Civil Society spoke to Nathan Gamester, Managing Director of the CSJ Foundation, about why small, grassroots charities are struggling to get the funding they need. The Foundation was set up by the Centre for Social Justice in 2021 to back frontline charities, connect them with philanthropists and bring their insight to policymakers through the CSJ Alliance.
The Foundation has now directed close to £25m to grassroots charities, around 90% of it outside London, and expects to direct £10m–£12m this year. Nathan points to the CSJ’s finding that 85% of charitable income goes to the largest 4% of charities, and sets out the recommendations of the CSJ’s Supercharging Philanthropy report, including government match funding and national and regional philanthropy champions.
