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Methodology

As a supra-regional funding foundation, we use social risk capital to facilitate experiments and boost their dissemination in civil society.  We work with and support civil society organizations as they grow – acting as a complement and counterbalance to public and private sector players.  We place considerable emphasis on a clearly defined methodology which involves: promoting entrepreneurship, learning by doing, networking stakeholders, creating transparency.



How we support and nurture:

We are entrepreneurial and take risks; we believe in cooperation based on partnerships; and we see ourselves as a learning organization that constantly questions itself and is prepared to keep evolving.


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 project leaders are actively and regularly involved in supporting the organisation.  And through the ‘Schöpflin Coaching and Capacity Building Network’ we also provide our grantees with experienced advisors and coaches, should they need them.

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.


Learning Foundation

We see ourselves as a learning foundation. But if one wants to improve, one has to identify weaknesses and development potential. For this reason, we decided to conduct a partner survey in 2019, as this can help to understand the perception of our own funding practice and methodology from the outside, strengthen trust and identify needs.

The survey of our funding partners should not only serve to reflect on our role as a foundation and to optimize our own way of working. It also aimed to send a signal to our partners that their opinion counts. Last but not least, we also want to set an example for cooperation based on partnership in the sector.


Schöpflin Foundation partner survey

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)

Contact:
Anna Häßlin
E-Mail: anna.haesslin@remove-this.schoepflin-stiftung.de

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 program managers 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 program managers 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«

Contact:
Anna Häßlin
E-Mail: anna.haesslin@remove-this.schoepflin-stiftung.de



Leadership Day

Since 2017, we have held an annual “Leadership Day” for our grantees and network partners.  At these events we work together on the social challenges of the day that we are specifically focusing on.  The Leadership Days provide an opportunity for us all to inspire each other, to learn from each other and to exchange ideas.



Code of Conduct

The values ​​and policies we use for philanthropic purposes are set out in our Code of Conduct.


Download Code of Conduct
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