Grants and institutional funding
Finding funders whose priorities match your work, writing applications and proposals, and producing the project reports that make renewal likely.
Further reading: how to write a grant proposal that gets funded.
Raise What Sustains
Fundraising for non-profits: retail, digital, CSR and grants
Funding that arrives in seasons forces an organisation to plan in seasons. We build income from several channels into one mix — regular individual givers, corporate partners and institutional funders — so that the work can be planned a year ahead, not a quarter.
NGO Funding is the practice that builds a non-profit's income from four channels — retail fundraising, digital fundraising, CSR and corporate partnerships, and grants and institutional funding — into a mix that can be planned.
What makes non-profit funding sustainable?
Three things: a base of regular individual givers who keep giving month after month; no dependence on a single large funder; and reporting good enough that funders renew. Sustainable funding is less about one big campaign and more about income you can forecast, from sources that reinforce each other.
Four channels
Where the funding comes from
01 — the flagship
04
Retail fundraising
Face-to-face and in-store donor acquisition: retail and mall activation, canvasser team set-up and training, and the per-canvasser economics that decide whether a programme pays.
02Digital fundraising
Donor acquisition campaigns, donation pages and payment journeys that do not lose people at the last step, recurring giving, and the donor journeys that follow.
03CSR and corporate partnerships
A CSR strategy companies can say yes to, outreach to the right corporate donors, and employee giving programmes that turn a partnership into something staff take part in.
Choosing channels
Which funding channel suits which need?
Each channel is good at something different. Individual-giving channels build a broad, regular base; institutional channels bring larger amounts with more reporting. Most organisations need one of each, chosen around their cause, their supporters and how long they can invest before the income arrives.
| Channel | Best at | What it asks of you |
|---|---|---|
| Retail fundraising | Recruiting committed regular givers face to face | Upfront investment in a canvasser team; close management of quality |
| Digital fundraising | Reach, testing and scale online | A donation journey that converts, and steady campaign spend |
| CSR and corporate | Larger amounts tied to a defined programme | Clear project design and reporting a company can stand behind |
| Grants and institutions | Funding specific projects and capacity | Strong proposals and disciplined project reporting |
Questions
NGO funding: common questions
How many funding channels should an NGO run?
Enough that losing one funder does not threaten the programme, and no more than you can run well. For many organisations that means one channel for regular individual giving — retail or digital — alongside institutional income from CSR or grants. Starting a channel you cannot sustain usually costs more than it raises.
What is the difference between retail and digital fundraising?
Retail fundraising recruits donors in person, through trained canvassers at malls, stores and public sites, usually signing them up for regular monthly giving. Digital fundraising recruits donors online, through campaigns, donation pages and email. Retail tends to build committed regular givers; digital scales reach quickly and is easy to test.
Do you write grant applications?
Yes. Grants and institutional funding is part of this practice: finding funders whose priorities match your work, writing the application and proposal, and producing the project reports that funders expect afterwards. Strong reporting on one grant is often what wins the next one.
How quickly does a new fundraising channel pay for itself?
It varies by channel and cause, and nobody honest can promise a number in advance. Regular-giving channels cost money before they earn it, because each donor's value builds over months. We model the expected return before you commit, then track it against reality from the first week.
Build a funding mix you can plan around
Tell us where your income comes from now. We will show you where the next channel should come from.