GMSP and Coronavirus: How we're responding

The experience of a family foundation is unique. Our philanthropy isn’t dependent on the profitability of a business or the stock market. Our priorities aren’t dictated by shareholders or consumers. Our funding isn’t rigidly tied to strict inputs or outcomes.

It is a position of enormous privilege, one we take very seriously. Now, at this moment of global crisis, we must leverage every one of those advantages in support of our partners on the ground.

That’s why we have mobilised our emergency funding response quickly: accelerating payments, allowing for full flexibility with when and how funds are deployed and making additional grants available to a number of those grassroots organisations we already fund in the UK and India.

Many of these local organisations are now operating on the frontlines of the coronavirus response, often working together with other community organisations and local authorities to best coordinate networks and resources.

In these early weeks, our partners’ immediate response has largely focused on immediate need for food rations and safety packs. But as time goes on, we know the situation will change. The after-shocks of this crisis and the long-term effects on civil society is still unknown. Funders will have a crucial role to play in the months ahead in order to ensure the wellbeing and sustainability of their local partners.

Right now, we are staying in close contact with the organisations we fund, providing additional support where we can and using our social media platforms to share updates about their experiences on the ground. In the face of fear, they are responding with urgency, expertise and compassion every single day. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for their stories.

This global pandemic has further exposed shameful divides in our society. But we are determined to not let it divide us. At GMSP a sense of shared humanity is what guides our philanthropy; our idea of family is much more than last names and bloodlines. The coronavirus has changed so much, but it will never change that.

In solidarity,

Your family at GMSP Foundation