Imagine a world where philanthropy embraces social change in all its complexity — where genuine change is made through transformative funding partnerships free from hierarchical bias.

As leaders of community-based organizations in 11 countries from four continents, we’re connected as current and former Global Fund for Children grantee partners. This leadership peer group helps us navigate an increasingly complex global landscape, drawing on our 200 years of collective experience to meet challenges from catastrophic aid freezes to disruptions to systemic inequities to the legacy of the pandemic.

Between us, we have been supported by around 200 funders. We estimate that only 30 percent of these have been flexible funders who recognize that our work doesn’t have easy answers. They embody trust in action.

In contrast, mainstream funding practices try to tidy and simplify the messiness of change-making through control, making our work more complicated and our interactions transactional.

Knowing that transformational partnerships free from hierarchical bias can spark real change, we’re calling for a paradigm shift in philanthropy and global development. It’s time to move beyond rigid metrics and polished reports. Instead, we invite funders to embrace the complexity that defines our work.

Now more than ever, we need to create a future where funding practices liberate rather than constrain, allowing us to pivot quickly and effectively when needed.

The Complex Reality of Transformative Funding Partnerships for Social Change

Treating social change like a straight line, expecting big results fast with minimal resources, fails to recognize the complex, unpredictable nature of real change and overlooks the approaches we know work in our contexts.

Predominantly short-term funding stifles community leaders from addressing root causes and investing in lasting change, especially related to social norms or public policies. Restricted grant dollars with inadequate cost coverage starve organizations and do not enable adaptation or innovation. Colonial mindsets stifle the flow of resources to local organizations.

The COVID-19 pandemic showed funders the value of trust and flexibility during crises. Our work remains complex, with challenges ranging from climate disasters to political instability. We see this complexity in young people’s lives, too, where crises can’t be predicted but demand an immediate response.

Read the full article about transformative funding partnerships by Juan José Hurtado Paz y Paz, Camelia Proca, Nikita Ketkar, and Emmy Zoomlamai Okello at The Center for Effective Philanthropy.