FundAction is seeking to commission an external consultant to conduct a thorough evaluation of the functioning and impact of FundAction as a participatory grantmaking fund, as FundAction celebrates 5 years of existence at the end of 2021
About Fundaction
FundAction is a participatory grantmaking fund supporting systemic change across Europe. We are a community of activists involved in social movements working for a transition to a just and equitable world.
FundAction has 259 members across 29 countries, coming from grassroots initiatives working on diverse intersecting themes, who decide democratically what should be funded. Founded in 2016, FundAction was created as a result of longer term engagement of movements, activists and funders who wished to learn about and support participatory grant-making, such as EDGE Funders Alliance (our fiscal and administrative host), European Cultural Foundation, the Guerilla Foundation, Open Society Initiative for Europe (OSIFE), and Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation for the Progress of Humankind (FPH).
In just over 4 years we have created an organisational framework, developed and extended the FundAction community, and funded 77 projects with over €450,000.
FundAction aims to function in a democratic and participatory way.
The FundAction Community is the main decision-making body of FundAction. The community makes decisions online (through the online assembly platform) or offline (Annual Assembly). The daily coordination of FundAction is in the hands of an 8-person Facilitation Group which includes 7 activists (appointed by the membership and rotating every two years) and one donor representative rotating annually. The Facilitation Group members coordinate all aspects of FundAction’s work, including working groups with members on key topics (Communication, Community Building, Systemic Change, Fundraising). See also http://www.fundaction.eu
About the evaluation (more information here)
At the end of 2021, we celebrate five years since the first meeting that started FundAction. We want to make the most out of this important milestone and use it as an anchor moment to both reflect on the past 5 years and look forward to the next 5 years to come.
The purpose of the evaluation is threefold:
• Looking back: To check in on the initial mission, vision and values of FundAction as a pioneer in the area of participatory grantmaking. Are they still valid after 5 years and are they being met? Have they changed over time? Do they need adjusting? What did FA’s journey look like over the last 5 years? Did changes in the external context influence this journey, and if so how?
• Looking forward: What are the priorities of the FundAction community in terms of learning and developing FundAction over the next 5 years? (i.e. extending and engaging the FundAction membership,organizational development and culture, stepping up as an advocate for participatory grantmaking,…)
• Evaluation of the grants and of the participatory grant-making process: what did the grants do and what impact did they generate? How has FundAction been functioning as a participatory grantmaking platform?
We want this evaluation to be centred around learning, and to look both into the functioning of FundAction as a community and grantmaking platform, as well as shine a light on the impact of the grants towards social transformation and achieving systemic change in Europe.
The evaluation process should reflect FundAction’s core values and identity. We aim for a holistic and participatory evaluation. The evaluation methodology should allow for active and meaningful participation of FundAction members, founders and external stakeholders.
