Methodology

• 1. Entrepreneurial funding and assistance through social venture capital

  The capital, the income from which is used to finance the Foundation’s activities, is the result of entrepreneurial activity.  And it is in this same entrepreneurial spirit that we work with our funding partners.  We facilitate experimentation; we provide financing for organisations when they are first starting out; and we support and promote growth.

• 2. Overall support for organisations – not just one-off project financing

  We focus on supporting an organisation over the course of several years.  Our aim is to make sure that strong civil-society players become well established in their particular field of activity.  But this takes time and patience.  We pursue innovative approaches that offer new solutions to tackle the major challenges faced by our society; and we support projects that can provide leverage to achieve this goal.  By working in this way, we help to turn small ideas into big projects.

• 3. The ‘sniffer dog’ approach

  We ‘sniff out’ our grantees for ourselves.  In other words, we don’t use a fixed check-list to make sure that our grantees meet all our requirements.  Over time we have come to realise that we primarily support organisations that have certain qualities – namely an entrepreneurial spirit, clear objectives and a sense of exactly how they are contributing to systemic change.

• 4. Active support

  We see ourselves as ‘co-entrepreneurs’ of each of our grantees – even if we are not actual shareholders.  At the beginning of each grant project, we sit down with our grantees and work out what specific needs – in addition to the straightforward financial support - their organisation actually has.  This might be coaching, or a strategic process; a new organisational structure, or testing the waters to see if the organisation can go international. Our team provides active and regular support. This includes support in the area of capacity building.

• 5. Our expectations: we look for genuine partners

  As part of each grant agreement we set out so-called milestones.  These are goals that, over the course of time, our grantees should achieve.  After that, we make relatively few demands of our grantees other than asking for a fair exchange on and feedback about how the work is progressing; and for details of how, during the period of the grant, the options that have been pursued should be further enhanced and developed.

• 6. Strengthening networks

  We support networking and alliance-building among NGOs - because sometimes, being many in number makes things simpler.  We promote and support the development of entire subject areas – for example through studies and networking events.

• 7. Supporting organizations through joint-funding

  We are usually joint-funders of projects, in conjunction with other foundations.  This works in two different ways.  On some projects, we get involved right in the very early stages and then work to bring in other partners to form a funding consortium.  With other projects, we know very well that we don’t always have to reinvent the wheel and that, in the later stages, good projects need additional funding in order to scale up their work – so here we are happy to link up with projects that are already receiving funding from other foundations and become joint-funders.

• 8. The funding process

  A
  It all begins with a conversation. We visit potential grantees in order to understand what it is they do and how they have an impact. We meet their team; and we hear about the challenges they face.
  
  B
  Then, back at our own organisation, we discuss the project, analyse the relevant documents and form an overall impression.
  
  C
  If, in principal, we feel able to move forward with funding, we then discuss objectives and how to achieve them. We invite the potential grantee to put in a grant application and we draw up a grant agreement.
  
  D
  The grant begins. Together we agree on how often we will meet and how we will keep each other informed about developments.

• 9. Ready to learn

  The proof of the pudding is in the eating.  If we don’t make mistakes, we can’t improve.  Not every organisation develops in the way in which it had hoped.  Not every project is a success.  We know only too well how difficult it is to become a truly ‘learning organisation’, one where mistakes are allowed and seen as opportunities.  As difficult as it may be, we want to be an organisation that is ready to learn.

Partner Survey 2019

• Goals and results

  

  In 2019, the Schöpflin Foundation conducted a partner survey to review its own funding strategy and methodology after four years of funding activity. For the partner survey, 82 current and former funding partners as well as "critical friends" were contacted, more than 80% of whom participated. We commissioned an external service provider, Wider Sense GmbH, to carry out the survey. This was to ensure that all information remained completely anonymous.

  Basically, the results of the partner survey confirmed the path taken by the foundation and strengthened our self-image as a "learning foundation" that admits and allows mistakes, acts entrepreneurially and pragmatically and also takes a political position. We have also been strengthened in our aim to support NGOs and social enterprises in their long-term organizational support in a spirit of partnership and on an equal footing, and to supplement the support with capacity building, coaching and networking.

