The Heart of England Community Foundation has announced the launch of its new five-year strategy which will enhance the delivery of grants to grassroots organisations across the West Midlands and Warwickshire.
The strategy outlines the Foundation’s vision, goals and key initiatives until 2030 to enable it to continue providing vital support to the voluntary and community sector across the area. One of the key aims is to transform the Foundation’s grant-making process, making applications more streamlined and accessible for all – meaning more charities and community groups will be able to apply.
Enhanced data audits will also take place to better understand the needs across the area, identifying ‘cold spots’ where there is a need for further funding. By 2030, the Foundation aims to grow its income base and distribute grants totalling £25 million, as well as grow its endowment to £30million, solidifying the long-term future of the organisation for decades to come.
As part of this, it will be working to expand the number of corporate donors it supports to achieve their corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals. Heart of England Community Foundation, which celebrated its 30th anniversary this year after being launched in 1995, has awarded more than £49 million in the form of around 14,000 grants to date.
Tina Costello OBE, Chief Executive of the Foundation, said:
“Our five-year strategy sets out our plans and ambitions for the future so that we can continue to support our communities, creating a fairer, happier and healthier region.
“We want to improve the way organisations can apply for our grants, becoming more efficient and only asking questions that are proportionate to the grants being applied for.
“We also want to support the diversity of our region, championing organisations which are doing incredible work but often have low profiles.
“Better use of data will improve our delivery of evidence-based funding, identifying cold spots and directing funding to these areas.
“To underpin all of this, we will be looking to strengthen our network of corporate donors.
“We have a number of fantastic corporate donors, but the voluntary and community sector is in greater need than ever before.
“We can help ensure that corporate donors are directing funding to communities in need in the areas where they do business, while ensuring they meet their CSR objectives.
“All of this will position us for sustainable growth and impact in the future.”
IM Properties has welcomed the launch of the strategy, and said that it sets the Foundation apart as offering a highly professional, streamlined and effective solution for CSR.
David Smith, Director, Planning & Communities at IM Properties, said they had worked with the Heart of England Community Foundation for seven years across multiple project related funds and now its own Community Fund.
“It is sometimes easy to forget how much a difference the more modest grants can achieve, plugging financial gaps, and sustaining or supporting new initiatives,” he said.
“Having the Heart of England Community Foundation administer the smaller grants programme gives us peace of mind that our approach to grant giving is robust, gives us the opportunity engage in the process, and moreover provides for a positive experience and the development of our team.
“We would advocate using the services of the Heart of England Community Foundation because they understand the-challenges that businesses face in grant giving, and work collaboratively to realise your aims.”