By Sarah Maybourne, Deputy Chief Officer

When you’ve spent as long as I have writing bids, building cases for support, and sitting with organisations who are stretched to their limits, you start to see patterns.

1. Funding isn’t just money. It’s trust.
   Every award, big or small is a statement: “We believe in what you’re doing.” That belief sustains teams through the hardest days.
   (And sometimes through the hardest board meetings.)
2. Funders want authenticity, not perfection.
   The strongest applications aren’t the most polished. They’re the most honest. Real need. Real impact. Real people. Not “corporate jargon bingo”.
3. Diversified income is survival
   Relying on one big funder is like relying on one plug socket in a community hall. It will let you down at the worst possible moment.
4. Relationships matter more than forms
   Funders remember conversations, not spreadsheets. They fund people as much as projects. (And they definitely remember who sends reports in on time.)
5. Community level funding creates community level change
   Some of the most powerful outcomes I’ve seen came from tiny pots of money used creatively by people who know their community best.

Why funding matters now more than ever

The third sector is holding communities together through:

• rising demand
• shrinking public budgets
• increasing complexity
• burnout across frontline staff
• growing inequalities

Funding isn’t a luxury — it’s the infrastructure that allows compassion, dignity, and support to exist where statutory systems fall short.

And let’s be honest: if the third sector stopped tomorrow, half the country would notice within 24 hours and the other half by the end of the week.

And here’s the part I’ll never stop saying:

They all build the same thing:
hope, stability, and possibility for people who need it.

The future of funding is blended, creative, and human.

After two decades in this work, I’m more convinced than ever that the sector’s strength lies in:

• collaboration
• storytelling
• transparency
• community voice
• the courage to ask for what’s needed

Funding is not just a transaction.
It’s a relationship.
A partnership.
A shared belief that things can be better.

And that’s why I’ll always champion the small grants as fiercely as the big ones.

Because in the third sector, impact isn’t measured by the size of the cheque — it’s measured by the change it makes.