Focused Foundations: Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales Strategy 2014-18

Strategy 2014 - 18

Contents

Executive Summary. Focused Foundations: Lloyds Bank Foundation Strategy 2014-2018.

I. Our Future Focus: Young people and adults; life transitions; multiple disadvantage..

II. Responsive Grant Making – Invest,Enable and Enhance.

More than just a funder: Enhance – in kind or funded support.

III. Foundation National: Bottom Up National Impact

IV. Becoming a Learning Organisation: Monitoring, Evaluation and Research

V. Our relationship with Lloyds Banking Group.

VI. Making it all happen.

Adapting for Delivery: becoming the ‘best in class’ for customer service.

Relaunch and Rebrand.

Managing and Supporting Change.

Funding our work.

Focused Foundations:Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales Strategy 2014-18

During 2013 we considered where we believe we can make the greatest impact on the disadvantage faced by people and communities in 21st century Britain, building on 27 years experience making over 42,000 grants worth over £330 million.

We looked at: what is happening to the people and communities we wish to reach and to the organisations and people we fund which reach them, the best of the work we fund, our core strengths and the work and focus of other funders.

The objectives we have set ourselves for the next 5 years reflect what we have learnt.

Objective 1: To focus our work and impact on people facing multiple disadvantages, funding organisations which target their support to people duringkey life transitions/events seeking to break, or preventcycles of disadvantage.

Objective 2:To develop flexible responsive grant making tailored to the needs of those we support through:

Invest - a large grants programme up to £25,000 pafor up to 6 years (2+2+2) or (3+3)for charities delivering targeted outcomes to disadvantaged people;
Enable - a development grants programme of up to £15,000;
Enhance - agrants plusscheme offering a range of in kind support beyond the direct grant;
Continuing our commitment to providingcore funding for charities.

Objective 3: To develop our nations profile and impact in England and Wales by:

tackling a selected number of policy and practice issues at national levelwhich arise through our

coregrant making work, seeking to deliver changes in practice/policy;

using our convening power to build partnerships with grantees and relevant national partners, including other funders, who can increase our impact on these issues;
activelychampioning the role and impact of the small/medium sized organisationswe fund who are crucial for delivery of our focus on beneficiaries who face disadvantage.

Objective 4: To become a learning organisation, working to improve our impactand the quality of what we do, by:

developing a more systematic approach towards Monitoring, Evaluation and Research;
learning from, and with, those we fund by bringing together networks of organisations dealing with similar issues and problems focused on learning and improvement;
supporting approaches to impact assessment which improve and support the quality of service delivery first, using data and information derived from this to inform our own reporting;
evaluating and monitoring our performance and reporting publicly on this;
working with our customers- those we fund - to help improve what we do;
As part of this we will find ways to benchmark or getfeedback on our performance and perceptions relative to others and publishthat, together with our response;
Developing an Awards scheme which acknowledges excellence in the use of the funds provided by the Foundation.

Objective 5: To realise the value of our strategic partnership with Lloyds Banking Group by:

developing specific initiatives which demonstrate mutual benefits like Grants Plus;
seeking new opportunities to work together which meet mutual needs;
striving to demonstrate an exemplar independent Foundation/Corporate CSR partnership.

Objective 6: To provide best in class customer service by:

modernising our grant and programme assessment processes to improve ease of use and accessibility;

developing a best in class website and social media presence;
minimising any disruption for those we fund and support arising from the refocusing of our work, ensuring a smooth transition to the new programmes and approach, and running one final round of the current Community Programme at the beginning of this year;
ensuring a smooth handover and embedding of COO responsibilities by end March 15 latest;
being rigorous about how we set targets and objectives for ourselves and support staff to be the best they can;
maintaining our grant spend during this period at broadly the level of 2013.

These objectives will be reviewed annually as part of our planning cycle but an initial overall stock take will be undertaken in early 2016. At that time the objectives may be reviewed and amended or extended, depending on our experience of delivery and the direction of Bank income and profitability.

Executive Summary.Focused Foundations: Lloyds Bank Foundation Strategy 2014-2018.

We will focus our work on young people and adults, supporting them to break out of cycles of disadvantage and achieve positive and lasting change in their lives, targeting our work at critical life events and transitions faced by people who experience, or at risk of, multiple disadvantage.

We can only be as effective as the small voluntary organisations we fund to reach people. So we have rethought how we can be most effective in supporting their work.

We intend to be a more flexible grant maker offering two new programmes, Invest and Enable, together with in kind support through Grants Plus. Invest will offer longer term core or delivery funding for up to 6 years for organisations working to deliver clear outcomes for disadvantaged people. Enable will offer smaller, shorter term grants to organisations which have identified clear development needsand have plans to meet them, or pro-actively to target areas where we believe we need to take more risk to reach people in need. Alongside these programmes,we will develop a pro-active Enhance grants plusoffer,providing a range of optional tailored support to strengthen the effectiveness of those we fund in reaching disadvantaged people.

