Grants

NAVCA believes that grants are key to sustaining local voluntary and community action.

Grants can be flexible, lever extra support, keep a good project going or help an organisation develop its capacity to deliver sevices.

Grant aid is an essential part of the local funding mix for community organisations and remains essential for thriving local communities and, sometimes, is the only suitable funding for some groups.

There are a number of policy drivers causing local authorities to review the way in which they fund the sector. Not least of these is the emphasis that Government has placed on the sector's service delivery role in recent years. Local authorities, like the rest of the public sector, are under increasing pressure to make efficiency savings and to demonstrate value for money in the way they utilise their resources. As a result we are seeing a shift away from grant funding. NAVCA supports a mixed economy of funding for the voluntary and community sector where grants, service contracts and endowments all have their place.

Where there is a move away from grant funding, it is likely to have particular implications for smaller and newer organisations that lack the capacity to meet service delivery specifications. These organisations often add value locally by:

• addressing the needs or interests for specific groups within the community;
• building social capital;
• improving quality of life;
• providing a sense of community and belonging.

Local voluntary organisations and community groups run vital preventative services such as reducing youth offending and supporting families where children are at risk of being taken into care. These services help to prevent social exclusion and reduce the costs associated with youth crime and family breakdown. Grants are vital tin supporting these local services that add value to statutory provision by:

• offering impact beyond scale: for example using an initial grant to lever additional funds from community foundations;
• reaching people whose voices are seldom heard;
• involving their users and the wider community, reflecting the diversity of local areas;
• promoting active citizenship through volunteering and philanthropy;
• looking beyond the narrow focus of a contract to tackle the breadth of issues faced by their beneficiaries;
• focusing on the quality of life within their communities;
• improving outcomes for individuals through one-to-one support;
• responding directly to community needs;
• addressing local needs and concentrating on outcomes rather than a specific target;
• reaching those who may otherwise "avoid" approaching or responding directly to statutory providers.

As part of the Local Grants Forum NAVCA is campaigning on the importance of grants. We call on all local authorities and other local statutory bodies working with communities to establish grant funding to support community initiatives as part of a sustainable funding mix for the local voluntary and community sector.