Case study: Setting up the Cambridge In Need fund

Professor Helen Valentine, Chair of Trustees at United Charities of Cambridge, kindly shared her experience of working with us on the Cambridge In Need fund:

The idea behind Cambridge In Need

“United Charities of Cambridge (formerly Cambridge United Charities) received substantial additional rental and investment income from the disposal of a property in the centre of Cambridge.

During early 2022, the trustees debated what we should do with this additional income of circa £100,000 per year.

We decided that a substantial proportion of it should be allocated to beneficiaries living in Cambridge who meet the objectives of the charity – broadly, to relieve ‘need, hardship or distress’. After debating how best to achieve this, we decided that we would continue to route funds via existing charities, rather than try to allocate monies directly to individuals.

We considered setting up our own grants programme, but a contact suggested that the Foundation could administer grants on our behalf. After meeting with the team to find out more, we decided to set up a fund with the Foundation.”

Motivations for setting up the fund

“We found a number of key advantages to partnering with the Foundation on our fund. These include, but are not limited to:

Reducing the risk of allocating funds to an unsuitable recipient – we felt that the due diligence required on our behalf was beyond our administrative resources.
Tapping into the Foundation’s existing website and promotional channels for funds meant that we wouldn’t have to worry about how to promote the fund.
The knowledge and expertise of the Foundation’s staff about the strengths, challenges and priorities of other charities in Cambridge would take us a long time to build up by ourselves.
The administration of the grant application process by the Foundation meant that we could minimise the work involved for our trustees.”

“
Working with the Foundation has been beneficial and cost effective. The Grants Team are great to work with and share our values, making the process easy and enjoyable.
”
Professor Helen Valentine
Chair of Trustees at United Charities of Cambridge and Cambridge In Need panel member

Early experiences of the fund

“We worked with the Foundation’s Grants Team to agree the criteria, application process and timescales. The Grants Team then put all the processes in place to set up the fund and invite applications.

The fund was oversubscribed from the very first round of applications.

Following individual reviews and scoring of applications, a panel meeting involving our trustees and the Foundation’s Grants Team discussed applications and agreed on the grant allocations.”

“
The panel discussion was enjoyable, but robust, and we felt that it led to sound decisions. The expertise of the Foundation’s Grants Team helped to inform our choices. Nevertheless, we felt firmly in control of the final awarded grants. This is important to us as we do not want to feel that we are ‘rubber stamping’ decisions that have already been made.
”
Professor Helen Valentine
Chair of Trustees at United Charities of Cambridge and Cambridge In Need panel member

“All of the applications were from great local organisations achieving impactful work in our community, but some were less central to the fund’s core priorities and geographical area.

We took learnings from the first round and tweaked the fund criteria accordingly for the next round. We hope to continue to do so as we refine our thinking over time. However, we felt reassured that no major changes to the criteria or process were required.

The trustees involved in the Cambridge In Need fund report outcomes back to our full board of trustees, so that they know who the fund has supported and why.

In summary, although it is still early days, we have thoroughly enjoyed working with the Foundation. All three panel members from the first round are keen to be involved again, which says something positive, I think.”

“
My advice to anyone considering setting up a similar fund would be to meet with the Foundation, so that you understand what service they can provide and so that they really understand what you hope to achieve. If you choose to work with the Foundation, you can rest assured that they will administer the process for you in an efficient, effective and collegiate manner.
”
Professor Helen Valentine
Chair of Trustees at United Charities of Cambridge and Cambridge In Need panel member

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