Giving Compass' Take:

• Donors interested in investing in development solutions should collaborate with organizations, listen to their goals, and provide the capital for what they plan to do. 

• Encouraging organizations to tell donors how they will use their funding to achieve goals (rather than the other way around) is disruptive to the traditional funding structure. Why are the authors suggesting a shift? What are the benefits of this model?

• Read about why development actors should stop working in silos to achieve the same goals. 

Since our introduction to the international family planning community at ICFP in 2013, we have witnessed a shift in family planning development.

As youth, we’re thankful that the family planning community is on the right track. But we have to go further. How? By disrupting two specific norms: empowering youth beyond family planning and changing the way we fund things.

When we commit to supporting youth empowerment through family planning, we have to acknowledge what happens beyond the initial support. Without an enabling environment for that young person to continue growing into a contributing member of society, our investments no longer yield the greatest return.

So what do we suggest? Donors and organizations should work together. You cannot simply invest in one area of development in silos and be done. It is imperative that you support other agencies and initiatives so that, together, we are solving the world’s problems using a holistic approach. Did someone say demographic dividend?

So donors, we want you to disrupt the existing structures and fast-track this paradigm shift.

Traditionally, donors lead the agenda and the development we see around the world. But we want the decisions to be made from the ground-up. Rather than approaching nonprofit funding the traditional way and telling organizations how a specific project should be carried out in a specific region, we should do the reverse.

Let’s take a page out of for-profit initiatives and approach donors like we would investors. We pitch to you. We tell you the expected return. You use your connections and your expertise to help us get there, and we hustle on the ground to ensure we reach our goals, together.

Read the full article about disrupting traditional funding methods for donors by Jillian Gedeon and Dr. Catherine Baye-Easton at PSI.