  With regard to our funding methods and strategy, however, points of criticism, suggestions and wishes were also expressed. We have therefore taken the results of the partner survey as an opportunity not only to reflect on our funding methods and strategy, but also to sharpen our own position as a foundation and to derive further steps for the future from this. We have identified the following main wishes of the funding partners with regard to the funding process:

  • More transparency and process clarity during the funding initiation, funding phases and prolongation.
  • Clarity about the mutual expectations of the support, also about capacity building and networking.
  • Professionalization not only on the part of the funding partners, but also on the part of the contact persons in the foundation (further development of one's own competences).

  We believe that we have the same fundamental understanding of a successful partnership as our funding partners in the most important points. This can only be achieved on the basis of a relationship based on trust, for which, in turn, transparency, clear communication of mutual expectations and tolerance of error on both sides are fundamental.

  PDF Download Results of the partner survey (Wider Sense)

• Findings and derivations

  

  Following the criticisms, suggestions and wishes of our funding partners, we have defined the Schöpflin Foundation's position in funding partnerships in 10 basic principles. In addition, we have decided on changes and adjustments in our funding methodology and our funding processes in various fields of action.

  These include, but are not limited to

  Initiation of funding:

  • Clear process communication by the Heads of Grant Management and the setting of four fixed dates per year at which funding decisions are made. However, we will not formulate a fixed catalogue of criteria for funding, nor can we specify a fixed period of time until a decision is ready.

  Funding commitment:

  • Joint determination of the milestones to be achieved, mutual expectations and responsibilities (e.g. in the case of prolongations etc.) on the basis of a guideline and documentation of the agreements reached here.

  Funding phase:

  • Clear communication and comparison of mutual expectations. Planning security for the funding partners through early decision on prolongations. Further development of the foundation's expertise through further training of the program managers (e.g. commercial area and organizational development). Coordination of expectations with regard to networking. Long-term support, because trust takes time.

  Capacity building:

  • We are firmly convinced of the importance of coaching and capacity building for the further development of an organization. Our offer of such measures may therefore be part of the funding agreement in the future. Here, however, an expectation comparison is made with the wishes and needs from the point of view of the funding partners.

  Close support:

  • We continue to believe in the added value of close support for our funding partners. The Heads of Grant Management act in the role of a critical sparring partner who has an eye on the development of the organization as well as the agreed milestones and who remains in discussion about deviations (which are not generally excluded).

  Funding consortia:

  •  We cannot fundamentally resolve the power gap that exists between funding agencies and funding recipients. However, we are convinced that a partnership at eye level can be realized through long-term cooperation based on trust. A good way to reduce the dependency of organizations on individual donors is to create funding consortia.

  We therefore see our opportunities as a foundation to contribute to a successful funding partnership above all in close, long-term support that is characterized by transparency and process clarity and has the goal of firmly anchoring our funding partners in the field through networking, consulting and capacity building.

  PDF Download »Our attitude in funding partnerships: 10 basic principles«

   

Partner Survey 2022

• Goals and results

  

  The goal of the partner survey conducted in 2022 was to review the change processes implemented after the first survey, to identify potential blind spots, and to enhance the further development of our strategy and grantmaking methodology. In addition to current grantees and rapid response grant recipients as the main target group, experiences of so-called “exits” (former grantees) were also included.

  This second partner survey was again conducted by Wider Sense GmbH, thus ensuring that all information remains completely anonymous. The partner survey was addressed to 50 current grantees of the Schöpflin Foundation as well as to 53 recipients of our Rapid Response Grants(RRG). Response rates were average at 56 % for long-term grantees and 51% for RRG recipients. In order to deepen and complement the results of the online survey, additional interviews were conducted with six of the current grantees and three former grantees.

  The participating grantees were asked about their expectations and assessments of internal processes and the administrative workload during the initiation period, funding phase, and funding termination. In addition, they could give their perspective on the personal cooperation with their contact persons, on the support services as well as on the strategy and impact of the Schöpflin Foundation. The RRG recipients evaluated the grant initiation process, the approach and methodology, and the impact of the grant.

