How To: Access Unrestricted Funding
It will probably not come as a surprise that there are relatively few free, widely available resources about how to access unrestricted funding. Most online sources seem to talk about “what” the funding landscape is and “why” foundations and other funders need to provide unrestricted funding, but there are little specifics on “how”, especially for those in a grantee position. This document seeks to fill that gap and provide tangible and specific ways to access unrestricted funding, especially for civil society organizations (CSOs), local or national non-governmental organizations (NGOs), or international non-governmental organizations (INGOs).
Based on feedback from partners and relevant stakeholders, this document was produced in order to discuss how NGOs/CSOs could become financially sustainable after INGOs transitioned and they no longer received INGO funding, but it also broadly applicable to other actors raising funds for their organizations. This resource was shared at SAS’ Nairobi regional review meeting in September 2019 and has been adapted based on the gracious feedback of the participants. In addition to the participant’s lived experience, this document is informed by the SAS case studies and a review of literature, sectoral publications, and more.
