5-Funding Strategies

To strengthen their capacity for self-sustainability, several development initiatives adjust their financing strategies. 

Money in the development field is often limited and not easy to come by. This not only makes it difficult to plan long-term projects but can also foster an environment of competition between development projects that need to secure resources precisely at a time when collaboration is more urgent than ever. In addition, external donations can be very helpful, but they can also become a problem for development initiatives because the plans and results expected by donors do not always match their specific needs.

That is why several initiatives develop creative strategies to obtain different sources of support (that is, to diversify their sources), to make better use of the resources they have obtained, or to manage them in such a way that they can be more self-sufficient (less dependent on external support) and less vulnerable to the difficulties that come with obtaining funds. In this way, initiatives also create more equitable conditions when it comes to negotiating financial support with donors.

The more you are aware of the factors that are diminishing the self-sustainability of your project, the better you will be able to tackle and solve them in the long-term. Where is your initiative getting support from? Do you depend on many sources of funding, a few, or just the one? Have you adjusted your fund management to become less dependent on external sources? How can you attract more sources of support of all kinds (human resources, materials, knowledge, infrastructure, etc.)? How can you make better use of the resources you already have?