  Overall, the results were very positive and have fundamentally encouraged us in our grantmaking approach and the path we have taken since 2019. The majority of the surveyed grantees particularly appreciate the close personal and sometimes demanding cooperation with their counterparts during the initiation phase and further partnership, as well as the needs-based orientation of administrative tasks and support services. The RRG recipients confirm that the unbureaucratic funding is particularly helpful as a quick financial relief and creates freedom to pursue longer-term projects parallel to the daily project routine.

  Both our longterm grantees and the RRG recipients see a need for improvement in the development and standardization of criteria for grantmaking decisions and follow-up funding, as well as in the transparent presentation of process flows and decision-making competencies.

  The detailed results of the partner survey can be viewed here: PDF download (German)
   

• Findings and conclusions

  

  0

  The results of the partner survey in 2022 have encouraged us in our plan to prioritize further professionalization steps for our grantmaking. In doing so, we will focus on four key dimensions: Standardization and quality assurance, transparency of grantmaking decisions, better communication of the Foundation’s strategy and its individual program areas, as well as extending the competence profiles of our Heads of Grant Management.

  A Standardization and quality assurance

  We are aware that standardization of our processes means simplification and time savings for our partners and for ourselves. At the same time, we want to create more room for individual relationship building with our grantees. The current priority is to transfer quality standards into digital processes. For this reason, we have expanded our grants management to optimize and implement the digitalization of our grants administration. We are also in close exchange with other foundations to identify the suitable software for handling our grant processes. The future software should be able to adequately represent our breathing structures and intelligently combine individuality and standardization.

  B Grantmaking decisions

  As in our first partner survey, a need was expressed to be more transparent about our decision-making processes. We understand this desire, but believe that it is impossible to create complete transparency about the processes that ultimately lead to a funding decision. Especially as a foundation with an entrepreneurial approach, there needs to be some margin for factors that cannot be codified in a rigid set of criteria.

  However, in the future we will visibly communicate the levels of our decision-making authority so that it becomes clear at which levels and in which constellation decisions are made. These levels are:

  • Funding volume (€ 50,000 per Head of Grant Management) for "Rapid Response Grants" amounting to a maximum of € 5,000 per individual grant and a grant of up to € 25,000, which will be decided on a four-eye basis with another Head of Grant Management.
  • Grants of up to € 50,000 p.a. per individual grant with an annual volume of € 400,000 are decided by the Executive Board on the basis of a funding recommendation by the Heads of Grant Management.
  • All funding sums above and beyond this is decided jointly by the Executive Board and the Board Chair on the basis of a recommendation from the Head of Grant Management.
  • From a volume of € 100,000 p.a., the Foundation's's Advisory Board comments on the funding recommendation to the Board of Directors and the respective Head of Grant Management
  • For volumes of € 300,000 p.a. or more, approval by the Advisory Board is required.

  Over the past few months, our grantmaking team has also been exploring the topic of "participatory giving" and has decided to set up a prototype starting this fall, which will be realized in 2024.

  C Our strategy

  In the partner survey it also became clear that our grantees do not always feel fully informed about our strategy or do not understand the overall context of our activities. We have therefore set out to define and describe the following fundamentals of our work more precisely:

  • Values that guide us in our work;
  • our impact narrative; that is, the mechanics of how we achieve impact;
  • Theory of Changes for each of the four program areas.

  
  D Competence profiles of the Heads of Grant Management

  Our aim is to further develop our competence profiles in line with our needs, and in doing so we also draw on feedback from our partner survey. We are currently focusing on various training and further qualification processes within the entire grantmaking team and beyond. These include:

  • Organizational development process;
  • training in "non-violent communication";
  • moderation training;
  • 2 ½-day anti-racism training (with a team of 18 executives from the entire foundation);
  • individual training in the areas of facilitating as well as finance and controlling.
     

  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Anna Häßlin from the grantmaking team.