To maximise our impact we need to share and learn from what we fund locally.When this gives us something new and important to say we will use that learning to influence national agendas, policy and practice. During this planwe will develop our nationalpresence in England and Wales working to raise our profile, and that of the work we support, and advocate positively for solutions and changes which enable disadvantaged people to effect change in their lives.

In doing this we will partner with those we fundto identify issues drawn from what we learn and through those we fund. Our approach will be asset based, focusing where we are able to make a distinctive contribution to policy and/or practice and there are opportunities for national and local partnerships to lever positive change which will improve the lives of disadvantaged people.

To support our work locally and nationally we will rethink our approach to Monitoring, Evaluation and Research, both nationally and with respect to what we expect of those we fund, including consideration of how we can help them to improve the quality of their work through a focus on positive outcomes for disadvantaged people.

In January 2014 we became the Lloyds Bank Foundation. We wish to make more of our partnership with The Bank through joint working.Because, like the Bank, we support SMEs we will start by developing an expert Bank employee volunteer offer to those we fund as part of our Grants plus offer. Our aim is to become an exemplar of excellent CSR pointing the way for others.

These plans are ambitious. They build on our core strength as a relationship based grant maker but will require us to re-examine current ways of working and acquire new skills. During the early years of this plan we will implement a comprehensive internal change programme seeking to modernise what we do, become a best in class funder, and a great place to work, respected for the impact we have on the lives of those who face disadvantage in England and Wales today.

I. Our Future Focus: Young people and adults; life transitions; multiple disadvantage..

We will seek to support people through key life events or transitions which can be especially challenging for people facing, or at risk of, entering cycles of multiple disadvantage.

By transition we mean:

A critical event, change or turning point in a person’s life which may be difficult to manage.

Transitions we will consider include:

From prison or offending.
Young people 17-25 yrs leaving the care system.
From mental health care.
From unemployment.
From homelessness.
To independent living for those with disabilities.
From dependency on alcohol, drugs or gambling.
From an abusive or exploitative relationship – Domestic violence, trafficked people, sexual exploitation and abuse.
To UK settlement – Refugees, asylum seekers .
To parenthood for young parents where it is a potential driver into disadvantage.
Becoming a Carer (or ceasing to be a Carer) where it is a potential driver into disadvantage

We will focus our future work on young people and adults who experience or are at risk of multiple disadvantages.

We define multiple disadvantages as:

A combination of disadvantages, which create barriers to an individual’s ability to achieve and make a positive contribution.

These include primary disadvantages such as: homelessness, mental health, abuse, substance misuse, offending; having been in care (‘looked after’) and poverty.

Which are compounded by secondary disadvantages that create complex needs such as: debt issues, learning disability, illiteracy, lack of employability or workplace skills, health issues, being a member of a marginalised group and experiencing prejudice.

Within the context of multiple disadvantage, where relevant we will focus on debt as a cause of a critical life event (like homelessness/becoming a sex worker) or as a possible compounding factor arising from a life event (e.g. mental health/substance abuse).

We are also interested in work which seeks opportunities for positive life enhancing transitions in older people at risk of, or experiencing disadvantage for example into part time work or volunteering; and avoiding potentially unwanted transitions (e.g. into full time care).
By looking at our work through the lenses of transition and multiple disadvantagesour focus will be on supporting positive outcomes and transitions.

Examples of positive outcomes we would be expecting to support.

Reduction or prevention of abuse or exploitation (domestic violence, sexual exploitation, people trafficking).
Increased vocational and life skills that improve employability.
Progress into employment, training or education.
Progress to independent living or re-settlement (care leavers, prison leavers).
Overcoming homelessness (or securing accommodation).
Improved mental health.
Freedom from addiction or reduction in addictive behaviour.
Enriching the lives of older people by securing appropriate employment or volunteering opportunities.
Reduction in offending or reoffending.
Reintegration of full time carers into their communities and/or fulfilled lives beyond their caring.

We will achieve this by working with organisations which enable disadvantaged people to move through these key life transitions with greater success. This might include targeted prevention or support prior to transition, as well as support at or after transition.

Prevention will include work which targets those at risk of ‘unwanted’ or ‘negative’ transitions (e.g. older person wishing to remain at home, young person at risk of offending) where there are known identifiable risk factors (e.g. having been ‘looked after’; loss of long term partner; experience of an abusive relationship) or with respect to secondary prevention (e.g. recidivism in offenders).

Examples of prevention work which would address this are:

Prior, at and after Transition:

Mentoring programme providing through the gate and community based support to ex offenders, helping them to secure accommodation and enter into training, volunteering and employment.
Advocacy service supporting young people leaving care to achieve a successful transition to adulthood services and into adulthood.
Supporting survivors of domestic abuse to be safe, make informed choices and develop the skills to enable them to re-engage positively in their community.

