When we first conceived of the idea of a Farewell Fund, it was because there was so little conversation, let alone action when it comes to the idea of renewal in civil society. By renewal we mean the natural cycle of life and death – things fade in their relevance. What was once seen as vital can lose its place. The purpose or reason for something existing can shift as the wider context shifts too. Organisations sometimes need to die – to end. Paul Hamlyn Foundation
It might seem an odd thing to say but I was privileged to attend a Loss Circle event over the summer organised as part of the Stewarding Loss programme. It is not often I get to share experiences with others concerned with ending organisations well so this was a rare opportunity to share insights, and maybe gain a feeling of catharsis. The programme has been supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and has been exploring how and what can be done to design better organisational endings – ‘responsibly, intelligently and compassionately.’
Pre-dating the pandemic, this work is rooted in the belief that endings are part of the natural cycle of growth, change, renewal, and innovation within the nonprofit sector. Since March this work has also focused on understanding the urgent and growing need of the thousands of organisations facing closure as a result of the pressures of the pandemic.
Since the loss circle I have made a small contribution to the development of some resources that have now gone public thanks to the hard work and commitment of Iona and Cassie.
I know this is not something that is easy to discuss, and may even seem insensitive given the current circumstances, but we hope that the research to date and growing set of resources provides a compassionate means for stewarding loss.
Sensing an Ending shares a first draft of 7 principles to steward better organisational endings, with an accompanying guidebook. This has been developed with the particular context of Covd-19 in mind.
Staying Close to Loss is an introduction to the idea of continual enquiry in an organisations’ life span — where loss is considered within organisational strategy as ordinarily as ‘growth.’ This is explored through a series of canvases.
Following on from this initial work the Stewarding Loss programme is now setting up:
- A community of practice — creating a network of practitioners who can support civil society organisations to design their endings, and intelligently and carefully dismantle them.
- Ongoing listening circles — a new series of peer-to-peer circles, with 3 different focal points to choose from: one for people going through organisational endings, one for people anticipating an organisational ending and one for people that want to explore the wider systemic and regenerative practices that need developing in relation to loss, across civil society
- An enquiry specifically for funders — funders who want to better understand and define the appropriate roles that they can take in resourcing wise and dignified organisational endings can join a growing community of funders are exploring this.
- A series of events — curated by Ivor Williams, that will bring this work into the wider consciousness of civil society organisations — to encourage a cultural shift in how organisational endings are perceived, designed for and experienced. Alongside positioning this work in a longer time frame, connecting civil society work to the losses other crises will bring, like the ecological and climate emergency.