Better to spend out…?
This report, developed with Shared Intelligence, explores a critical question for the charity sector: what is the value of a time-limited trust? As part of the ongoing conversation about funding models, the report highlights where the time-limited approach can be most effective in supporting long-term change.
In February 2012, Big Local Trust was established as an independent trust by the National Lottery Community Fund, with an expendable endowment of £217m. This meant that the full endowment was required to be spent on the Big Local programme over a fixed period of time.
As Big Local draws to a close, Shared Intelligence have been working with Local Trust to explore what can be learned from this time-limited trust model, and to consider a broader question: what is the value of time-limited trusts?
This report brings together research findings from a review of existing literature, alongside interviews and roundtable discussions with individuals from the public and private funding sectors in both the UK and the US. It explores the characteristics that time-limited trusts tend to share across different funding contexts, and reflects on how these features shape decision-making, delivery, and impact.
Drawing on a range of examples, the report considers the circumstances in which time-limited trust models may be particularly effective, and where they may be less well-suited. The aim of this work is to contribute to an ongoing conversation about the range of funding models available to the UK charity sector, and the role they can play in supporting long-term change.
