As the Pearce Foundation's 2026 partnership programme draws to a close, we've been reflecting on the year with our partners, celebrating their achievements and exploring how we can continue to strengthen the support we offer.
Throughout the year, our partners have brought enthusiasm, openness and a willingness to share their experiences and learn from one another. We've been particularly inspired by their resilience, determination and good humour as they navigate the challenges of leading small charities.
Learning from our partners
We recently brought our 2026 partners together for a final peer review session, providing an opportunity to reflect on their experiences, share feedback and explore ideas for the future.
A key focus was our More Than Money approach, which combines grant funding with practical, tailored support to help charity leaders build stronger, more resilient organisations.
The conversations offered valuable insights into what has worked well, where partners have faced challenges and how we can make our support even more useful in the year ahead.
What's changing in 2027?
Feedback from our partners is helping shape several developments to our More Than Money programme for 2027.
One of these is a new online workspace designed to help charity leaders reflect on their organisation's progress, identify priorities, strengthen their foundations and track developments over time.
We'll also be introducing monthly themed peer learning sessions led by our Skill-Sharers. These will be followed by dedicated co-working time, giving partners the opportunity to put their learning into practice, work through challenges and make progress on their priorities.
Together, these developments aim to create more opportunities for shared learning, reflection and practical action.
Creating space to work on, not just in, charities
Small charity leaders are often balancing the immediate demands of running their organisations with the longer-term work needed to build resilience and sustainability.
With increasing pressures across the charity sector, including the loss of organisations providing vital infrastructure support, opportunities for learning, connection and organisational development are more important than ever.
At the Pearce Foundation, we believe that funding alone is not always enough. Through our More Than Money approach, we want to give charity leaders the time, space and support to step back from day-to-day demands and focus on strengthening their organisations for the future.
As we prepare to welcome our 2027 partners, we'd like to thank everyone in our 2026 cohort for their honesty, engagement and willingness to share their experiences.
Your feedback is helping us learn and grow too, and we look forward to putting these ideas into practice in 2027.