Prevention:

Community based services supporting isolated and vulnerable older people to continue living in their own homes.
Preventative project targeting NEETyoung peoplewho have come into contact with the criminal justice systemto engage in positive activities including training, volunteering and employment.
Service providing financial literacy training and support to individuals at risk of homelessness or facing other primary disadvantages.

Having considered our current work through the combined lenses of multiple disadvantage and key life transitions, and undertaken a review of other funders, we have decided to focus on organisations which are best placed to deliver targeted and holistic work which seeks to break or prevent the cycle of disadvantage for all grants made from mid 2014.

Types of organisations we will support will include:

Those that address multiple disadvantages at critical life transition points, when we believe targeted support can reduce future risk, working with people when they may be most receptive to change.
Those that can clearly demonstrate effective interventions or methods focused on prevention prior to key life transitions and indicate how those at risk will be identified and targeted.
Those that focus on provision of basic skills which most of us possess but which can be a barrier to access for disadvantaged people e.g. literacy (numerical/financial and written); digital skills.
Those that provide pathways to first ‘rungs’ on important ladders such as: basic skills education to enable entry to FE or adult education, or volunteering opportunities which enhance employability.
Those that can demonstrate a learning, developmental, evaluative approach to their work with a clear wish to continually improve or innovate.

Given the likely funding context for many of the organisations we support, we are interested in organisations addressing the issues above that are taking an innovative approach to seeking new, non Government related, sustainable funding sources where this is possible, although this would not be a requirement of funding.

To maximise our impact we have decided that we will no longer fund some current areas of work after our current grants come to an end during 2014-2016.

Areas we will no longer fund once current commitments have ended:

We will not fund projects which provide ongoing services which support people to remain in broadly the same ‘place’ for example:

Generic support and services to disadvantaged people and communities which do not have clear outcomes focused on supporting people to change/move.
One off stand alone interventions, or activities, where there is no clear broader purpose or outcome to move people forward/address the cause of their disadvantage e.g. befriending, counselling and caring where these services are generic.
Those which provide ongoing services to people with disabilities unless there is a clear purpose focused on transition.
Those which primarily support or are targeted at single ethnic group BME or white communities within broader multicultural communities unless there are particular reasons why this may be a disadvantage in its own right (e.g. travellers).
One off activities, services, advice, information, advocacy services or arts and arts therapy which are not part of a broader approach towards tackling disadvantage.

We will also not support:

Work targeted primarily at children below the age of seventeen[1] - because we believe these areas are relatively well supported by other agencies or funders.
Work focusing primarily on physical health.
Any work which may be a statutory duty;
Work which addresses our broader purpose run with a statutory body unless there is a clearly stated objective and plausible plan to secure mainstream statutory funding for the work: through for example demonstrative pilot work which has engaged the intended statutory funder.

Whilst we will work through infrastructure and support organisations to deliver and give direct support to those we fund, we will not provide generic funding to them.

II. Responsive Grant Making – Invest,Enable and Enhance.

As a Foundation, we rely on a healthy voluntary and community sector to channel funding to those we wish to reach, to minimise risk and to enable cost effective assessment processes which minimise the burden on grant maker and grantee.

Given the current funding environment for small to medium sized organisations we have rethought our approach to how, where and with whom we invest.

During 2014, we intend to take a more flexible approach to grant funding by offering two new programmes, Invest and Enable, together with in kind support –Enhance – a grants plus programme provided optionally to those in receipt of grants where there is clear benefit.

The Broad Aim and Objectives of the Invest and Enable programmes and of Grants Plus support will be:
Programme Aims

To support people experiencing multiple disadvantages to make positive and lasting changes during periods of transition in their lives.

We will achieve this through investing in small and medium community based charities that provide targeted support.

Programme Objectives

To help people to break out of a cycle of multiple disadvantage by investing in charities that support people to make positive and lasting changes during periods of life transition and to develop the skills and resilience they need to take greater control of their lives.
To enable these charities to develop, improve and sustain their work in supporting disadvantaged people.
To facilitate these charities to network and collaborate in sharing learning and maximising their influence.

Invest will build on the best of what we do now but offer more flexible longer term funding of 2+2+2 year or 3+3 year consecutive grants, subject to satisfactory interim reviews. Grant size will vary according to need and the size of the organisation but will typically be larger with up to £25,000 p.a. This will move us from the current pattern of two year grants with an average total grant size of c£23,000 in total.

Through Invest we will continue to support organisations that make a difference by contributing to their core or deliverycosts.Enhance will be an integral part of this by providing additional support if required or helpful.

Invest grants will be available to organisations working to deliver clear outcomes for service users.

The boxbelow indicates the types of organisations and purposes that we would seek to support with the Invest programme.

Examples of the types of organisations and purposes that we would seek to support with the Invest programme