Shift our posture to shift the funding...

I had the great honor of being invited into a space of honest reflections and exchange of ideas around flexible funding and why it is necessary that this shift happens. The door into this room was opened to me by allies at the Centre for strategic philanthropy, who were introduced to me by another ally from my funder networks. I thank you for the invitation and I would send you my mother’s smoked meat, if I knew how…assuming it you eat meat… I digress…

In an attempt to put myself into the right mindset, I took a pause and recalled my journey since getting into grassroots development, local and national volunteerism, institutional capacity strengthening and eventually philanthropy space-in that order since way back in the early 2000s.

I thought of the early founders I met: those who were inspired because they or a loved one had gone through a stressor/strain in life-either through nature’s unpredictable patterns, human weaknesses or just-a series of unfortunate events; those who came to visit a person/community on the continent-because it was a gap year, or a fun trip, or a mission of some kind-something brought them here… and then they fell in “love” with the human problems they witnessed and so they chose to dedicate their lives to bringing comfort and restoring dignity to these communities, whose only connection to them, was exposure; those who “accidentally” came across people struggling with basic survival in this harsh world we live in, and they decided to do something about it… whatever the reason, they are now the frontline visionaries and actors in humanitarian and development work. Their primary intention is simply to “do good”-an instinct that is inherent in us as human beings, except, for these folks, this instinct is heightened and so they toil on.

These people, are my “why”. I recognize a lot of my own loved ones in their circle of influence, and so it is only natural that I wake up each day thinking of them, because they in turn are thinking of my people, everyday.

As my thought process developed, I thought of how their intentions have been interwoven and muddled and oftentimes been lost in the hoops, loops, twists and turns of responses to funding requirements, terms and conditions that they were required to "fit" into, in order for them to receive the support they needed to to realise the often noble dreams they have for the underserved and overlooked populations of our society.

I recall, the words of one of one such individual- Ephy, who reflected as follows: 

“During the presentation of terms and conditions, we were so shocked to learn how many forms were involved in reporting, at the end of the workshop, we were more shocked to be given a whole box file as a contract agreement, terms and condition of this funding. We were miserable, we wondered if we are ever going to meet all these conditions. We even further wondered whether it was even the right decision for us to accept this money. Would we ever stop crying over failing to do the “right” thing, and find peace again?”

When I recall this comment, I wonder why some more restrictive funders are still shocked when they are described as a “necessary evil”; how “deaf” can one be not to hear of this strain on people who essentially need to get into the business of transforming lives, and not “serving conditions…”; but then again… I digress with my passion 🤔

In such moments, Ephy often resigned herself to what she concluded as her fate because, "...what would my orphans and other vulnerable children do, if I do not comply…” This position of indignity, hopelessness and oppression is painful and unnecessary. 

I share this to remind us that these conversations are not abstract, or rhetoric or merely academia. They are conversations that have profound and lasting impact on lives all over the world. I remind us of these stories so that those who have had the honor to meet these amazing individuals, who are in places where we cannot be; must always remain humbled by the experience, and recognise the great privilege of being able to contribute in some way to their journey. I write this account, because I remain of the opinion that in this ecosystem, we find ourselves in, we must acknowledge where the power truly lies. The power at the moment, lies with those who bring funding support to the table, and yet, I want to argue that this role-this one of writing a cheque, or “giving” money, this is the easier part. The real work and therefore the real power lies in those who do the tougher job of giving and dedicating time consistently to another, let alone others. So why do we find it so hard to ease their journey by restoring their dignity in the partnership? how can we continue to refuse to put in the work of ceding necessary power that can rebalance the relationship dynamics in this collaboration?

Therefore, for those who are enablers of these visionary actors again, I say, we must remain in awe of these folks, and when asked to unlock the systems so that more funding flows to realise their calling, we must figure it out, instead of making them jump through more hoops to “convince” you to do so… 

The realities and myths of “risks” in these types of partnerships should be discussed with compassion and understanding, with an aim to reach mutual agreements around building strong bridges that connect these partners. Do not get me wrong, we are not advocating for freedoms from the responsibility of doing things right, we just want freedoms to make decisions and act with the communities at the core, and not terms and conditions. 

And so I conclude my musings by encouraging all the founders and frontline development actors out there. Take your position of honour, feel proud when you sit at a funding negotiation table- you have all the power and those who have the funds, are honoured and priviledged to have an opportunity to know you, and perhaps partner with you. There are many allies to your cause, Change your posture, to change the system. YOU ARE POWERFUL.