How To Secure Funding for International Development in a #BuildBackBetter Society

Photo by Lisa Fotios from Pexels

You may be asking yourself, with so much funding going into the concept of #BuildBackBetter, how do we maintain relevancy, and secure funding for our international development programs? How do we ensure that the disenfranchised receive the support they most need? Already we are seeing desperate unemployment, historic food insecurity, and global threats to democracy (even in the once unthinkable U.S.A.) The hope, and goal of #BuildBackBetter, is to improve health outcomes, promote a post-pandemic economic revitalization, and protect citizens from future pandemics, civil strife and ensure global climate justice. Yet how does an international aid organization direct #BuildBackBetter funding to its causes?

How you achieve the frequently communicated goals of post-COVID rebuild, while still striving to keep programs, such as sustainable farming, implementing and sustaining school meal programs, and creating lasting peace in conflict areas, is by making the rounds, building relationships with all donor-types, and being proactive to ensure your programs get in front of a diverse set of donors. ​​

It's critical to diversify your donor audience. This is mostly due to the role collaboration plays among donors seeking to leverage their investments. In particular, public donors increasingly seek private sector initiatives to invest in, and/or new and innovative partners to work with. That trend, which has been building over the last couple of years, is not going anywhere. Impact investors, NGO impact fund leaders and social enterprises are also courting the private sector. Lines are blurring. Putting all of your attention on one type of donor eliminates the potential to tap into this increasingly popular collaborative funding model. In particular, we are seeking trends among collaborative donor programs around the following issues:

• Human rights, justice and equity challenges, including climate justice, which will be embedded one way or another in nearly every funding priority in 2021 and for the foreseeable future.
• Focusing on disruptive ideas to achieve big picture change.
• Systemic change led by communities with a clear understanding of what's necessary to rebuild in ways that keep them stalwart and strong (versus the sometimes traditional top-down development approach). 

Outside of engaging donors, consider creative partnerships. As you seek partners to work with on your programs, look for obscure and unique collaborators. Since donors are testing new collaborative strategies, you should too! This will be helpful in project implementation, research AND finding diverse funding so programs cover more bases, are capable of creating lasting change and can touch on donor interests. 

Together with your partners, evaluate your current programs and activities to determine how you can address the #BuildBackBetter funding priorities which include: 

• Programs or projects that support job growth, economic stability or COVID resiliency measures, 

• Shoring up healthcare infrastructure such as bolstering healthcare IT, security, and network capacity to accommodate the explosive shift to tele-health practices; as well as to be better prepared for future pandemics,

• Distribution of the COVID vaccine,

• Renewed focus on access to water and sanitation services, 

• Mobile education, training, communication and information sharing (and technological infrastructure in general),
• Digital finance, economic infrastructure and innovative approaches to work with disenfranchised and rural communities,

• Youth and women, especially related to new jobs, education and communication leveraged by digital transmission of information,

• Disruptive, creative ideas that allow for inspired thinking, testing and scale. This will be heavily focused on climate, health and WASH, 

• Diversity, equity and inclusion,
• Climate and climate justice. 

By keeping tabs on all avenues of collaboration, and positioning your projects to align with #BuildBackBetter priorities, you can be more assured of funding directed to your programs and projects.

Want to learn more about government funding opportunities to #BuildBackBetter? Join us February 3 for a dynamic panel and workshop on strategically positioning your organization as a sub-grantee and proactively fundraising from government sources. 

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