Grantmakers should discourage funding applications that are unlikely to be successful by being open about the volume of requests they receive, according to the director of impact and influence at BBC Children in Need. 

Speaking on the Third Sector Podcast, Fozia Irfan described the conundrum facing funders in ensuring they act fairly towards charities applying for grants.

She asked: “How do we try not to encourage applications that perhaps don’t have a chance of succeeding?

“One of the things we’re doing at Children in Need is talking about the fact that we can only fund one in eight [applications]. A few years ago, we wouldn’t necessarily have advertised that fact. 

“I think transparency is really important to make sure that only the applications which have a high chance of success come through to us.”

Irfan said it was important for funders to move away from a mindset of attribution in favour of one of contribution as different organisations work together to solve complex social problems.

“Tradionally, funders have quite often wanted their plaque on the door and their signs saying that this is funded by X, Y and Z, so you can tell your trustees, this is what we’ve spent the money on,” she said.

“Now I think funders are starting to move towards recognising that we can all contribute in different ways and we don’t necessarily need to have that attribution.”

Listen to the full interview with Fozia Irfan on the Third Sector Podcast.