JRCT: Inviting Applications for Power and Accountability Programme

Deadline: 25 March 2019

Applicants are invited to apply for the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) “Power and Accountability Programme” to support people to create a world in which power is more equally shared, and in which powerful institutions are responsive and accountable to wider society and aligned with the long-term public interest.

In wider society, the way that power is concentrated, shared and used is changing as a result of globalisation, new technology, new channels of communication, extreme inequality and other factors. These changes bring increased risks of unaccountable power, but also new opportunities for interconnected, engaged and flourishing democracy.

Funding Priorities

Strengthening corporate accountability
- Large corporations have significant power, and checks and balances are inadequately developed, particularly for trans-national corporations. They are interested in funding work which:
  - develops and promotes mechanisms which increase the accountability and responsiveness of companies to shareholders, stakeholders, regulators and the long-term public interest, for example through improvements to corporate governance, corporate structures (including alternative corporate forms), company reporting or regulation
  - develops and promotes mechanisms whereby those who suffer severely as a result of company actions, particularly marginalised groups, can gain access to justice.
Strengthening democratic accountability
- In a healthy democracy, government should be representative of the wider public and in touch with a wide range of groups, but not disproportionately influenced by any single interest. They are interested in funding work which:
  - develops and promotes mechanisms which ensure an accountable, transparent and proportionate relationship between the private sector and government
  - develops and promotes mechanisms which enable civil society and the general public, including marginalised groups, to engage appropriately and effectively with government policy making
  - encourages government, parliament and other statutory agencies to be more representative of the wider public they serve.
Encouraging responsible media
- The media is an important part of a healthy democracy, but media can itself be powerful and unaccountable. They are interested in funding work which:
  - encourages accurate and responsible media, with appropriate safeguards
  - explores and promotes ways for all forms of media to play a constructive role in holding government, companies and other powerful actors to account.

Eligibility Criteria

JRCT is interested in funding work which:
- is about removing problems through radical solutions, and not simply about making problems easier to live with
- has clear sense of objectives, and how to achieve them
- is innovative and imaginative
- and where the grant has a good chance of making a difference
Within its areas of interest, the trust makes grants to a range of range of organisations and to individuals.
If applicants are based outside the UK and they are registered as a charitable organisation in their local jurisdiction, they may apply for general support if all of their work fits within their published programmes, and the following criteria are also met:
- applicant’s organisation is governed by an upaid board
- applicant’s organisation is not for profit
- applicant’s organisation’s formal purposes fall within the list of charitable purposes recognised within English law.