Making grant-making more equitable: why 'led by and for' matters

We’ve learned a lot and we’ve identified four areas we want to strengthen in our grant-making over the coming years. We will be sharing what we’ve learned about each one in a series of articles over the next few months. 

We are starting with led by and for organisations and why funding them matters. 

Led by and for has become common language among funders recently. But we needed to be clear about what it means to us so that we could have honest conversations with the organisations we fund and other funders who are on this journey. 

We started with the DEI Data Standard definition, which focuses on how many staff and board members within an organisation have lived experience of the issues facing the communities they serve. 

In 2024, we set aside funding specifically for led by and for organisations following analysis of grant rounds. We looked at who was applying and spotted gaps where communities and areas of need weren’t represented. From this, we engaged with trusted networks who knew how to reach the right community organisations and they were invited to apply in our second funding round under the Improving Lives Through Advice grant programme. This ensured that we were meeting the programme aims for increasing access to justice for those most in need. 

This approach has helped us to deepen our understanding of what works best when engaging and supporting marginalised communities to access legal advice. 

But this area is developing fast. Research from the New Economics Foundation showed there’s no single agreed definition of ​“by and for”. Instead, they recommended we look at principles: genuine representation of marginalised communities, commitment to structural change, and evidence of meaningful engagement. 

This new way of thinking has helped us recognise that organisations are at different stages of the ​‘by and for’ journey and what progress could look like for each of them and also for us, as funder. 

We also sent staff and trustees to visit our led by and for funded partners. What we saw reinforced why this matters. 

These organisations have a deep, shared understanding of the barriers their communities face. That closeness has cultivated trust, and beneficiaries feel empowered to tackle legal issues themselves and know where to turn to when in need of support. Many of these organisations are embedded in their communities as trusted spaces, reaching people who need legal advice most.

However, we’ve also learned that our language can sometimes exclude the organisations we want to support. 

Some frontline organisations don’t call themselves led by and for but they, nevertheless, actively involve people with lived experience through volunteering and training. They identify who they’re not reaching and find innovative ways to extend their reach and reduce barriers to justice for the most vulnerable people in their communities. 

Over the next year, we’re working with organisations that identify as led by and for to understand their approach and the impact it has. We’re also supporting funded partners who are still on this journey, so no one is left behind. 

We’ll share more learning and insights on our journey to become a more equitable grant-maker. Keep an eye on our website and social media.