The power of philanthropy: Forum for the Future & People’s Postcode Lottery

First, does anyone recognise this exchange I often find myself having?  

Me: “We [Forum for the Future] take a systems approach as we understand the importance of tackling root causes of our sustainability challenges, as well as shifting how we approach these challenges.” 

Potential funder: “That is really sensible.  How do you measure impact?” 

Me: “Well, that can be tricky.  Systems change tends not to be linear, attributional or quick.” 

Potential funder: “Hmmm.  So how can you measure your impact then?” 

Me: “We can point to indicators that a system is shifting; new flows of information (new guidance); new models (particularly business models); new relationships (particularly in relation to power structures) and new narratives.” 

Potential funder: “That all sounds a bit woolly.  My board like quantifiable metrics.  Can you tell me ‘hectares of land converted to regen ag’ for example? Or ‘KW units of renewable energy generated’? ‘Revenue generated by new business models’?  And all of it over the next one, two and three years?” 

Me: “I can have a go, but it’s hard to predict specific outcomes with specific timelines as systems don’t tend to operate in a linear and directly causal manner.”  

Potential funder: “I’m really sorry, I don’t think we can help.” 

(Me – sigh) 

This is why charities such as Forum for the Future need flexible funding. 

Before exploring the why and what of flexible funding, let’s remind ourselves of the power of philanthropy. 

Philanthropy has many functions, all important. From a sustainability perspective possibly the most important role is in funding activities that are ahead of standard market economics.   

Activities designed to create system change tend to fall into this category. For any system to change, from the food system to the energy system, the way finances flow also needs to change.  We see this clearly in energy right now; after all, for a long time, renewable energy didn’t work in the mainstream market.  It took a combination of philanthropy, plucky entrepreneurs, research and enabling policy to scale renewable energy to a point where market economics kicked in and the business case worked.  

This speaks to philanthropy’s role in guiding a new market to enable it to maximise environmental and social benefits. Forum is experiencing this right now through philanthropic support for one of our major projects, the Responsible Energy Initiative, which since 2020 has been guiding the scale up on renewable energy in Asia.   

Looking beyond the energy system, less progress has been made and it’s here philanthropy can once again prove so vital. Philanthropy enables innovation, experimentation with new ways of working, and new models to scale (in turn becoming more attractive and fundable). Many years ago, Lord Stern referred to the climate crisis as ‘the biggest market failure of our time’.  Philanthropy is a way of correcting market failures by helping create new markets and new rules of the game (the latter being the final indicator that a system has changed). 

Now to flexible funding 

As key systems – healthcare, food and more - transition, articulating clear and quantified metrics can be easy, but assigning attribution is often hard. This is where philanthropic flexible funding is so powerful – it is allocated to an organisation on the basis the funder trusts you to make optimal use of that funding.   

This is why Forum so values our partnership with People’s Postcode Lottery. 

A story of trust and impact 

Forum has been supported by funds raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery since 2019.  

This story of trust and impact is perhaps best exemplified through our Growing our Future programme, which aims to accelerate progress towards a future in which we produce and consume affordable, nutritious food without destroying the land on which we all rely. We’re doing this by building a shared understanding of risks and opportunities across multiple players in the food value chain – from farmers and food processers to retailers, government and civil society – and then cultivating collective action.     

Players of People’s Postcode Lottery have supported Growing our Future with initial funding that enabled us to build strong foundations. We brought together unusual suspects to build new relationships, step back and collectively see the food system - how it could be and the opportunities for change.  Over the years we have brought together more than 67 organisations to create a vision for scaling just and regenerative agriculture. This unique depth of shared understanding has seen us agree collective actions working towards producing healthier food in ways that restore environmental and rural livelihoods.      

Our initial award, raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery and awarded by Postcode Green Trust, has also given us the time needed to attract additional funding. In 2024 we increased our expenditure on regenerative agriculture in the UK by a factor of four as we now use our foundations for change to focus on the future of the orchard and dairy industries.  

Few funders would support this initial phase of a project and then continue to provide the flexibility needed to explore the best route to long-term impact. Our plans look different now from 2019, and the approach taken by Postcode Green Trust, thanks to funds raised by players of the Postcode Lottery, has enabled us to learn and adapt.  

Beyond individual projects to the conditions key to success 

Looking beyond the ‘what and why’ of individual projects such as Growing our Future, we also need to understand the enabling conditions key to their success. . 

Take for example Forum’s recently-launched Future of Sustainability campaign, which is this year highlighting groundbreaking examples of social and environmental initiatives that show that flashes of the future we want are already here. As we continue to shine a light on these real-world examples of positive change in action, or ‘Bright Spots’ as we call them, we need to also understand what will be needed to enable them to scale.   

Here then is another role for philanthropy: directly funding a project or an organisation, but also directing funding the enabling context, from policy shifts to narrative change.

We also need to think carefully about the future of philanthropy. Forum has been working with Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors to build a community of philanthropy leaders to identify opportunities for strategic use of ‘futures for sustainability’; the Asia Philanthropy Circle have been developing scenarios for the Future of Asian Philanthropy; Philea, the European Philanthropy Assocation, has launched its Futures Philanthropy Initiative to build the capabilities of its members to adapt to what’s coming.   

Futures for sustainability: involves exploring the complex interplay of today's dynamic trends to identify risks, opportunities and powerful innovations - in turn helping organisations discover where to act for long-term success. 

At a time of rapidly changing geopolitics, growing uncertainty, and the potential erosion of established global norms, the world needs philanthropy – in particular philanthropic relationships built on flexible funding and trust - more than ever. In my new role as Chief Acceleration Officer I am excited to see how philanthropy can help the broader acceleration of progress towards a brighter, fairer and more prosperous future for people and the planet.