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The Foundation Practice Rating (FPR) assesses UK charitable funders on diversity, accountability and transparency. 2024 is its third year, with a different randomly selected group of foundations covered each time. This is the first time the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland has been included. And it has become the first funder in any year to score an A on diversity, alongside As for accountability and transparency.
The FPR is done independently using information in the public domain, and funders cannot opt out or influence results. The origins of the initiative lie in a concern that charitable funders can exercise a lot of power but without much accountability. The FPR aims to foster positive change and improved practice among foundations by emphasising not what is funded, but the practice lying behind grant-makers’ decisions on funding.
Rob Williamson OBE DL, CEO of the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, said: “We welcomed the Foundation Practice Rating from the start as a way of funders being held more accountable. In fact, we used its published research criteria to do a self-check, well before we were formally included this year. And we are delighted to get a triple-A rating following the researchers’ analysis. It’s a testament to our team and trustees for whom diversity, accountability and transparency are vital parts of our work. But we’re not complacent and know we have more we can and should do. For example, we’ve recently commissioned an accessibility review of our grant-making process from a leading regional disability rights charity, and look forward to its findings and making improvements.”
You can read the full report here.