An Introduction to London Funders

London Funders is the membership network for funders and investors in London’s civil society

Who we are 
London Funders is the only cross-sector membership network for funders and investors in London’s civil society. We’re uniquely placed to enable funders from all sectors to be effective. We’re focused on collaboration – convening funders to connect, contribute and cooperate together, to help people across London’s communities to live better lives.

The need for London Funders
London is a complex city and its funding landscape is changing dramatically. This change is being driven by a combination of factors including the redefining of the role of the state (both national and local), the changing profile of poverty and the needs of the population within London, and the increasingly complex governance and public policy landscape that our members operate within.

Other regions and countries in the UK have particular needs and disadvantages but in London their scale and complexity are masked by areas of extreme affluence. Funders need to know about how policy affects the capital and how funding can be developed to meet the diverse needs of London’s communities.

London Funders is unique in bringing together public sector funders and commissioners, with independent foundations, social and corporate investors, lottery funders and others. Our members invest in every aspect of London’s life, from the arts through to welfare, and they fund across all 32 boroughs and the City of London. These funds are invested in London through a number of channels including the voluntary and community sectors, social enterprises and the private sector, as well as directly to the citizens of London.

Our Beliefs

• We believe that Londoners should be at the heart of our work, and that of our members – with their needs, their strengths and their hopes driving developments in the funding community. 
• We believe that effective and resilient civil society organisations are essential to enabling London’s people and communities to thrive. 
• We believe that civil society organisations are best supported to meet the needs of Londoners when funding is based on a shared understanding of need, with good funding practices, and a collaborative approach to funding that ensures resources are channelled to the right places. 
• We believe that social systems - the policy framework within which civil society operates, and how funding is accessed by civil society organisations - can be altered to meet the needs of Londoners better. As part of this, we believe that funders can be active advocates for changes to policies and structures that affect civil society organisations. 

Our work and strategy
As funding and policy challenges continue, our priorities are focusing on funders working together better, with clearer priorities and a commitment to additionality; new ways of working, challenging funders and providers; and modelling evidence- and intelligence-led solutions.
To reflect our ambition, the Executive Committee has developed a 3 year strategy for 2018-21 which is available to download here.

In this strategy London Funders aims to enable the funding community in London to support communities to face the challenges, and seize the opportunities, of the changing environment in the coming years we will focus on:
  • setting out practically how funders can work differently so that the issues facing Londoners are addressed more effectively;
  • playing a key role in creating new frameworks for civil society which enable a more resilient an sustainable London where individuals and communities thrive; and
  • working across the funding community to redefine the relationships between the public, privateand charitable sectors to support a fairer and more cohesive London.

Whilst working towards our ambitions we will also maintain our agility – responding to events and developments as they arise in London, to ensure we are effective at addressing emerging needs.
 

We are an accredited Living Wage Employer.