Our Approach

We have prepared a comprehensive document for potential partners to review before making contact. 

Our grantmaking principles 

  • We carefully select the causes we support and are proactive in identifying potential recipients; as such, we do not accept unsolicited applications but welcome interested parties to introduce their work to us if it meets our funding requirements. 

  • We minimise our external 'calls for funding' and are flexible in what information prospective charities present to us (as an application) so as not to duplicate effort. 

  • We build long-term relationships with our grantees that go beyond money - offering consultancy and thought leadership services. 

  • We don't impose restrictive contracts on our grantees - we trust they will deploy the grant effectively and work with them to do so. 

  • We are radically transparent - making it clear where our money comes from, where it goes, and what we learned from spending it. 

  • We accept that things will sometimes go differently than planned and encourage honesty from our recipients. 

  • We disseminate our learnings to improve processes internally and externally.  

Priorities for support

The number of applications that The GSR Foundation can support is, by necessity, limited to the amount of funds available for distribution in line with the general reserves policy. The Board of Trustees will set aside an annual budget for grant giving which will be reviewed at least annually to ensure appropriate allocation. The GSR Foundation trustees reserve the right to amend these priorities at any time. 

With the breadth of our work, the number of viable projects will likely exceed the available funding, so the trustees use the following criteria to help them decide how best to allocate the budget. In practice, we interpret our objects as follows:

  • Does the prospect have a strong understanding of specific barriers to participation in the tech world?

  • Have they developed (or are they developing) viable and scalable solutions to these barriers?

  • Have they identified a population group that experiences additional barriers to access? Or, if their product serves the whole population, how do they ensure delivery doesn’t reinforce existing barriers, and that participation is equitable and equal? 

  • Are they committed to learning and working with the GSR Foundation as a collaborative partner?

  • Do they have a strong track record of success or a convincing theory of change? 

  • Are solutions co-created with the populations they serve? 

  • Does the charity exercise appropriate financial safeguards, and/or do the accounts show a financially-viable entity? 

We have prepared a comprehensive document for interested parties which you can access here.