Funding for systems change: From theory to practice

After the end of the ‘Funding Systems Change’ process,, a second article was published in The Philanthropist to share the insights and results of the process.

“We are confronted with an urgent need to find and support transformative solutions at a much faster rate. Alongside efforts to address the symptoms of the current crises we are facing, we must also address the root causes of the inequalities behind social and environmental issues.

However, according to a 2020 global report, the majority of funding practices are not adapted to support systemic innovations, as they “often emphasize the financing of well-defined projects that achieve visible results within a short time frame, resulting in funding requirements and timelines that do not align well with systems change efforts, and also leave systems change leaders without important nonfinancial support.” (Embracing Complexity, 2020)

This is what a collective of foundations and changemakers in Switzerland (see list below), led by Ashoka Switzerland and collaboratio helvetica, came together to tackle. In a one-year co-learning journey, we shared insights and best practices, and developed prototypes to transform existing funding mechanisms to better support systems change.”

Read the full article here.