Power play: neighbourhoods, funding & confronting the far right

The power tussle between good and evil feel particularly loud in the world right now.

It seems to be true in our sector, too, as we battle our way towards a political T-junction and all its potential ramifications.

But the recent loudness isn't just noise. It's people, groups and communities whose voices have previously been silenced joining forces and demanding better. Better policies, better partnerships, better funding. And not just sticking plaster solutions, but better systems.

In our latest edition of Unconventional Wisdom – our regular round-up of sector news and opinion pieces – Rachel Cross has collected six powerful examples of these voices in action. What makes these articles great is they don't just identify problems. They show and tell of how things can be better, and what we – as individuals and organisations – can do about it...

​Trust lives local: Recognising neighbourhood impact economies 
Written by Daisy Carter & James Somerville and published by ThinkNPC
This article explores the power of resourcing neighbourhoods as we sit on a critical political T-junction. With trust in political institutions and larger decision-making bodies visibly weakened, research reveals the public still place consistently high trust in charities and local civic organisations.

But ‘change moves at the speed of trust’, and Daisy and James argue that, with public trust currently favouring local organisations over the national (as the ones who hold communities together), it has never been more important to recognise and resource local impact economies that have often been over-looked in systems-level change.

What do we really mean by 'partnership' in the 3rd sector?
Written by Dolyanna Mordochai and published by Eastside People
Dolyanna addresses how the word “partnership” has “become something of a Swiss Army knife, multi-purpose, within reach, and frequently over-promised”, but often becomes just “a convenient label for arrangements that are more about fundraising than transformation.”

She explains the difference between third sector partnerships that are conformational (business as usual), reformational (adapting people to meet society’s needs) and transformational (adapting society to meet people’s needs). Crucially, Dolyanna gives sector leaders (both funder and forefront) some key actionable takeaways for moving towards more partnerships that are truly transformational.

What the 1980s Can Teach Philanthropists Confronting Today’s Far Right
Written by Jessica Oddy-Atuona and published by JMB Consulting (Uncharitable Papers)
Reflecting on the UK’s race uprisings, miners' strikes, Section 28, the AIDS epidemic and beginnings of aggressive gentrification of the 1980s, Jessica draws parallels between today’s rise of far-right extremism and asks how funding is responding to this rise. Are funders addressing symptoms, or causes?

Jessica argues that, whilst huge strides have been made towards "trust-based philanthropy", we must go further – towards “truth-based philanthropy": funding that acknowledges uncomfortable realities about how we got here and what it takes to get out. This, in practice, means resourcing political education, community infrastructure and spiritual practice/meaning-making as the drivers of extremism, and not just funding outcomes.

When help hurts: why leaders with disabilities are demanding fairer funding … and showing how it can be done
Written by Vanessa Herringshaw and published by Bond
From an international development focal point, Vanessa explores how a growing movement of sector leaders with disabilities in Africa and Asia are speaking out, not just against ‘helicopter’ aid organisations, but the funders who fuel these approaches which can do more harm than good to communities in need.

The article further highlights some real-world examples of where Participatory Grantmaking is challenging the status quo, achieving more real-world justice for people with disabilities internationally than any top-down funded programme ever could.

Contribution, not attribution: A smarter way to show the impact of advocacy and partnership working
Written by Emma Insley, founder of Insley Consulting
If your organisation operates anywhere within advocacy or policy-change, you’ll relate with how challenging it can be to demonstrate tangible, measurable impact. This is especially true of work that’s part of a wider collaboration between groups and services, where evidencing organisation- or individual-level change is complex and we might worry about over-claiming our involvement.

In this insightful blog, Emma provides a simple step-by-step guide, with examples from advocacy and service delivery, showing that demonstrating your organisation’s contribution towards a higher-level change doesn’t have to be complicated – but nor does it have to be downplayed.

How Raising Twins Taught Me to Build a Stronger Nonprofit
Published by My NonProfit Advisor
“One of the first, and most profound, lessons? Inclusion isn’t optional and it definitely shouldn’t come last.” As the author of this piece observes, some of the best leadership lessons aren’t learned in the boardroom, but at the crumb-covered kitchen table.

This article lays out the importance of starting with inclusivity, not treating it as an add-on, and provides some thorough advice on what this actually looks like in charity settings – covering practical implications for your strategy, communication and leadership. This includes the golden rule of ‘progress over perfection’, something we all need to remember more often.