Exploring Barriers to Funding and Support Experiences by Marginalised Community Business
In 2022, Power to Change commissioned Spark Insights and Locality to explore and research the experiences of community businesses and organisations led by and/or supporting people experiencing marginalisation, their barriers to accessing funding and support, and potential solutions.
Power to Change's particular challenge was addressing how to make funding and support more equitable and accessible to community businesses and organisations led by and supporting people experiencing marginalisation. They wanted an external organisation with lived experience and understanding of the community business sector to help challenge their perspectives and internal processes.
Our Approach
Spark Insights worked in partnership with Locality to conduct a robust evidence review. This was to ensure there was knowledge and understanding of existing evidence, and opportunities to explore new themes were established.
The key audiences for the research fieldwork were community businesses and organisations, infrastructure organisations, funders, and community anchors, particularly those working in the community business sector.
With support from partners, Spark Insights engaged 27 community businesses and 10 funding/infrastructure organisations to take part in the research. The approach was tailored to the different organisations, enabling an understanding of challenges faced by community businesses as well as blockers and pain points for funding and infrastructure organisations. This enabled the development of insights and recommendations informed those seeking funding and support (community businesses and organisations) and those delivering it (funding and infrastructure organisations).
Spark used a range of approaches to undertake the research, including interviews, roundtables and participatory exercises. They conducted a thematic analysis and presented it in a report and summary.
A range of different approaches were used for the research fieldwork, including one-on-one interviews, roundtables and participatory exercises. A thematic analysis was conducted to develop the research report alongside an executive summary. Insights and key learnings were shared through a webinar and a blog series.
Our Impact
“The research contributed to Power to Change’s organisational culture and an understanding that diversity, equity and inclusion are critical to the organisation’s work. Spark Insights’ recommendations made it clear that being an organisation of well-intentioned, socially-conscious professionals working for social good does not make us immune to systemic or institutional bias. As a result of the recommendations, we have changed some of our internal and application processes.
This work has formed a foundational part of Power to Change’s approach to supporting the community business sector. The hope is that the long-term impact will be the continuation of challenging practices and processes that contribute to marginalisation. Power to Change also hopes this research will contribute, in part, to a change in the grants and foundation sector more broadly.”
“Zoe, Ishita and the Spark Insights team were fantastic to work with. Spark Insights successfully and seamlessly engaged and built relationships with various Power to Change staff members, community businesses and organisations, and wider external stakeholders. The final research report was clear, comprehensive and ambitious in its challenge and was able to draw out many conflicting needs and pain points from various organisations. We really appreciated the open, collaborative and organised nature in which Spark Insights works”