How We Work
We believe that lasting change in philanthropy starts with trust, collaboration, and shared learning. That’s why we offer thoughtful content, hands-on partnership opportunities, and a dynamic community of practice to help reimagine how funding works together.
- Sharing & Learning
We believe that knowledge grows through connection. That’s why we collaborate with grassroots leaders, funders, and changemakers across regions to document real experiences, explore what works, and imagine new possibilities for philanthropy.
Through stories, conversations, tools, and creative expression, we share lessons that can help build more equitable and sustainable funding relationships grounded in trust, care, and mutual growth.
Content is available in English and Spanish, and created with care, co-authorship, and inclusion at the heart.
Insights
Stories, reflections, and creative contributions from grassroots leaders, funders, and allies. This is where we share what we’re learning together.
Tools
Practical resources and approaches rooted in real experience. These tools are meant to support more equitable, trust-based funding practices and are made to be used, adapted, and shared.
Would you like to collaborate with us to create content?
- Transformative Collaborations
Turning better funding principles into everyday practice.
Better Funding works alongside funders to operationalize their values, strengthen their practice and experiment with different ways of working. Our goal is to help make funding more equitable, trust-based, relational and responsive — in ways that are practical for each organization and grounded in the realities of its partners.
There is no single starting point. We can work on one specific challenge or part of the funding process, support a new pilot or experiment, or accompany a deeper review of how an organization funds. Change can start small and develop over time.
Two ways we can work with you:
For grantmakers
A space to think, question and work through practice.
People working within funding institutions often encounter questions that do not have straightforward answers. Program officers, directors, trustees and other grantmakers may be trying to navigate power dynamics, challenge established processes, respond differently to partners, or introduce new practices within the constraints of their organization.
We provide one-to-one and small-group accompaniment and sounding-board support, creating a confidential space to work through these questions with people who understand both philanthropy and the realities of funded organisations.
This can include:- Thinking through a specific funding, partnership or organisational challenge.
- Exploring how equity and trust-based principles can translate into day-to-day decisions.
- Supporting grantmakers who are testing or advocating for different approaches within their institutions.
- Reflecting on relationships, power and accountability with funded partners.
- Connecting people with peers who are navigating similar questions and creating opportunities for exchange and mutual learning.
This support can be light-touch and occasional or develop into longer-term accompaniment.
For funding organizations
From values and intentions to systems, processes and practice.
We work with foundations, philanthropic organizations and other funders to examine how their values show up across the funding cycle, and where their systems or practices may need to change.
Depending on what is needed, we can review, redesign, facilitate or directly manage particular processes and programs.
This might include:- Funding processes: reviewing or redesigning applications, due diligence, decision-making, reporting, renewal and exit processes.
- Grantmaking and program management: designing and managing grant cycles, partner engagement and other funding processes.
- Partner identification and due diligence: identifying potential partners through our trusted networks, particularly in Latin America, India, Southeast Asia and the UK, or supporting contextual research, outreach and vetting in other regions.
- Beyond-the-grant support: designing responsive support that strengthens partners' organizational sustainability, fundraising, learning or other priorities identified by them.
- Piloting new approaches: helping funders design, test and adapt new funding practices before introducing them more widely.
- Learning and documentation: capturing and systematizing what emerges from pilots, programs and new ways of working so that learning can inform future strategy and practice.
- Transitions and exits: supporting funders to approach changes in strategy, program closure or funding exits more responsibly and relationally.
Our role can range from providing an outside perspective on an existing process to working alongside your team to design and implement something new.
Rooted locally, connected globally
Better Funding’s team works across regions, and we collaborate with a network of trusted, experienced practitioners and consultants with whom we have built relationships over many years. This allows us to bring together the expertise, languages and contextual knowledge that each collaboration requires rather than applying the same model everywhere.
We can work remotely or in person, and build teams across geographies when a project requires deeper regional knowledge or local relationships.
Our strongest networks currently span Latin America, India, Southeast Asia and the UK, while our wider relationships across philanthropy and civil society allow us to build context-specific teams for work in other regions.
Talk to us about working together.
- Community of Practice
Our Community of Practice brings together funders, grassroots leaders, and philanthropy practitioners who are committed to reimagining how funding works. It’s a collaborative space where people from across the globe exchange stories, reflect on challenges, and co-develop more equitable, trust-based practices.
What we’re building:
A supportive, inclusive learning network grounded in:
- Mutual respect across roles and regions.
- Non-judgmental dialogue and open exchange.
- Peer learning and co-created knowledge.
- Storytelling rooted in lived experience.
This is a space to flatten hierarchies, amplify community leadership, and build deeper
understanding between funders and grantee partners.
How it works:
- Participatory learning sessions.
- Facilitated peer exchanges.
- Regionally informed case studies.
- Co-created content in both English and Spanish.