PRESS RELEASE - May 2021

Do it Now Now launches Common Call Fund Two to provide grants to organisations supporting the development of Black Communities

Black-led charities and social enterprises across the UK can receive up to £12,500 to safeguard the future of their organisations.

London, 10 May: Do it Now Now is pleased to announce the launch of Common Call Fund Two, offering a share of a £360,000 pot to Black-led organisations providing services to people that have been adversely affected by COVID.  that it has been selected as one of 10 social impact organisations awarded a share of a new £2.8million Comic Relief fund, created to support the critical services delivered by hundreds of smaller community groups across the UK. 

Comic Relief, in collaboration with Barclays, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, The Clothworkers’ Foundation and the National Emergencies Trust pooled resources to set up The Global Majority Fund, dedicated to supporting the essential work being carried out by organisations led by, and in support of, people of colour within communities disproportionately affected by the pandemic. 

What’s on offer? Black-led charities and social enterprises working in communities across the UK will be able to apply for a grant package of £5,000 or £12,500 to help them:

• Get better informed about their options (moving to new methods of delivery) post-COVID19.
• Develop new enterprising activities and earned income strategies.
• Test the viability of specific propositions.
• Develop clear implementable action plans for such activity.​

This fund is for UK based organisations led by people that identify as Black or Mixed with Black. Common Call Fund Two will be prioritising organisations that have a place-based approach. The fund is also prioritising organisations led by people with lived experience of the problem they are trying to solve. The fund is determined to ensure each of the organisations funded has developed a plan for how the funding will lead to the sustainability of their organisation over the next year. 
​
Common Call Fund Two is specifically looking for organisations that are creating impact in underserved communities and providing services to people that have been adversely affected by the COVID crisis in terms of physical health, mental health and/or financial sustainability. The people the funded organisation support will primarily be people that identify as Black or Mixed with Black.

Other key criteria are:

• Organisations operating for longer than a year. 
• Unregistered organisations or sole traders MUST have to have a separate bank account dedicated to the work they are doing in the community. Unregistered organisations and sole traders will also only be able to apply for £5,000.
• Common Call Fund Two is only open to Black led organisations. This is  defined as 50% of the leadership team (inclusive of the Board) identifies as Black or Mixed with Black. 
• Common Call Fund Two prizes lived experience and will only be funding organisations if 50% of their leadership team (inclusive of the Board) has lived experience of the problem they are trying to solve. 
• Common Call Fund Two would not be able to fund organisations with an annual turnover above £500,000.

Commenting on the launch of the fund, Do it Now Now’s CEO, Bayo Adelaja said: “Statistically, our communities have borne the brunt of the pandemic’s impact in more ways than one. 

Black-led organisations are facing a funding deficit that significantly affects the long term sustainability and impact of their work within the underserved communities they focus on. COVID forced us to reckon with the consequence of organisations dwindling away due to a lack of accessible finance - the impact has been a horror show. Through this Comic Relief funding, we are able to continue supporting Black-led organisations working in communities across the country.

As an intermediary partner, our fund enables us to give grants so that the numerous social impact organisations serving their communities can continue to develop and thrive. We will shortly be opening our funding call and full details of how applicants can apply to get a share of the fund.”

Applications are open until June 25th 2021 and funds will be disbursed in September 2021. Applications should be made on the Common Call website - www.commoncall.fund/fund-two
 
-ENDS- 
 
For further information, contact - [email protected]
 
NOTES
 
The Common Call Fund is powered by Do it Now Now (DINN), an open innovation organisation committed to bringing social empowerment to Black communities across the globe. We bring charities, social entrepreneurs, startup teams, social innovators, investors, and philanthropists together to address social challenges, solve problems and support the development of under-represented groups and Black communities specifically. Find out more - www.doitnownow.com

ANNOUNCEMENT - February 2021

Reports: "Stories from the frontline" and "This is what we know now" | Common Call

It’s clear that we’re living through a historic moment, so we wanted to highlight how Black-led organisations have adapted during this time and pinpoint the persistent issues affecting their capacity to thrive in the UK.

Through the creation of Common Call, we’ve had the opportunity to connect with some fantastic, Black-led impact organisations in the UK that deliver transformative services in their communities. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, these organisations have had to pivot and change how they respond to their communities’ urgent needs. It hasn’t always been easy, but they’ve pulled through, continuing to make an impact during this uncertain time.
  
We’re excited to unveil two reports that give a glimpse into some of the challenges that Black-led impact organisations have to navigate in the UK, and how critical it is for them to access funding.

In Common Call: Stories from the frontline, we get a birds eye view from inside some of the organisations making a real impact in their communities. Our conversations with Common Call grantees leading these organisations reveal how their lived experiences sparked the inspiration to develop targeted services tackling social and economic issues in their communities. We also speak with people who have benefitted from their services and our Director of Investments and Grants, Ugo Ikokwu explains why funding Black-led impact organisations is vital for British civil society.
 
Our learning report, This is what we know now takes an internal perspective as we share what we’ve discovered as an organisation provisioning funding through our Common Call initiative. We’ve engaged almost 500 organisations through our work, which gives us a unique insight into the challenges they face and the unique strengths each one has. We share an end-to-end examination of our process for developing the fund and highlight the specific things we can do to enhance the initiative in the future.
 
