Philanthropy
The Mercers’ Company is a livery company focused on being a philanthropic force for good
Southwalk playhouse
Purpose

Creating positive change so that everyone has the chance to lead a fulfilling life. 

Impact

Approximately £10 million p.a. funded to support c.180 charities to:

  • Improve people’s lives
  • Strengthen organisations
  • Contribute to societal change
     
Focus

Funding organisations that advocate for disadvantaged people and communities:

  • Greater London,
  • Norfolk/Lincolnshire  
  • Northeast of England
     
Funding Programmes
Our programmes place people at their heart.
Church &
Communities

Funding Priorities: We fund community and faith-based organisations that: 

  • Build stronger communities (disadvantaged communities, support for refugees and homeless)
  • Deliver better outcomes for families and carers

 

 


Where we Fund: Greater London, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and the Northeast of England.

 

Older People &
Housing

Funding Priorities: We fund not for profit organisations that support older people faced with:

  • Loneliness
  • Poverty 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where we Fund: London and Norfolk.

 

Young People &
Education

Funding Priorities: Help young people achieve a good start in life, have strong mental health and feel supported through challenging transitions:

  • Early Years, Literacy and Transitions from Secondary School 
  • Young people's Mental Health and Wellbeing
  • Associated Schools & Colleges/ School Leadership

Where we Fund: Greater London.

mercers_impact
Our Impact

Over the past five years (1 April 2018 - 31 March 2023) we have achieved: 

Our funding data

We believe in open data and transparency. We publish information on our grants, to provide details of who we fund, how much we funded and what the funding was for.

We have published all our grants made since 2018, when we established a Philanthropy Framework. See our funding data here

We have also published grants awarded over £10,000 from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, across our four main funding programmes here
 

Our Approach

As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, a Philanthropy Framework review is undertaken every five years to evaluate our progress against objectives and shape our philanthropic work in line with our guiding principles – to put our independence and longevity to proactive use and deliver measured outputs leading to clear outcomes.

For our 2023-2028 Philanthropy Framework, we have developed consistent impact measures for all our grantmaking programmes, which aim to:

  • Improve people’s lives
  • Strengthen organisations of the people supported
  • Contribute to societal change

As a funder, impact measures allow us to see the progress made and what is adding value in different sectors and communities across our programmes. We report on our impact annually in our Annual Review

Funder Plus 

Our Philanthropy Framework goes beyond supporting our grantholders financially. We also support the organisations we fund to become stronger and more resilient by providing access to training and support. We work with a number of strategic partners across our programmes to achieve this, including the Media Trust  and the Cranfield Trust.

Evaluation and Research 

We work with leading evaluation, research and learning partners across our funding programmes to inform our Insights & Learnings and future funding priorities.  

Relational networking 

We build value added relationships and trust-based relationships with our grantees during application and grant duration, through a high-engagement formal and informal approach that provides additional support to organisations and their teams.

We are also engaged on a peer and industry level, collaboratively working to build networks that can best support our grantees and inform our grantmaking.

We also support our historic links with the Company’s Associated Schools and Colleges, Almshouses and Sheltered Housing and church livings.

IVAR 

We are committed to open and trusting grantmaking and being a flexible funder for the organisations we support.

We are delighted to join a community of funders and are proud to have signed a pledge to open and trusting grantmaking, a campaign coordinated by the Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR).

Our 8 commitments to open and trusting grantmaking  

Living wage

We are proud to be a living wage employer, paying employees the real living wage, and a Living Wage Funder. 


 

Other areas you may be interested in
Funding FAQs

Answers to some of the most common queries. 

Corporate Trustee

We are corporate trustee to nine charities.

Insights & Learning

View our grants data and research findings.