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Exempted Criteria

 

Many organisations are exempted depending on the size of their organisation. 

Exemptions

In FPR, foundations are exempt from criteria which do not apply to them. For instance, a foundation with few staff, or no staff, is exempt from the criterion about publishing the gender pay gap of its staff.

The table below shows which types of foundation are exempt from which criteria.

For this current Year Three (2023/24), we changed one exemption rule. That is the exemption on publishing a diversity plan: formerly, any foundation with ten or fewer staff was exempted from this; now that is five or fewer staff. This is mainly because if you encounter a foundation with ten staff who are all demographically identical, the chances that this is a random chance is really low, and the foundation should have a plan to improve that. Indeed, the number of staff that a foundation can have, where, if they are demographically identical, that is from random chance, seems rather lower than ten. Five seems a better number.

FPR now gathers some additional information though these do not count towards foundations’ scores or their ratings. The information gathered is:

  • about the diversity of foundations’ staff and trustees, where they publish it. In Years One and Two, we noted whether foundations disclosed those data but we did not log those data; In 2023, after the Year Two report published, we gathered those data in order to start tracking whether and how the diversity is changing (we published the 2023 data about that here). In Year Three, we will gather those data at the same time as we gather everything else. 
  • about the diversity of foundations’ applicants and grantees, where they publish it. We will also note what definitions the foundations use, e.g., how they define a ‘Black-led organisation’. This suggestion arose through our consultation to inform Year Three. In future years, we may create criteria related to this information.
  • We now only count information which is less than three years old. That is a new rule this year. So a foundation which, say, published data on its pay gap from six years ago would have received credit for that in Year Two but would not do so henceforth.

 

QuestionExemption rules
Does the foundation publish information on any pay gaps (gender, ethnicity, disability)?49 or fewer staff[1]
Does the foundation publish a breakdown of the diversity of its staff (all staff, with respect to gender, ethnicity and disability only)?5 or fewer staff
Does the foundation have a plan to improve the diversity of its staff?5 or fewer staff
Does this plan include specific, numerical targets to improve the diversity of its staff?5 or fewer staff
Does this plan include targets for women, BAME staff, LGBTQIA+ and/or disabled staff?5 or fewer staff
Does the foundation publish a breakdown of the diversity of its trustees (with respect to gender, ethnicity and disability only)?5 or fewer trustees/board members
Does the foundation have a plan to improve the diversity of its trustees/board members?5 or fewer trustees/board members
Does this plan include specific, numerical targets to improve the diversity of its trustees/board?5 or fewer trustees/board members
Does this plan include targets for women, BAME staff, LGBTQIA+ and/or disabled trustees/board?5 or fewer trustees/board members
If the foundation funds recipients in Wales, is a Welsh language format provided?Does not fund in Wales
Is it possible to submit funding proposals in a range of different formats?Solicits proposals
What different types of formats are accepted for proposals by the foundation? Write down all that apply.Solicits proposals
How is the eligibility criteria presented? PDF, eligibility quiz, web text, video? Write down all that apply.Solicits proposals
Has the foundation made a public commitment to be a Living Wage employer?No staff
Does the foundation publish its recruitment policy for staff?No staff
Does the foundation publish who its staff are on its website?No staff
Does the foundation provide a bio for its senior staff?No staff
Is the following information presented in the bio: a) name, b) picture, c) previous job history, d) job title, e) contact information? Write down all that apply.No staff
Does the foundation state how to apply for funding?Solicits proposals
Does the foundation publish any eligibility criteria for what it funds (that is, who as a potential recipient would be eligible for a particular grant)?Solicits proposals
Approximately what percentage of all funding programmes have associated eligibility criteria presented for them?Solicits proposals
Is the foundation explicit about what it will not fund? The foundation must state ‘We do not fund’ or ‘We are not likely to fund’ (or similar) to score ‘Yes’.Solicits proposals
Is there an explicit mechanism to ask questions about funding?Solicits proposals
Approximately what percentage of the foundation’s funding programmes have associated timelines?Solicits proposals
Does the foundation publish a timeframe in which it will disburse the funds?Solicits proposals

[1] The legal requirement is only for employers with over 250 staff. Very few foundations have that many staff. We used 50 staff as our exemption ceiling because that was the original recommendation to government by a report which it commissioned in 2017 from Baroness McGregor-Smith: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/594336/race-in-workplace-mcgregor-smith-review.pdf