Beyond grant dependency: What it really takes
The sector has spent years defining what sustainability looks like, but how much attention do we give to the transition itself?
About the session
As grant funding declines, non-profits are under increasing pressure to move beyond dependency and build more resilient financial models. Yet while the sector talks about sustainability, there is still limited honest discussion about what this transition really requires.
This session brings that conversation to the forefront.
Drawing on recent research from the Enabel Innovation Hub and Brink, based on work with organisations across Africa, the session explores how transition is rarely linear. It is messy, shaped by trade-offs and context, and requires not only new business models approaches, but shifts in mindset and organisational models. This research is backed by support to a portfolio of over 20 non-profit tech ventures exploring how to build financial resilience through hybrid business models.
Grounded in all of this learning, Enabel is launching the 'Fit4Scale initiative' to test whether support at an organisational level can support the shifts required to diversify non-profit financial models and strengthen resilience.
What to expect
The session will bring together a curated group of around 25 people for a deliberately open exchange. We will begin with a short presentation drawing on Enabel and Brink's findings, followed by reflections from:
Shailaja Annamraju, Senior Managing Director at the Global Innovation Fund
Karen Hampson, Head of Programme Development at Farm Radio International
Marc Sklar, Co-founder and Executive Director at BAMA Foundation
The conversation will shift to a fishbowl format, where participants will be invited to step into the centre, share something from their own experience, or pose a question to the group.
The goal is to surface the kind of practical, unfiltered knowledge that tends to get lost in more conventional conference formats.
You’ll leave with a clearer, more grounded sense of what the transition away from grant dependency actually looks like in practice, as well as a sharper understanding of the mindset shifts and changes in organisational behaviour that make the difference between talking about financial resilience and actually building it.
Who this is for
This session will be most relevant for non-profit leaders navigating funding transitions, funders and impact investors thinking about how capital can better support organisations in the messy middle, and systems actors with a stake in making mission-led work more financially durable.
Hosted by
Enabel Innovation Hub and Brink