‘Keep asking “why?” – until there are no more ways to ask’. This was the guiding mantra in a very special gathering in Edinburgh, Scotland. Furthermore, bringing a European delegation into a staff meeting of Foundation Scotland served to broaden perspectives and proved to be highly valuable for everyone.
Foundation Scotland is undoubtedly the largest community foundation in Europe in geographic scale, stretching from the rural English border area, through the densely populated central belt, to the remote Highlands and Islands. It is also one of the most progressive – using its scale and diversity to enrich the Foundation’s portfolio of funds through the skills and dispersed location of staff and trustees bringing broad and deep knowledge, in order that it can play an important role from national through to local level.
An ECFI delegation of Community Foundation Movement Leaders, in town for a deep dive into issues relating to Local Democratic Resilience, joined the Foundation Scotland team for a very special gathering. Why special? Firstly, because of the geographical reach, but also because of the complexity of its work, a whole of organisation in-person meeting is a rare and highly cherished event. Secondly, much of the meeting was dedicated to the design of a new, substantial, fund.
It was wonderful to experience the strong sense of comradery, despite the fact that most of the team, of now more than 50, don’t encounter each other on a daily basis. Foundation Scotland represents a success story in working out how to operate at a scale that is significant to critical stakeholders in the donor, academic, public sector services and policy communities, while remaining relevant and connected at local community level. This carefully managed and constantly evolving dynamic has been honed over its 30 year existence. It has earned its place as part of the fabric of civil society and is respected and trusted by a generous donor base – who now come to Foundation Scotland for philanthropy advice, facilitation capabilities, and leverage potential.
This brings me to the purpose of this unique gathering – to involve the entire organisation in the design of a 10-year £30m fund, made possible due to an (unexpected) and unrestricted private donation. Yes, it’s a big number, even for Foundation Scotland, but remember they did start from zero 30 years ago. If you are curious about how they got to this point do explore their website and follow their journey from diaspora and events fundraising, through community benefit and donor-advised funds, to the recently launched and innovative Regenerative Futures Fund. Be inspired and think what might be possible for you.
‘What can we do over the next 10 years that will have an impact over 100?’ This was a question posed in the fund / programme design process that involved all staff and trustees, along with wider consultation and expert input. They are deploying their collective intelligence to ensure that this resource will be used to bring about systems change for lasting impact. A big topic under consideration is community cohesion and civic resilience – hence the connection with the ECFI cohort of Movement Leaders. There is a need to strategically tackle causes and consequences of a breakdown of trust in institutions and democracy, declining civic participation, and a rise in hate crime and community polarisation. Importantly however, there is recognition of the positives that exist – the strong sense of ‘belonging’ in Scotland; a dense, well connected and effective field of civil society organisations; a rich well of financial, physical, human, environmental, and cultural assets; and innovation and optimism that I sense have their roots in (18th century) Scottish Enlightenment.
Giles Ruck, CEO Foundation Scotland suggested they should see themselves as ‘serious possibilists’. What more inspiration could there be for a staff team to encourage them to raise their heads from day-to-day persistent challenges and working to try to fix things that are wrong, to be more future-oriented and transformative, in order to create the conditions in which local communities can thrive.
It was a delight to hear it suggested that some of this shift in thinking had been informed by engagement with ECFI over many years. Reference was made to how embracing the SDGs and connecting with European experiences, contributed to a re-orientation of the Foundation’s organisational culture and work from being reactive and somewhat fragmented, towards more strategic (interconnected) approaches and systemic change.
The inputs from community foundation colleagues from Belgium, Germany, Romania, England, Northern Ireland, Hungary and Portugal were well received by Foundation Scotland staff and trustees – irrespective of their role. This highlighted the value of being part of a wider European movement, but also brought to the fore the experience that exists across Europe. I was taken aback by the reaction and the extent to which the brief inputs and other perspectives were appreciated and so relevant to what was, essentially, a very geographically specific discussion.
The learning for the European participants was obvious too – from the organisational process through to their exposure to innovation in the practice of philanthropy, grant-making and strategic collaborative interventions.
Foundation Scotland has managed to strike a balance between donor intent and local community need and aspiration. It understands and works with both. It carefully guards its independence, avoids substitution for what should be public sector responsibilities, and adds value through knowledge. It can never be accused of perpetuating a failed system – quite the converse, it is a progressive changemaker deploying resources and building on assets in a deliberative and imaginative way, applying systems thinking to deep rooted transformation.
We all departed having had our curiosity piqued, and are very much the wiser and more connected for it.
