Measuring Church Urban Fund’s Impact at Grassroots Level
Church Urban Fund carried out its 2007 survey of its projects, which highlighted some key facts about our impact at grassroots level. As well as additional confirmation that Church Urban Fund support has helped projects to attract funding from other sources, the survey indicated the added value provided by our other areas of support. Here are some of the key findings, or download the full report at the bottom of this page.
- 84% of projects agreed/strongly agreed that their ‘voice’ was heard at local level but only 12% thought they were heard nationally, highlighting the importance of initiatives such as CUF Xchange.
- 69% of respondents felt they needed assistance with fundraising and achieving financial sustainability, followed at a distance by help with ‘recruiting, supporting and managing volunteers’ (32%) and ‘writing business plans and other strategic documents’ (29%). The Improve and Reach funding secured by the Church Urban Fund is being used to provide support such as this.
- This was also reflected in the resources people want from CUF, with 66% saying that they would like us to make fundraising help and hints available. The Church Urban Fund e-newsletter, The Resource Bulletin, is one way in which we provide such support.
- With the vast majority of respondents using the internet ‘very frequently’, 86% said that free downloadable resources would be most relevant if made available online, with appropriate regional news (76%) and links to other online resources (62%) also being popular. Church Urban Fund has already started to provide this through the Resources section of its website, CUF Xchange and The Resource Bulletin.
- The support we give to our projects is clearly appreciated, with 62% agreeing or strongly agreeing that their organisation needs more help and support from Church Urban Fund. The same proportion also wanted to meet with other CUF-funded projects working in similar areas – an opportunity increasingly provided by CUF Xchange.
Overall, the survey reinforced the view that many projects have important issues with funding and becoming self-sustainable beyond the life-span of their grant. Billy Dann, National Programmes Manager for the Church Urban Fund, says, “The research highlights the importance of Church Urban Fund, not only as a funder, but also as a development, infrastructure and advocacy organisation.”