Re-negotiating Outcomes and Accountability Practices: The Grant-funder Perspective

This paper investigates the relationship between accountability and trust within the charity-funder relationship. Focusing on the grant giving process, the extent to which cognitive and affective trust are derived from both formal and informal accountability mechanisms is considered. Consequently, attention is given to how these relationships are influenced by the upward accountability requirements of institutional grant funders, as they manage relationships with their own key stakeholders. Interviews were conducted with a range of diverse Scottish grant funders, distributing both public and private funds. The findings unveil the complex nature of accountability and trust within the charity-funder relationship, with variations evident in the interplay between cognitive and affective trust depending on funder type, and the stage of the relationship within grant-funding cycle. Charity-funder relationships are found to be shaped by the upward accountability requirements of funders to their key own stakeholders. It is this second layer of accountability that influences the subsequent requirements placed upon charities, and as a result, the nature of trust that ensues.