DEFINITIONS, MODELS, AND KEY FEATURES

It is important to emphasise that core or unrestricted funding remains the gold standard for funding. It is a call that has been repeated for many years from civil society organisations in almost every country. Studies from the Bridgespan Group, the Center for Effective  Philanthropy and the Trust Based Philanthropy Project all highlight the abundance of evidence that demonstrates the impact of unrestricted funding, and so we encourage readers to access these and other reports. For most donors, unrestricted or core funding is still  something that they are unwilling or unable to contemplate, and this report does not aim to explore why. What we argue in this report is that even if core or unrestricted funding is not possible within a funder’s existing strategy or scope, there remains a wealth of options to consider which fall under the ‘flexible funding’ category.