The Foundation Practice Rating (FPR) is an annual sector-wide assessment of the practices in diversity, accountability, and transparency of 100 UK grant-making foundations. This year’s results are the strongest in the FPR’s five-year history, showing clear and measurable improvement across the sector.
The Context
Each year, the FPR assesses 100 UK foundations, randomly selected from a larger pool. These organisations are included automatically and assessed using publicly available information, without a formal opt-in or opt-out process.
Alongside this, some foundations choose to take part proactively. This year, Cripplegate Foundation opted in to be assessed, joining a small number of peers in doing so. We did this because we believe that:
- Transparency and accountability should be continuously tested
- Strong internal practice leads to stronger community impact
- External frameworks can challenge us to improve
The process was insightful, rigorous and constructive. It prompted us to reflect deeply on how we work across the three FPR domains: diversity, accountability, and transparency. This includes diversity and accessibility of our websites, accountability to our partners and communities, and transparency in our processes. It also encouraged us to review practical aspects of our work such as our application processes, eligibility criteria, clarity of information on our website (including timelines and decision-making processes), and how inclusive and accessible our funding is.
The Results
We are thrilled to share that Cripplegate Foundation achieved:
- Overall grade: A
- Diversity: A
- Accountability: A
- Transparency: A
Achieving a AAA rating across all three domains is a significant achievement. Prior to this year, only one foundation had reached this level. In the latest cohort of 100 assessed foundations, just three achieved AAA. Sarah Benioff, Chief Executive of Cripplegate Foundation said:
“We are incredibly proud of this result – it reflects the commitment over many years of our staff team, board, and partners to working in ways that are open, fair, and inclusive.
We have worked hard on our diversity, equity and inclusion ambitions, strategy and actions across everything we do, and opting in to the Foundation Practice Rating was one way to hold ourselves publicly accountable, and also to push ourselves to reflect and improve.”