We had 53 responses to the survey we conducted earlier this year. We’re publishing the results in full – both for transparency and so we can say thank you to everyone who put time into sharing their perspectives.
The positive feedback was very encouraging; the less positive will help us reflect on what we can do differently. You told us that:
Understanding of our focus on democracy is clear. JRRT is strongly associated with democratic reform and work to strengthen the democracy sector, as well as civil liberties, and voter participation.
Rating JRRT, 22% regarded JRRT as expert, 80% positive about our level of understanding. 47% rated JRRT as a major influence in their field and 60% scored the Trust as having significant positive impact. All were significant improvements on the 2017 survey.
On what JRRT priorities should be, the highest top weighted rankings were strengthening the democracy sector (18%); transparency and accountability (14%); and democratic engagement 13%.
The application process is seen as fast (85%) and easy to use (79%). Three out of four applicants do not feel under pressure to modify priorities and 66% felt extremely comfortable approaching the Trust if there were a problem. But feedback emerged as an area where we can improve.
Capacity: Two thirds of grantees say that a JRRT grant has contributed to building their financial sustainability – and perhaps unsurprisingly grants for capacity building were the top choice for support (20%), followed by opportunities to network or collaborate and opportunities to take part in events and seminars (both 14%), access to London office space (13%) and introductions to parliamentarians in their field (12%).
Strengthening the democracy sector: top choices were for commissioning research to support campaigning (13%), mapping the sector and open resources on who’s who, academics, funders, parliamentarians (12%), polling (10%) and strategic communications (9%).
The Board will be considering the survey results as we set priorities for 2021 and beyond.
To read a full breakdown of our survey results, please click here to download a PDF of the detailed figures and all submitted open comments.