Sustainable funding report launched by WCVA

A new report entitled ‘
Sustainable Funding for the Third Sector‘ has been released by
WCVA this week.

The report is a result of a cross-sector funding roundtable
discussion, hosted by WCVA and paid for by European funding.

The roundtable featured representatives from the voluntary
sector, third sector, funders, Welsh Government, local government,
academics and charitable foundations.

The discussion focused on the challenges the sector faces in
finding funding. Topics raised included commissioning and
collaboration issues between smaller and larger organisations.

The report uses the discussions and other pieces of research to
propose a series of actions to be undertaken by partners, in
co-ordination with WCVA, to address the issues and challenges
identified.

Tipping the scale

‘We can clearly see from this report that capacity for
fundraising within the third sector is extremely limited, with
small and medium sized charities at a particular disadvantage,’
says Judith Stone, Assistant Director for Sector Development at
WCVA. 

‘The report identifies potential areas for growth including
strengthening relationships to build income streams from trusts and
foundations and legacy fundraising.

It also sets out seven priorities for action that will guide our
work, with partners, over the next 12-18 months.’ 

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Internal and External barriers

The report groups the issues raised at the discussion into two
headings: ‘Internal’ and ‘External’.

The internal issues identified problems arising from a lack of
communication and collaboration.

This included a lack of time to invest in generating income, and
a lack of skills to bid effectively and demonstrate impact.

The broader external issues were around systemic challenges and
the funding landscape.

The focus here was on the upscaling of contract commissions,
ambition, and the looming threat of Brexit.

Read the full report
Sustainable Funding for the Third Sector.

For a breakdown of the main points and analysis, our Sustainable
Funding Manager Dewi Smith has written a blog-
What are the barriers to financial sustainability?