The List: A Key Resource for UK Trust & Foundation Fundraising

The Story Behind The List

Nearly two years ago, Jo Jeffery shared a simple spreadsheet that she had set up to log changes to grant-making to help manage her client’s prospects and portfolios. She never imagined it would spark a movement – a sector wide group project. She simply thought, “This is interesting to me, maybe it’ll be interesting to others too.” At a time when navigating trust and foundation fundraising had become increasingly difficult, that spreadsheet became The List, a single place to track the pausing, spend down, and restructuring of charitable trusts and foundations in the UK. In September 2025 the spreadsheet was retired, and Tom Watson developed a dedicated website.

About Jo Jeffery

Jo spent her early career in local government strategy and policy and moved to the charitable sector after her eldest child was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. She has a decade of trust and foundation fundraising experience in the UK with a special interest in children, families and health. She has been freelance for four years.

Benefact Group’s Support for Charity Fundraising

Through our Charity Support programme, we know just how challenging it can be for fundraisers to navigate the complex world of trusts and foundations. Our free webinars, events and resources are designed to help lighten that load, and we hope they’re already making a difference.

Like many others in the sector, we spotted The List and immediately recognised its value. We’re delighted to support Jo in bringing this report to life, all with the aim of making a fundraiser’s job that little bit easier.

“The List looks incredible and is clearly built by someone who really understands what a fundraiser needs to find. Thank you”

Introduction to The List

First published in March 2024, The List is, at its heart, a practical tool to support fundraisers in their everyday work of managing portfolio and prospects by tracking changes to grant-making behaviours of Trust and Foundations in the UK . The List is a practical and collaborative resource allowing anyone to submit updates, helping to ensure the information remains accurate, up to date and free to access.

The List isn’t designed to judge foundations, closed or paused doesn’t automatically mean “bad”, and open doesn’t automatically mean “good”. Instead, The List simply tracks shifts in grant-making – both subtle and seismic – that impacts the workflow of fundraisers.