What are the characteristics and value of time-limited trusts?

As Local Trust approaches its planned closure, we’re digging into what makes our organisation stand out. In this reflection, our senior quantitative researcher, Jack Loughnane, evaluates the impact our time-limited trust model has had on the delivery of the Big Local programme, and the legacy we hope it will leave for communities and funders alike.  

Time-limited trusts have existed in private sector funding for over a century, but they are less common and less researched in the UK charity and public sectors. As a time-limited funder supporting the delivery of Big Local, our whole organisation has had a clear endpoint, which is unusual among funding programmes.   

To explore this in more depth, we commissioned Shared Intelligence to answer the question: what is the value of time-limited trusts? 

You can read the full report here and below we share some of the key takeaways: 

What is a time-limited trust? 

A time-limited trust is a legal funding arrangement with a predetermined end date, designed to achieve specific goals within a set timeframe.

In February 2012, Big Local Trust was established as an independent trust by the National Lottery Community Fund (TNLCF), with an expendable endowment. This meant the full £217m endowment had to be spent on the Big Local programme over a fixed period.  

 Time-limited trusts in the private vs public sector 

The man who dies thus rich, dies disgraced”

Andrew Carnegie

In American philanthropy, time-limited trusts are created to reduce a perpetual timeframe down to a fixed period. In many cases, this is an ethical decision rooted in urgency to resolve societal issues. Time-limited models are used to take ‘big bets’, spending large amounts of money in much shorter timeframes than a perpetual trust would.  

Between 2010 and 2015, several time-limited trusts with lifespans of 10 to 20 years were established in the UK. Unlike many of the American examples, these were established by public bodies rather than by individuals. Their purpose was to deliver public benefit, not to pursue a single founder’s vision. Additionally, rather than reducing perpetuity, time-limited trusts presented a way of operating in longer timeframes than traditional public funding.

Characteristics of time-limited trusts 

Time-limited trusts in the public and private sector share many common traits. While these characteristics are not exclusive to time-limited trusts, the organisations Shared Intelligence focused on in their report were often: 

• goal-driven, focused on transformative system change 

• willing to take risks and make larger, bolder investments 

• characterised by engaged and supportive relationships with grantees 

• conscious of leaving a ‘support vacuum’ when they close 

• intentional about learning; seeing knowledge and insight as part of their legacy. 

The aim was not to support communities to solve a specific social issue, but rather to enable resident-led change and community empowerment.

The Big Local programme shares many of these characteristics. However, the impact of the time-limited model on Big Local is not as straightforward as it may be in other cases.

For example, whether Local Trust was characterised by goal-driven funding is questionable. One reason is that we are process-focused rather than outcome-focused. The aim was not to support communities to solve a specific social issue, but rather to enable resident-led change and community empowerment.  

How the time-limited model shaped Big Local 

The success of the Big Local programme has been aided by the time-limited model. The fixed timeframe was long enough to give residents meaningful control, but short enough to encourage focus and momentum. It also helped foster patience, flexibility and a sense of neutrality – all of which contributed to Local Trust being seen as trustworthy by policymakers. 

To hear that [the funding] was going to be secure for 10 years transformed the whole way we looked at it and has enabled us to begin to address some deeper-lying cultural issues, and start to change people’s views of the local community.”

Reverend Bob White, Fratton Big Local 

 The research highlights three areas where the model made a particular difference. 

1. Patience 

Public time-limited trusts operate over longer periods than the three to five-year timescale typical of many grant programmes. For Local Trust, this long-term horizon created space for patience at the start of the Big Local programme.  

There was no need to panic that significant amounts of money weren’t being spent in the early years of the programme. Instead, this allowed time for:  

• the formation of partnerships 

• development of trust and social capital 

• Big Local areas to identify the priorities of residents in their communities.  

As areas became more confident, spending rates increased during the programme’s peak delivery period. This pace would have been difficult to sustain under shorter funding cycles. 

2. Flexibility 

Because Big Local was designed as a process-led programme, the time-limited model adopted by Local Trust aimed to facilitate flexible, long-term and locally determined approaches. Each area knew it had £1m to spend by 2026. This meant that communities had the freedom to experiment, learn from mistakes, and change direction over time. Local Trust’s independence also meant support could be adapted as areas’ needs changed, rather than reacting negatively to perceived failures of financial investment. 

3. Influence 

Being a time-limited organisation has allowed for the development of Local Trust’s profile as an independent national voice in support of our community development objectives. The commitment to close in 2026 helped position us as an honest broker in the policy sphere, not having the incentive to perpetuate our existence.  

It also placed us in a strong position to invest in policy and research initiatives, including: 

• The Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods (ICON) 

• 3ni: The national network for neighbourhood improvement – a learning network for local government 

• The Centre for Collaboration in Community Connectedness – a consortium of universities, voluntary and community sector organisations researching community connectedness.  

Being independent of TNLCF also provided insulation from changing priorities and political cycles. 

Parting thoughts 

This research is an important starting point for wider discussions in the UK charity sector. In particular, it offers valuable insights for funders interested in maximising their impact.  

The report does not argue that time-limited models are superior to other funding strategies, or that Big Local couldn’t have succeeded under a different approach. Instead, it highlights that the risks and rewards of the time-limited model are worth serious consideration and exploration.

To learn more, read the full Shared Intelligence report, Better to spend out…?