Catalyst 2030's Call for Shift in Funding Paradigm
Catalyst 2030, a global network of social change innovators who seek to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is asking donors and funders to revamp their traditional grantmaking practices to more effectively support grassroots organisations and sustainable social impact. The network's Open Letter calls on donors and funders to implement the following ten principles, summarized briefly, below.
1. Give multi-year, unrestricted (flexible) funding, rather than restricted project grants, so CSOs can invest in long-term tackling of big, complex, systemic problems and focus on their mission instead of constant fundraising. Grants should cover both direct (including staff salaries) and indirect costs (office rent and equipment) so that nonprofits maintain reserves.
2. Invest in core CSO capacity building and expressed needs and overhead costs.
3. Fund networks to advance collaborative action.
4. Create transformative, not transactional, relationships by employing a partnership model rather than a traditional funder-grantee model.
5. Build and share power by giving more resources to local organisations and leadership with local ownership and leaders of color. Design more inclusive decision-making structures and spaces for leaders to advance SDGs in their respective areas, and fund newer, early-stage social entrepreneurs and young entrepreneurs.
6. Be transparent and responsive by expressing clarity about your priorities and expectations, and quickly and decisively respond to funding requests.
7. Simplify and streamline paperwork to reduce the time CSOs spend writing grant proposals and reports. Coordinate with other donors on due diligence and reporting, align reporting with a systems change mindset and be open to grantees' stories as examples of progress.
8. Offer support beyond money, such as helpful connections for grantee partners to other possible funders and peer organisations, and create opportunities to showcase them and their work.
9. Collaborate with other funders to enhance efficiencies. Open doors for grantees that you can walk through together as partners. Connect with funders that are investing in similar areas and foster mutual accountability for thinking broadly about your funding ecosystem. Include leaders and organisations that have historically and systemically had no access to grants and investments.
10. Embrace a systems change mindset in grantmaking. Identify, understand and address root causes of the problem(s) you are tackling, and evaluate and understand impacts over the longer term.
At CiSoRise, we focus on the seventh principle to streamline the due diligence process. By providing an centralized area for transparency compliance on CSOs' websites, our goal is free up the time, energy and resources that CSOs need to focus on their mission and social impact.
