Funding Process
​​Gower Street takes a relationship-based approach to funding, going on the journey with their grantees and learning as they learn. We generally provide core funding rather than restricted, recognising the increased value that unrestricted funding offers our partners. We try to keep bureaucracy as low as possible, and opt for regular check in calls over a written report. (see this page for further details - add link here please).
In 2020, Nick and Sophie decided to spend down the fund by 2030, aware that the money is needed in the sector now. As we move through 2025 we are now beyond halfway through our spend down journey. We have now made the vast majority of funding allocations under the spend out. There are 2 x streams of work going forward where we will be committing new funding. In Ghana this will be through 3 x work strands; Life in a Changing Landscape, Complementary Climate Education and Energy Transition. (See this page for further details).
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In UK we will be exploring work under the work stream of ‘Sowing the seeds of the future’, which will focus on the conditions required for socially just energy transition to be achieved in the long term. This means seeding work which is longer term and deeper than parliamentary cycles and that will likely flourish and have impact in the world, after Gower Street has closed. This shift in funding emphasis, recognises where we are in our life cycle as a Trust and aligns deeply with our commitment to bring in the voice of nature into our governance and decision making, which has encouraged us to be less boundaried and wilder in our thinking and funding.
We want to stress that our ability to support new work is significantly diminished now. It is very unlikely that we would consider your organisation for funding unless you meet the following criteria:
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Your work really closely aligns with our strategy of keeping fossil fuels in the ground and driving forward the socially just energy transition through one of our remaining workstreams (as outlined above).
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You work in a people centred way, seeing people power as the driving force of change.
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You already work with or could complement the work of other organisations in our portfolio.
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You have an annual organisation income of below £500,000.
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You are seeking support equivalent to 10-30% of your annual income (UK organisations) or up to 80% of your annual income (Ghana organisations).
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You would struggle to get this funding elsewhere.
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You do not receive a significant amount of your income from fossil fuel companies.
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We will seek to explore the rights of nature/role of nature in all our partners' work. Gower Street does not invite unsolicited applications however if you have read this website and feel that the work you do closely aligns with the areas the trust funds, feel free to send in a one pager (12 pt double space) outlining what you do and why you think Gower Street should fund you to sally@gowerstreet.org or tessa@gowerstreet.org. The team will get in touch if they believe your work could be a potential for Gower Street funding (please don’t chase us). All funding decisions are approved by our trustees and our board meets every 2 months. Gower Street welcomes feedback on our practice as a grant maker. If you would like to share this feedback anonymously you can do this via Grant Advisor.
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Gower Street is mindful of the time and effort that goes into applying for funding. The application process is therefore designed to be simple, based around conversation and a brief written application, which is only invited where there is a high chance of success. In 2024, 25 applications were considered by the trustees and 22 of these were approved. Gower Street will award any unsuccessful applicants that were invited to apply with a one off donation of £500 as compensation towards the time spent on the application process.
In the media
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Investing fora Better Future | 8 Nov 2022 | Circle Mena
https://www.circlemena.org/resources/insights/articles/investing-for-a-better-future/
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From Girls' Education to Climate Funding | 18 May 2021 | Beacon Collaborative
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Philanthropic Lives - The unique experiences of eight UK philanthropists | Think NPC
https://www.thinknpc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Philanthropic-lives.pdf
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