of trustees to come in to focus on racial justice.
As part of its new mission, the Trust has restructured its leadership to bring in a more diverse board and staff.
The Trust, which has assets of £230m and committed just under £16m in grants for the 2023-24 financial year, is now focused on funding organisations that tackle the root causes of systemic inequity and racial injustice.
The first round of funding will award a total of £10m to 18 organisations across the UK that advance racial justice and drive systemic change.
Eleven of the 18 funded organisations will receive a total of £9.3m in flexible and unrestricted long-term funding distributed over periods of up to six years.
The other seven, smaller organisations that are still developing their strategic ambitions, will receive one-off unrestricted grants of £100,000 each.
The Trust said the funding round would allow it to test a different grant-making model that shifts power from trustee-led decision-making to staff who are closer to the issues on the ground.
Organisations that are already receiving the Trust’s grants will continue to be funded until the end of their existing agreements.
For further information about the Trust and its grant-making, please visit its website.
Source: Civil Society News