What we do at Ariadne

Ariadne supports new funders and those seeking to brush up and extend their skills to explore both basic and more complex topics in a series of free or subsidised conferences, workshops and grant skills days. These are held in different European locations, in different languages, so that funders can learn together in an open and supportive way from the best experts in the field. Past events  looked at the implications of technology for human rights and human rights grantmaking, funding with a Climate Lens, and funding with an intersectional lens. More recently  we have looked at issues such as what accountability means for social justice funders and funding with a racial justice lens. We have also set up and regularly add to a searchable online library of past events and grant-skills documents, which are available free to Ariadne members.

Formerly known as Ariadne‘s Online Portal, the Community Hub is a virtual space where Ariadne members can connect with other funders, share resources, gain access to career opportunities and more. This is a password-protected space and free to use for funders. On the Hub you can access research and relevant information; connect with peers; join more than 30 thematic communities; access the interactive funding mapping tool; gain exclusive access to events and recordings; and career opportunities. It also hosts exclusive access to the Advancing Human Rights initiative. Click here to sign up. As with all of Ariadne’s tools, no fundraising of any kind takes place on the Community Hub or in any Ariadne meeting.

Ariadne provides a series of tools to make working together simpler and easier, if funders and donors wish to do this. The Community Hub helps them to share information and join focused communities to stay up to date with different fields and to stay in touch with colleagues. It also helps funders connect to align their funds and/or create pooled funds, when the necessity for that arises.

Ariadne also creates a monthly online summary, called Ariadne’s Thread, which carries details of research, legal judgements and new reports of interest to social change and human rights funders. It aims to save time by doing the work of reading hundreds of reports and newsletters for you. It includes a list of relevant events taking place around Europe and is a good place to advertise (for free) or respond to career opportunities.

Funders can find themselves isolated for many different reasons. Ariadne provides a simple way to stay in touch. We know that online contact is useful and saves time and money, but that face-to-face networking is where real relationships of trust between funders develop. We hold a number of events and networking dinners throughout the year so that donors and funders know their own community. These take place in different locations and include the Ariadne Reconnect (formerly known as the Policy Briefing), which is the annual meeting of the network. All of this helps funders develop useful professional relationships of trust across languages, borders and cultures that add real value to their grant-making.

Much of what Ariadne does as a community is to enable its members to share their experiences of being a grant-maker. We emphasise the ability to learn from each other and we spend time honestly assessing different strategies and approaches based on our own experience. Every major event is planned by Ariadne members and encourages their participation. This helps grant-makers reflect on their own practice and it enables us to understand what different funders in different locations need. We know that this only happens in an environment in which funders and donors feel comfortable. It is one of our primary tasks to create that.

Ariadne has helped to create a number of new knowledge tools for funders:

The Susan Treadwell Change Lab was launched at the Ariadne Reconnect in Tbilisi, 2024. The Lab, in honour of the late Susan Treadwell, is a learning journey for philanthropy practitioners who live at intersecting sites of oppression, along the lines of race, gender, class, disability, religion, sexuality, and other forms of identity. Our first cohort is made up of organisations across Europe including: Paul Hamlin Foundation, Trust for London, The Rowan Trust, Justice Together Initiative, Mama Cash, Safe Passage Fund, Weaving Liberation and Democracy & Media Foundation.

If you’d like to find our more, offer additional resources and support towards the Lab, click here to read more or please get in touch with Tatevik who leads on this work.