Evaluating the Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund

Client: Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)

In 2023, DCMS launched a £76 million fund to support frontline voluntary, community, and social enterprise organisations in England facing increased demand and rising costs from the cost of living crisis. The fund, administered by the National Lottery Community Fund, distributed grants of between £10,000 and £75,000 to thousands of organisations delivering critical services including food provision, emergency supplies, shelter, and financial advice.

Braw Data worked as part of the evaluation team alongside Ecorys UK, delivering the quantitative analytical components of a mixed-methods evaluation that included process, impact, and economic strands. We constructed the analytical dataset linking fund application and award data with administrative records on organisational characteristics, and designed the quasi-experimental impact evaluation using a Difference-in-Differences approach — comparing outcomes for funded organisations against matched applicants that were not funded. We also contributed to the project's Theory of Change and reviewed drafts of all final reports and outputs.

The evaluation found that the fund successfully reached its target population of frontline organisations and that funded organisations were able to maintain or expand service delivery during a period of acute pressure. The findings were published by DCMS as an official government evaluation report and contribute to the evidence base on how emergency grant funding can support the voluntary sector during economic crises.

Methods: Quasi-experimental impact evaluation (Difference-in-Differences), dataset construction and linkage, Theory of Change development, mixed methods evaluation

Output: Evaluation report on GOV.UK