Fundraisers & funders sought for initiative to improve funding system
Melanie May | 23 October 2023 | News
The #FixTheFlow Fellowship, launched by global strategy consultancy I.G. Advisors, aims to improve the distribution of funding by bringing together fundraisers and funders from around the globe.
First announced in 2022, the #FixTheFlow Fellowship is now seeking participants for its third cohort. 14 different countries have been represented so far, and 50% of these are from outside the UK, Europe and the USA. Fellows come from a range of cause areas and organisational sizes.
2022 figures from the National Council of Nonprofits show that 90% of nonprofits struggle to find funding. I.G Advisors has found that 83% of its existing Fellows blame themselves when struggling to raise funds, and that only 14% feel they had enough guidance, support, and nurturing to develop as a fundraiser.
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Funders too are often under-resourced and facing high expectations, making it difficult to effectively do their work. In 2022, the Grantmakers for Effective Organizations found that 72% of grantmakers experienced burnout in the past year, and this month, an I.G. survey found that 75% of grantmakers feel the funding system overall is not set up in the way they need to do their job well.
The #FixTheFlow Fellowship is designed to address these challenges by bringing together fundraisers and funders from all levels, any country or cause area. The 12-month Fellowship is bespoke to each cohort’s needs and provides them with personalised support and coaching, learning and education, peer support and inspiration, community solidarity, systems-change collaboration, and access to expert advice.
The support focuses on four levels of impact:
- Individual – Working with participants on their personal development.
- Organisational – Helping to identify pain points and goals, and set participants up for success when driving impact within their workplace.
- Sectoral – Bringing together cohorts of fundraisers or funders who face similar challenges, to do action learning together and create community.
- Systemic – Collectively defining the areas of the funding system that need to change, and develop collaborative action plans and special projects together.
Fundraisers or funders who would like to take part can apply now for the #FixTheFlow Fellowship. Applications close on 17 November 2023.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.