Wellbeing Fund: analysis of awards

2. The Wellbeing Fund Open Application Process

The Wellbeing Fund Open Application Process was set up in partnership between the Scottish Government and national third sector organisations: the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), Corra Foundation, Inspiring Scotland and The Hunter Foundation. The local knowledge of Third Sector Interfaces (TSIs) was also engaged to help to mobilise and assess applications. This broad partnership allowed for the fund to be developed quickly, incorporating high levels of due diligence, and ensured strong outreach to organisations and communities across Scotland

The Open Application Process was coordinated by SCVO and supported by a team of assessors from the funding organisations and the TSIs. The assessment process was designed to be rapid but also rigorous, with each application assessed by both TSIs and funders. Clear guidance and parameters were provided to all assessors to ensure the process was robust. TSIs provided local contextual insight while the funders focused their assessment on financial rigour and due diligence. Organisations with strong applications which met the criteria but were unsuccessful in the first round were encouraged to reapply in the second round. All applicant organisations were given feedback that could support them to submit a second application, or to apply for alternative funds elsewhere.

The Open Application Process took place in two rounds between April and June 2020.

The fund applications provide compelling evidence of how organisations across Scotland were rapidly adapting their work to be able to meet the challenges posed by Covid-19 and the lockdown. Organisations typically requested funding for a wide range of adaptive responses, including:

• Support to adapt and deliver existing programmes using online and remote approaches, allowing organisations to continue to reach communities/groups that might otherwise have become inaccessible due to the lockdown.
• Support to scale up or to develop new programmes in order to meet acute emerging needs among vulnerable groups – for example, ensuring access to food, medication and other types of support for groups most affected by Covid-19 and lockdown.

Funding criteria for the Wellbeing Fund Open Application Process

The fund was open to applications from any third sector organisation working anywhere in Scotland. Applications for the Open Application Process were assessed against the following criteria:

• Applicants needed to demonstrate that their proposed project would meet new and acute needs which had developed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Applicants were required to show that their project would target a vulnerable group or community.
• Applicants were encouraged to demonstrate that they were engaged in local coordination with other organisations delivering similar or related projects, in order to reduce duplication of efforts and to target funding towards needs as effectively as possible.
• Only applications for grants of between £5,000-£100,000 were considered for awards.
• For organisations seeking amounts smaller than £5,000, steps were taken to passport their applications to other funds. In the first round of applications, organisations applying for less than £5,000 were contacted directly by Inspiring Scotland and Hunter Foundation and invited to apply for a small grant through the Wellbeing Fund Small Grants Fund. In the second round, any organisation applying for less than £5,000 was diverted to the National Emergency Trust Fund (administered by Foundation Scotland).
• In order to support a rapid assessment and due diligence process, and to distribute funds quickly, applicants could not apply for more than 20% of their annual turnover, based on the previous year's set of accounts.
• Projects were short-term responses lasting three months or less.
• Organisational governance and financial situation were assessed, with applicant organisations required to demonstrate that they had an asset lock in place,^[4] as well as a sufficiently stable financial position to deliver the project.

Analysis of application data

Application and award data were collected for all organisations. This includes organisational information as well as details of the proposed projects, target groups, and intended outcomes. Scottish Government analysts undertook analysis of the applications from Rounds One and Two, and data about applications and awards has been published on https://community-funding-mapping-1-1-scotgov.hub.arcgis.com/.

Analysts also undertook limited text-based analysis of the needs that applicants identified for each target group, and the types of activities that applicants proposed to deliver through their Wellbeing Fund projects.^[5]

Limitations of the data

Analysis of the geographical data relating to applications and awards has been limited by the fact that many applicant organisations are working across several areas and more than one local authority. This has made it challenging to allocate funds to local authorities, or to undertake full analysis of how funding has been channeled to areas of higher deprivation. Accordingly, the analysis presented here relies on various assumptions, which are set out below.