During their 17-year history, Rosa has established themselves as the only UK-wide funder and sector builder dedicated to organisations led by and for women and girls. Working with more than 100 funders and philanthropists, they have invested over £11.5 million into the sector, supporting almost 500 organisations and reaching over 400,000 women and girls. It ’s a record they are deeply proud of and a legacy that powers them forward.
They know we live in uncertain times, where progress towards equal rights for women and girls can’t be taken for granted. They also understand that women’s and girls’ organisations are critical in creating positive change, and in countering the misogyny, sexism, racism, poverty and male violence which so many women and girls face. Rosa's mission to invest in women-led organisations and support the sector, is needed more than ever.
Working with funders, partners and women-led organisations across the UK to create an ambitious plan, the strategy focuses on building a sector that is better funded, more resilient and more sustainable. Their Strategic Priorities are to:
Fund for a thriving sector
The women and girls sector is underfunded with just 1.8% of all charitable grants in the UK being awarded to women’s and girls’ organisations. Funding is also often short-term, provided in response to immediate events, threatening women’s and girls’ organisations’ capacity to drive long-term change and dismantle harmful systems.
They will focus their grant making expertise to fund women’s and girls’ organisations so they can flourish and thrive, meeting the needs of individuals, influencing progress in women’s and girls’ rights and creating the conditions for a gender equal society.
Build for a resilient sector
Women’s and girls’ organisations often struggle to build capacity, skills, resources or confidence to sustain and grow their work effectively, particularly smaller and grassroots organisations. Organisations face challenges finding opportunities to connect, collaborate, and share knowledge, leading to missed opportunities for collective action.
They will build for a resilient sector, conducting and sharing research to improve understanding of the sector’s challenges and impact. And strengthen the sector’s capacity through training and networking opportunities to contribute to sustaining a women’s and girls’ sector that is resilient, well-resourced, and collaborative.
Inspire investment for a sustainable sector
There is a chronic lack of funding prioritised for the sector. Additional to only 1.8% of charitable grants awarded to women’s and girls’ organisations, currently fewer than 2% of UK funders cite women and/or girls as among their main funding criteria. Government and public sector funding is complex to access and fails to prioritise the work delivered by specialist women-led women’s and girls’ organisations.
They will use their unique position as a UK-wide funder of the women and girls sector to produce evidence and research that inspires greater philanthropic investment, expand their portfolio of donors, and work with experts and partners to encourage statutory funders to prioritise funding for women’s and girls’ organisations for the long-term sustainability of the sector .
You can read their new strategy here.
You can also read their new theory of change, a clear action plan for achieving their strategy; it identifies the problems the sector faces, how they can address them and the changes they seek to make.
