Giving Compass' Take:

• Grace Wyld examines trends in criminal justice system funding to better understand how donors can invest more efficiently.

• Research shows that funders are less confident in prison-based work. What is needed to build trust in this area?

• Read about criminal justice reform opportunities.

Clinks, the umbrella body for criminal justice charities, have recently found that the sector — particularly small and specialist organizations — rely heavily on financial support from trusts and foundations. Specialist criminal justice organizations with an income of between £100k and £500K ($128-643K USD) received 33% of their funding from trusts and foundations and 23% from government.

But we know that independent funders are increasingly frustrated with the criminal justice system. Many are losing confidence in their ability to have an impact, particularly when funding work that is delivered in prisons. As a result, they have been ‘drifting away,’ whether consciously or not, from funding prison-based work.

We want to understand their frustrations and motivations, and ultimately help them invest impactfully into the sector, with greater confidence. Because the criminal justice system is in real need of support. Below are 5 main takeaways from our research so far:

  1. Funders are less confident about funding prison-based work
  2. There is appetite for more radical systems change work to rethink the role of prisons
  3. They are frustrated with the competitive commissioning environment in which charities have to operate
  4. The collective voice of funders could be very powerful
  5. They disagree on how independent funding should sit next to state funding

Read the full article about criminal justice funding by Grace Wyld at NPC.