Consultations and surveys Consultation: funding for voluntary and community sector organisations in Manchester

Funding schemes

We have proposals for two different funding schemes that we want your views on.

Option one - Strategic neighbourhood grants and strategic equality grants

We will only provide part of an organisation’s funding.

Funding will be for three to five years.

We will give grants to:

  • one or two organisations in each neighbourhood
  • a few equality organisations that represent communities of identity, though not necessarily covering all of them.

Organisations we fund will:

  • develop and maintain strong relationships with the other organisations in their neighbourhood or community
  • pass on some funding to other groups in their neighbourhood or community
  • need to show their track record in working well with other organisations.

Consequences

Fewer organisations will be funded than at present and fewer organisations will be funded under this option than under option two.

Some funding decisions will be made by leading organisations rather than us

We will need to decide:

  • how we define what a neighbourhood is and how funding is divided up between neighbourhoods
  • what equality areas should have priority for funding and how that funding is divided between them
  • how to divide funding between communities that live in the same area and communities that may live in different places but share the same beliefs or background
  • how much of an organisation’s funding can come from us.

Where there is no existing suitable organisation in a neighbourhood or to represent a community, there will need to be a process to develop one.

We will need to develop systems to make the most of having these strong relationships.

Benefits

Strong, supported relationships will mean better information sharing.

Only funding part of organisations’ income will support a range of funding, help them bring in funding from other areas and mean they are less dependent on the council.

This option supports fair sharing of funds between communities living in the same area and communities based on identity.

The scheme encourages strong relationships between us and voluntary and community sector organisations and encourages organisations to work together.

Option two - Single grant pot

There will one pot of money for all the grants we give.

There will be large and medium grants.

Large grants will last for three years.

There will be a range of types of work that organisations can apply for funding to do.

We will use our current grant process for applying but will add in more strength-based questions.

We will encourage organisations to work together but not force them.

We will favour Manchester-based organisations.

The amount of money that organisations get could reduce each year.

Consequences

We will have to decide what kind of work there will be funding for.

It is likely that fewer organisations will be funded than at present but more than would be under option one.

It is less likely to strengthen relationships between organisations than likely than option one.

There will be no small grants. We will continue funding these through the Neighbourhood Investment Fund.

We will have to decide:

  • whether grants will be for three years or if organisations could apply at regular intervals depending on how much money is in the pot
  • whether grants will be given out city-wide, in large areas like North, Central and South, or a smaller local level
  • how funding will be shared between communities based on similar backgrounds or beliefs
  • whether grants are for the full running costs or just or just project-based
  • how much funding will reduce by and over what length of time
  • how much of an organisation’s funding can come from us.

Benefits

It’s likely that more groups would be funded than under option one.

Reducing funding over time may encourage organisations to bring in funding from other places.

This consultation closed on Sunday 12 February.

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