On the #63
Some incredibly clear communications from The Robertson Trust about their pending Pause on their Large Grants, announced on 8th May 2026.
This included;
✅ When they are pausing and re-opening (from 12pm on 27th May 2026, reopening in August 2026)
✅Why they are pausing (with some interesting success rates and observations on AI)
✅What is changing when they re-open (new 2-stage process for Large Grants that will also involve a lighter touch first stage)
You can read the full details here;
I urge any grant-makers experiencing the same to do this in the open - clear communications and useful information, even it is feels uncomfortable to reveal success rates.
You can find out more about the changes to grant-making that the Robertson Trust have undergone on The List.
It is fascinating to observe how grant-makers like The Robertson Trust, who underwent an early pause are navigating the gap between their strategy and their practice, in a landscape where demand on charities continues to grow while available funding remains stretched.
Whilst I absolutely applaud The Robertson Trust's commitment to continuous learning, at what stage do we call this a crisis?
The Coffee Shop
Interesting research from IVAR; Searching for Life Rafts: The Funding Experience
Survey 2026.
'The irony is stark: as your chances of success decrease, the amount of work required to apply has gone up.'
For those who feel funding practices have got worse, some of the main reasons given for this included:
• Unpredictable and erratic funder behaviour (e.g. pausing or closing funding programmes).
• Increasing numbers of funders moving to ‘invitation-only’ applications, leading to inequalities within the sector and leaving little room for supporting newer, less experienced organisations.
• Burdensome administrative demands upon application when success rates are reducing.
• Restrictive or unrealistic funding priorities (e.g. prioritising innovation rather than funding evidence-based interventions and expecting small/medium charities to shift to doing systems change work).
• Narrowing and restrictive eligibility criteria (e.g. income caps) and grant sizes not keeping pace with sector-wide changes (i.e. rising organisational costs).
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