How we work
We provide unrestricted funding for nonprofits through a trust-driven, active-allyship model of philanthropy that drives systemic transformation.
Our vision
Together with our partners, we are striving for a fair and regenerative future where people and communities flourish and rely on one another.
A future built around the wellbeing of both people and planet.
[ WHAT WE BELIEVE ]
Our values
Supporting systems change
We start by understanding a problem in full, through research and the people closest to it, then back a portfolio of partners across frontline charities, advocacy groups and think-tanks, each acting on a different lever of the same system.
Catalysing collaboration
No one changes a system alone, so we trade learning and seek joint action with peer funders, and we encourage our partners to convene and move as a field rather than in isolation.
Continuous learning
We are not here to be right, so we continuously learn from partners, adapt our model, and share what we find.
We treat our own approach as a work in progress: experimenting, drawing on many traditions of philanthropy rather than one, and reviewing our own posture as readily as the work.
[ IN PRACTICE ]
How trust-based philanthropy looks in action
We proactively seek out organisations that align with our mission and values, and we build close, long-term relationships with them.
Once we begin, we build the partnership together, shaped around what each partner needs.
The funding
Long-term and unrestricted, so partners decide how best to use it. Through a deep understanding of their work and priorities, we co-create a plan together.
UNRESTRICTED · LONG-TERM
The support
Strategic help where it’s useful: fundraising, impact evaluation, organisational development. Partners’ expertise and autonomy stay at the centre throughout.
STRATEGIC · TAILORED
Since 2021 we’ve committed over £3 million of unrestricted grants for nonprofits across more than ten partners in France and the UK, and many have gone on to raise more after working with us.
[ WHY WE FUND THIS WAY ]
The organisations doing this work are stretched thin
In France, charities are closing at twice the usual rate since 2022
Across France and the UK, the organisations that hold civil society together are under pressure. Public funding is shrinking, competition for grants is fierce, and the problems they work on (inequality, environmental breakdown, social fragmentation) are deeply connected, yet funded separately.
Grants last a year. Applications run long for a one-in-fifty chance. The fund covers the project but rarely the organisation behind it, leaving core operational cost unattended.
Solving root causes requires philanthropy that resources the whole organisations for the long haul and stands beside them through active allyship.
[ HOW WE FUND ]
How we fund
We fund the whole organisation for the long term. Here’s what trust-based grant-making looks like in our practice.
Support the whole organisation for the long haul
Our grants are unrestricted and multi-year, while the organisation has the full autonomy to decide how to allocate their fund.
IN PRACTICE
A three-year grant that covers the obvious essentials, including salaries, rent, and the slow work of learning and collaboration across the sector. We ensure practitioners have the security to hire, plan, and take the considered risks necessary to shift systems.
The whole ecosystem, not one mission
Social challenges are deeply connected; so isolated interventions rarely solve root causes. We resource entire ecosystems of advocates and field-builders, helping them move in sync.
IN PRACTICE
We back several organisations working toward the same goal and help them move together.
By supporting the networks and coalitions that hold a field together, we transform grant competition into strategic collaboration, allowing the whole sector to advance at once.
Proactive allyship and trust-based grantmaking
The relationship matters as much as the fund and the tangible support. We work as allies, and we make it safe for our partners to tell us the truth, fostering collaboration and support.
IN PRACTICE
Trust-based philanthropy is a handshake between equals.
Our unrestricted grants for nonprofits replace KPI tables with active allyship — we ask what is actually getting in the way rather than demanding success stories on paper. We open doors, offer strategic support, and stand beside our partners when things go wrong, so they can keep their full attention on their work.
Our process
Because we do not hold open calls, partners never have to find us or fill in a form.
We do months of research ourselves, and reach out to our potential partners. Everyone we speak to is treated equally, funded or not.
Getting to know each other takes time, usually nine to twelve months. Conversations, visits, and due diligence are done alongside partners.
We do not ask for KPI tables, we ask what is getting in the way instead. The board makes the final call, and once it’s made, the relationship, not the reporting, is the point.
Where we are heading
The organisations that can build a fairer, more resilient future already exist. We make sure they have what they need to build it.
Contact
If you feel your work aligns with our thematic strategy and selection criteria, feel free to send us an email →