We asked all the groups who were funded in this round to complete a survey to give us feedback on the process of applying to Redistro and the funding day. This is important learning for us so we can keep improving the way we work. We are also keen to get feedback from groups that were not funded.

Application process

11 people answered the questions about the application process and were given the options: very good/ good/fair/poor/very poor: 

Funding criteria

• Very good – 5
• Good – 5
• Fair – 1

Website

• Very good – 3
• Good – 6
• Fair – 2

Application process

• Very good – 9
• Good – 2
• Fair – 0

Most simple application we have ever filled in – it really helps us especially because all of us are volunteers using our unpaid time to find funding. Funding criteria is quite clear, though even more guidance about how to stand out in an application would be appreciated!

More clarity over which demographics they fund. I was under the impression it was GM organisations. We were in the minority in the room.

Application process was very straightforward, thank you!

Funding criteria can be more specific, but maybe this is intentional to allow for a greater number of applicants.

Funding day

9 people answered the questions about the community funding day: 

Meeting agenda/ format

• Very good – 5
• Good – 4
• Fair – 0

Venue (thank you Kuumba!)

• Very good – 4
• Good – 5
• Fair – 0

Refreshments (thank you Kuumba and Gullus Kitchen!)

• Very good – 6
• Good – 3
• Fair – 0

Facilitation (thank you Ruth!)

• Very good – 7
• Good – 2
• Fair – 0

I think the whole event was brilliant. The food was amazing. The only issue was since the stall sessions were divided into two, the half of the group that were in the same round didn’t get to talk to each other!

Great atmosphere was created by the Redistro staff, Ruth & the facilitators.

Would have liked to engage with all/more of the groups attending the event, but the “stall” format didn’t allow this, although it worked out really well with those groups I got to chat to.

Everything was great on the day. The facilitation was just the right level of friendly and informal, and the food was excellent.

What did you like most/ benefited most from?

It’s very inspiring and motivating to meet everyone else who is doing community work too.

Collaboration and meeting new people

We appreciate your aims of ‘challenge inequality of wealth and power and to create positive alternatives’ which we are doing in our own way. We like that you guys are very helpful and want to help Bristol organisations that want to make change.

Introducing our organisations to eachother, giving and receiving advice and help

Getting to network with other grassroots organisations 

Meeting the team and meeting other groups

Awareness of all the other projects supported by Redistro

I really enjoyed the feeling of community that the day at Kuumba had. It was well organised and set the tone for casual chats between the groups attending. 

It’s really interesting to be part of the judging panel and seeing all the other brilliant groups working in Bristol.

The funding will allow some great work for the Berg Arts billboard, and I look forward to installing it!

Meeting other grassroots orgs 

What would you like to see improved next time?

More grassroots groups to be funded

I didn’t have any issues during our process but maybe promote the funding process through multiple channels and platforms, ensuring that all eligible applicants are aware of the opportunity.

Boundaries set for photography and sharing of details at the beginning of the session.

I am not sure I think it was different from the racial justice funding round but I enjoyed both of them 

Some housekeeping rules

Really can’t think of anything!

More spare time within the agenda to talk to other applicants. Chance to get feedback about our applications

To join the meeting by zoom for those that are not Bristol based

It seemed from others at the meeting that a bit more on criteria and expectations of applicants might have been useful, although it was also widely acknowledged that the minimal criteria and formality were overall a massive plus.

I think the whole process was good 

Any other thoughts or suggestions?

Wider publicity. 

Narrow the focus of the ideas/demographic?

Tee shirts have been a great way for us to raise funds!

Nothing that wasn’t covered or mentioned on the day. You are doing important work in such a human and selfless way. I appreciate it endlessly! And I’m sure the other groups do too.

More money to distribute

Keep it up!

Maybe a JPEG to easier share on whatsapp 

Conclusions

We’re really grateful for all the useful feedback from the groups that took part in Round 5. It’s great to know that the application process and the funding day seem to be working well and appreciated by groups who take part. We aim to do more outreach and fundraising, as always the challenges are around our capacity as a small collective of volunteers but we’ll be looking to get more people involved and appreciate the offers of help we’ve received already. It looks like the funding day format and funding criteria need a rethink, which we will do ahead of the next round. 

The main concern for us was the confusion about the funding criteria. Last year we were given the funds from the Colston 4 fundraiser and so ran a special racial justice round limited to black and brown led groups. For round 5 we went back to our original criteria (open to all communities) but we obviously didn’t make this clear enough as some groups understood that our focus was on funding Global Majority-led groups. 

Of the 21 groups funded this time 15 (70%) are black and brown led and this is typical of our rounds. It seems that the majority white groups sent two representatives to the funding day whereas the black and brown led groups only had one person or could not attend so this really affected the make-up and feeling of the room. This is something for us to think about for future rounds and we’re sorry for the confusion or any discomfort caused. 

We’ll be taking all the feedback into account over the coming months. We’re keen to look at all the groups that have been funded in the 5 rounds we’ve run so far and to see whose missing and perhaps also think about running more specialised rounds, such as the racial justice one, as funds allow. As always, if you’d like to be involved, please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you!