Embracing the Complexity of Social Change: Moving From Transactional to Transformative Funding Partnerships

Imagine a world where philanthropy embraces social change in all its complexity — where genuine change is made through transformational partnerships free from hierarchical bias.

As leaders of community-based organizations in 11 countries from four continents, we’re connected as current and former Global Fund for Children grantee partners. This leadership peer group helps us navigate an increasingly complex global landscape, drawing on our 200 years of collective experience to meet challenges from catastrophic aid freezes to disruptions to systemic inequities to the legacy of the pandemic.

Between us, we have been supported by around 200 funders. We estimate that only 30 percent of these have been flexible funders who recognize that our work doesn’t have easy answers. They embody trust in action.

In contrast, mainstream funding practices try to tidy and simplify the messiness of change-making through control, making our work more complicated and our interactions transactional.

Knowing that transformational partnerships free from hierarchical bias can spark real change, we’re calling for a paradigm shift in philanthropy and global development. It’s time to move beyond rigid metrics and polished reports. Instead, we invite funders to embrace the complexity that defines our work.

Now more than ever, we need to create a future where funding practices liberate rather than constrain, allowing us to pivot quickly and effectively when needed.

The Complex Reality of Social Change

Treating social change like a straight line, expecting big results fast with minimal resources, fails to recognize the complex, unpredictable nature of real change and overlooks the approaches we know work in our contexts.

Predominantly short-term funding stifles community leaders from addressing root causes and investing in lasting change, especially related to social norms or public policies. Restricted grant dollars with inadequate cost coverage starve organizations and do not enable adaptation or innovation. Colonial mindsets stifle the flow of resources to local organizations.

The COVID-19 pandemic showed funders the value of trust and flexibility during crises. Our work remains complex, with challenges ranging from climate disasters to political instability. We see this complexity in young people’s lives, too, where crises can’t be predicted but demand an immediate response.

Transformational Partnerships for Change

Given the complex nature of enacting change, partnerships driven only by one-way upward accountability or prioritizing outcomes over people are not transformational.

With a growing number of funders examining their approaches through the lenses of trust-based philanthropy, shifting power, decolonization, and locally-led development, we are sharing what’s been most meaningful in our own experiences.

Transformational partnerships are values-driven, and they focus on what matters.

When there is little trust, there are often high levels of bureaucracy. Community-based organization leaders need to jump through multiple hoops and check off many boxes to obtain their first grant, and this often continues even years into a funding relationship.

These processes take focus away from community work and wither away enthusiasm and joy, which are essential for working with impact. Transformational partnerships start with trust, dignity, and transparency and they invest time in building relationships so they can drive the real change work.

• In Guatemala, Asociación Pop No’j adapted its programming to address community needs and root causes. After receiving funding focused on migration, Pop No’j engaged with Indigenous communities and heard their concerns about climate change impacting people’s means to live with dignity. Recognizing the links to migration flows, their funder supported the community decision to refocus on Indigenous eco-agriculture for climate adaptation. Pop No’j valued that the donor trusted both them and their community.
• In Uganda, the Foundation for Inclusive Community Help has developed its community and team through the support of transformational funding partnerships. With team members from marginalized remote communities deeply impacted by Uganda’s civil war, the encouragement of values-aligned flexible funders has allowed the Foundation to intentionally create a culture of well-being at its community development center.
• Being survivor-led is a fundamental value for NGO Atina and core funding allowed them to lay the foundations for Serbia’s first advocacy group led by survivors of human trafficking. Working with women and girl survivors shaped the organization’s programs from the start, long before structured calls for participatory approaches or survivor engagement. This trust and investment has expanded Atina’s reach, ensuring survivors are heard and driving real systemic change.

Transformational partnerships practice listening and learning together.

Nonprofits and funders have a shared responsibility to our mutual goals to advance social change in both processes and outcomes. We want funders to join us in our commitment to listen to and center the people closest to the issues. We are eager to share our successes, while also feeling safe to share the lessons we’ve learned through trial and error. Trust-based learning fosters accountability, decision-making, and long-term impact.

• In India, Masoom regularly meets with its donors and sets the agenda. This opportunity allows them to communicate their progress and setbacks, discuss gaps, problem-solve, and clarify questions about funding. These meetings have led to a more nuanced understanding of root causes and to new ideas for collaboration.
• Similarly, the Association for Liberty and Gender Equality – A.L.E.G. in Romania had a positive experience with a funder who organized narrative reporting as a structured conversation. Not only did this save time and energy compared to traditional reporting, it also enabled deeper communication about obstacles and progress. As a grantee partner, their team felt appreciated and listened to, inspiring enthusiasm to continue their work.

Transformational partnerships embrace complexity and innovation with care.