Article: How to explain to non-grantmakers what keeps you up at night
We were recently asked to train a group of people who worked for a big-ish funding organisation, but who were themselves not grantmakers. Most medium-to-big funding organisations have a range of employees like lawyers, IT specialists, facilities people, finance experts and so on who support the business of grantmaking, but who aren't themselves grantmakers. We wanted to help make sure that these colleagues had a good fundamental understanding of what grantmaking is all about. It was a fun day.
As part of this training we ran a session "What do grantmakers worry about?", designed to help build empathy between colleagues. We thought you might find it useful, especially when you're trying to explain the tricky bits of your job to other people.
Worry 1. "By making this grant, might we create harm instead of making things better?"
This worry is first in a longish worry list for a reason. Modern Grantmakers recognise that grants in and of themselves are not inherently ‘good’ and that it’s possible for some grants to potentially make things worse in the world. This worry can motivate grantmakers to check that they won’t be funding interventions that have already been disproven, and to share useful learning widely from grants they make. It can also inspire some to go public about previous mistakes they made.
Worry 2. "How can I make the biggest difference possible with the funding available, across individual grants and whole portfolios?"
Most grantmakers' working lives involve never having enough money to meet the needs expressed by grantseekers. One way grantmakers deal with this is by being hyper-focused on how they can help to make the biggest difference with the funding available, in terms of individual grants and sometimes across funding portfolios (e.g. an 'education portfolio’).
This can involve being very clear about what contribution a funder can realistically make to solving a problem. Put simply, grantmakers do and should worry about things like what realistic contribution a £1m grant to help end homelessness could make within a city. And they should caution against any funder automatically attributing impact to its own (usually relatively small) slice of the overall funding pie (when you factor in government spend…).
Worry 3. "Is our funding equitable?"
Some grantmakers worry about how to ensure funding processes and grants help address systemic barriers faced by communities. Grantmakers that do worry about this question will adopt proactive strategies to change things like increasing board diversity, engaging communities in decision-making, and reducing administrative burdens on grantees, especially those from historically underfunded communities.
Worry 4. "Do our funding processes create unnecessary burdens?"
Many grantmakers understand that creating confusing and burdensome funding processes creates problems for not only for grantseekers and grantees but also for funders too. Because bad processes can lead to funders inadvertently excluding organisations they may want to support, can cause funders to waste effort at proposal and assessment stage, and can spoil relationships with anyone who eventually gets a grant. So, many grantmakers worry about how they can work to continuously improve funding processes to ensure that these are accessible and in service of their organisation’s values and mission. Grantmakers who focus on this specific worry may well take it upon themselves to learn more about how to effectively redesign funding services, based on feedback.
Worry 5. "Will the applicant be able to deliver?"
This worry is the 'Absolute Classic' of grantmaking life. It’s not just about grantmakers peering over proposals with a metaphorical magnifying glass trying to judge whether a grantseeker is likely capable of delivering on their plans. It’s also about grantmakers recognising that their own organisation has both a role and a responsibility in enabling grantseekers to deliver.
If a funder believes a grantseeker to be a good fit but learns that said grantseeker needs to improve its skills before it can deliver successfully, then the funder can be helpful and proactive by providing funding for capacity building to enable future delivery.
Worry 6. "Will both we the grantmaker and our grantees be able to learn from this grant?"
This worry comes in two parts. First, grantmakers worry about how best to support grantees so that they can learn whether the work they are doing is having the desired benefits, or not. Because sometimes grantmakers can support grantees by helping them to get better at research and evaluation, or by funding these activities directly.
Second, the day-to-day job of a grantmaker can be jam-packed with activities designed to get good quality proposals, to enable assessment of these and to get grant management going. We know, because they’ve told us time and time again, that some grantmakers worry that the day job doesn’t often leave enough time for them to reflect on and learn from grants made, even if research and evaluation has been produced.
Worry 7. "Are we taking any legal, financial or reputational risks by making this grant?"
Modern Grantmakers know that it’s impossible to totally eliminate risk from making grants. But it is also true that some grants will be ‘riskier’ than others, as perceived by the funder across various board-worrying dimensions including legal, financial and reputational.
Grantmakers can help to manage risks well by ensuring a proportionate approach to due diligence and grant management, often depending on a grant’s complexity and sometimes size.
Worry 8. "How do I ensure alignment between my work and that of decision-makers?"
We couldn’t wind up a set of typical grantmaker worries without mentioning 'decision-makers', AKA the people who sit on the boards of funders or grants committees and who very often make final funding decisions.
We may be so bold as to say that every grantmaker, sometimes, worries about whether the work they are doing is aligned with the expectations of decision-makers. This worry may have caused some of you to have far too lucid nightmares about presenting to a group of decision-makers in your underwear (no, just me?!). These horrors can be avoided by building effective working relationships to deepen trust, and by using things like your organisation’s vision/mission and strategy as northstars for everyone to follow.
If you work in grantmaking or have done previously, do any of these worries resonate? Or did you manage to overcome any of them? Either way, let us know at Hello@ModernGrantmaking.com
Latest Reading, Watching & Listening - Modern Grantmaking recommends
Carrying on the governance theme, a recent report from International Funders for Indigenous Peoples, shows that Indigenous-Led Funds are redefining philanthropy through governance models rooted in Indigenous values, community leadership, and self-determination. These new models are calling on philanthropy to move from charitable giving to reparative action through wealth redistribution, shared power, and long-term relationships. Bipasha Ray, via Proximate, argues that fiscal sponsorship can be challenging for feminist funders. Helpfully, this article tells the story of how a small group of gender justice private funders, feminist intermediary funders, and fiscal sponsors worked together to learn and develop recommendations for action for fiscal sponsors and funders, such as the need for better understanding of both tangible e.g. HR and intangible costs e.g. feminist approaches to risk mitigation and care. The 2027 programme (which supports UK trusts and foundations to find and develop working-class talent to improve the effectiveness of the philanthropic sector) is entering its last chapter and calling on grant-giving organisations to offer opportunities for its final cohort of Associates. For more info on the programme’s impact to date and to express interest, click here.
How about a new job or trustee role in grantmaking?
East End Community Foundation (UK) is hiring for a Grants Officer. Salary is £25-30k. Deadline is 9 November 2025. Maudsley Charity (UK) is hiring for trustees. Voluntary, non executive positions. Deadline is 21 November 2025.
Want to see your job ad in next month’s newsletter? Ping us, it’s free! Just… #ShowTheSalary
Grantmaking ‘joke’ of the month
What do you call a grantseeker with a pentragram under their rug?
A professional fiend raiser.
Got any terrible or actually funny grantmaking jokes to share?......tell us.
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Who are we?
Gemma Bull and Tom Steinberg run Modern Grantmaking, and write this newsletter. We do consulting and training specifically for funders, and wrote a book on how to be a modern grantmaker, too.
