How we decide where and how to invest

Who do we work for?

The Lloyds Bank Foundation is for the people who are furthest from being in a good place, and the people who do the work to change that.

Often, our communities’ doers and the people furthest from being in a good place are one in the same. We recognise that people are far more than one thing, more than one part of their identity, more than difficult circumstances or the barriers that stand in their way. And that community organisations are powerful - the first to act in a crisis and the source of ideas that transform lives.

Where do we work?

Our partnership with Lloyds Banking Group gives us unparalleled reach across England and Wales. With millions of customers and an app in the pockets of over a third of the population, we have the potential to create impact at scale. Together, we work to grow giving—of time and money—so people everywhere can play a bigger role in their communities, wherever they are and whatever they care about.

We also have broad impact, and are expanding our reach into every parliamentary constituency in England and Wales. Until recently, our investments were concentrated unintentionally in cities, at the expense of the countryside and the coasts. This has limited our learning, our understanding of communities, and our influence in Westminster and Cardiff. As part of our In a Good Place to Live strategy, as we unlock new funding, we will expand our reach into every parliamentary constituency, sometimes offering grants, sometimes offering our skills, tools and other resources, sometimes bringing people together.

And to truly enable communities to thrive, as we bring in new funds and build new partnerships, we will also have deep impact in more local places across the country.

How do we work?

We are led by the outcomes we’re trying to achieve in this strategy: wellbeing, agency, resilience, trusted connections and opportunities. But society moves fast, and we work and invest flexibly to achieve those outcomes. That means we build our work programme by programme, rather than pre-setting an inflexible format.

We design for impact: This design-led approach ensures that while our core themes remain steady, our methods stay fresh. It allows us to use current insights to decide where we can make the most difference at any given time.

Starting from strengths: We begin with people and communities who are furthest from being in a good place. But we never view communities only through what they lack. We will pay attention to strengths, leadership and potential too. Seeing communities in the round allows us to design programmes that meet real needs and build on local power.

How we choose where to invest: Our decisions flow from four simple questions.

• Where is need greatest?
• Where is there opportunity?
• What does the evidence say?
• What can we uniquely offer?

Our promise to the partners we invest in:

• We stay flexible, but never vague. Every programme comes with clear focus, eligibility, and criteria.
• We hold on to what partners value most: relational support, long-term commitment, and a human approach – even as we embrace technology’s potential.
• We work with others to develop our approach to community-led change. This means actively inviting a wide range of perspectives into our thinking and our way of working.
• We use the insight shared with us by partners to help influence change locally and nationally.

By designing for impact in this way, we fund small, local charities - but not only those. We fund a mix of organisations. Different organisation types: charities, social enterprises, CICs and more. Different organisation sizes. Focusing on different groups of individuals and causes. Working in different ways. And we measure what works across that varied and vibrant portfolio.