Each report explores different aspects of the impacts of funding in communities, and both highlight how crucial it is for Black-led organisations to access funding - the services they provide with these funds is critical to the services they are able to provide. The reports analyse the intricate systemic structures that affect Black-led organisations and propose solutions to help them flourish, even in the most unpredictable circumstances. 

Our aim is to bring these issues to light and share our findings with the Do it Now Now community to enable tangible change in British civil society. We hope that you are both informed and inspired to push for the change that our society needs by reading these reports.

-ENDS- 
 
For further information, contact - [email protected]
 
NOTES
 
The Common Call Fund is powered by Do it Now Now (DINN), an open innovation organisation committed to bringing social empowerment to Black communities across the globe. We bring charities, social entrepreneurs, startup teams, social innovators, investors, and philanthropists together to address social challenges, solve problems and support the development of under-represented groups and Black communities specifically. Find out more - www.doitnownow.com
 
Bayo Adelaja, the Fund Manager, is the founder and CEO of Do it Now Now; which she founded in 2016 in response to gaps in the support available to Black innovators building tech companies and social enterprises in the UK and across Africa. The initiatives Bayo developed for Do it Now Now have led to awards by both Harvard University and Oxford University's Business Schools for her work to create and foster opportunities for under-served communities through technology. 3 communities/initiatives she designed to support underrepresented people in tech, were named "Top in Europe" by FT-backed digital news platform, Sifted.

PRESS RELEASE - July 2020

Do it Now Now Launches Common Call COVID Fund to Support Black-led Charities and Social Enterprises

Organisations across the UK can receive up to £3,000 to support people affected by COVID-19

London, 27 July: Do it Now Now, the open innovation organisation empowering Black communities globally, announces the launch of the Common Call fund, created to support Black-led charities and social enterprises making a difference in their local communities across the UK. Eligible organisations can apply for unrestricted grant support ranging from £1K-£3K which will come with 1 year of support. This will help them bridge the gap that the COVID-19 crisis created in their organisation’s trajectory, while also providing them with access to key experts and peers that can help them grow their work sustainably and effectively in the future.
 
Set up with funds raised from  Paul Hamlyn Foundation, the Common Call fund is designed to support organisations that are creating impact in deprived communities and providing services to people that have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 crisis in terms of their physical health, mental health and/or financially. The Common Call fund strives to redress the balance by giving financial support and wrap-around support to Black-led organisations.
 
Do it Now Now supports Black people in the UK seeking to make a significant difference in their communities by bridging the resource gaps caused by underfunding and under-resourcing. Black people are disproportionately affected by financial recessions and this negative impact spreads deep into the 19.6% of the total Black population that live in dire financial hardship in the UK. 
 
Commenting on the launch of the fund, Bayo Adelaja, Fund Manager, said: “When a financial crisis hits, the Black people that are sacrificing portions of their salaries and their time to increase opportunities for social mobility for other Black people are no longer able to do so. Common Call aims to socially empower Black people to actively engage in the communities in which they live and to create a positive impact on their families. 
 
“Our goal is to make it easier for Black people with lived experience of key issues in their communities to build and sustain social enterprises and charitable organisations that solve the problems they had to fight to overcome. The beneficiaries of the organisations we fund will primarily be people that identify as Black or Mixed with Black.” 

Moira Sinclair, Chief Executive, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, said:
 
"It is clear that the effects of this pandemic are not falling equally, and this is true for organisations as much as it is for individuals. We are therefore delighted to be supporting the Common Call fund, which will support Black-led social enterprises and charities not only to survive the impact of the pandemic, but to thrive. We look forward to seeing the impact of the Common Call fund, both in communities now, and in the longer term."
 
The first round of applications is open throughout August 2020 and funds will be disbursed in October 2020. Applications should be made on the Common Call website - www.commoncall.fund
 
-ENDS- 
 
For further information, contact - [email protected]
 
NOTES
 
The Common Call Fund is powered by Do it Now Now (DINN), an open innovation organisation committed to bringing social empowerment to Black communities across the globe. We bring charities, social entrepreneurs, startup teams, social innovators, investors, and philanthropists together to address social challenges, solve problems and support the development of under-represented groups and Black communities specifically. Find out more - www.doitnownow.com
 
Bayo Adelaja, the Fund Manager, is the founder and CEO of Do it Now Now; which she founded in 2016 in response to gaps in the support available to Black innovators building tech companies and social enterprises in the UK and across Africa. The initiatives Bayo developed for Do it Now Now have led to awards by both Harvard University and Oxford University's Business Schools for her work to create and foster opportunities for under-served communities through technology. 3 communities/initiatives she designed to support underrepresented people in tech, were named "Top in Europe" by FT-backed digital news platform, Sifted.

Paul Hamlyn Foundation was established by Paul Hamlyn in 1987. Upon his death in 2001, he left most of his estate to the Foundation, creating one of the largest independent grant-making foundations in the UK. Their mission is to help people overcome disadvantage and lack of opportunity, so that they can realise their potential and enjoy fulfilling and creative lives. The Foundation has a particular interest in supporting young people and a strong belief in the importance of the arts.