We are deeply grateful to all the funder organisations that participated in this research project. We also thank the nonprofit leaders who helped us gain a deeper understanding of the funder organisations’ grantmaking practices.
This body of research would not be possible without the support and guidance of the six anchor partners in the Pay-What-It-Takes India initiative. We are grateful for their time and effort towards this important topic.
We are also grateful to Mr. Noshir Dadrawala of the Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy as well as Ravi Bagaria and Ritu Jain of Aria CFO Services for sharing their expertise on regulatory aspects.
A heartfelt thank you is due to our colleagues Sandra Fallon, Pinky Thakkar, and Carole Dlima for their operational and logistical support. We are also indebted to our colleagues Larry Yu, Carole Matthews, Alison Rayner, and Emily Staab for their support in editing and designing this report, and Liz London, Ryan Wenzel, and Shikha Kumar for their help with dissemination. We appreciate the strategic guidance provided by our colleagues Gail Perreault, Michael Etzel, and Jeri Eckhart-Queenan throughout the project.
We would like to thank the many representatives of the 30 organisations we interviewed for their contributions to this report. Without their input, this research would not have been possible.
Funders
Intermediaries
Nonprofits
Anchor Partners in the Pay-What-It-Takes Initiative
Research Methodology
This report showcases the journeys and approaches of 14 funders (including five anchor partners of the Pay-What-It-Takes India Initiative) whose grantmaking practices are aligned to one or more of the Pay-What-It-Takes principles. To ensure this resource is useful for the larger philanthropic ecosystem, we included funders across three funding segments: CSR, domestic philanthropy, and global foundations.
We started with a list of more than 25 funders. We filtered the list down to the 14 featured in this report using a variety of screening criteria. For example, we focused on funders that had been applying PWIT principles for long enough to reasonably see results. We also prioritised funders that had adopted unique approaches in order to showcase a wide range of ways funders can embrace PWIT principles. Additionally, some funders fell off the list because we were unable to develop a detailed-enough picture of their grantmaking practices or because they were hesitant about sharing their practices publicly.
For each of the 14 funders we profiled in depth, we conducted multiple interviews with their leaders and programme managers to gain a deeper understanding of their grantmaking practices across the five PWIT principles, their organisation’s journey of evolving these practices, and the benefits associated with such grantmaking practices. To help substantiate the insights emerging from the funder interviews and to learn more about the impact of the grantmaking practices on their nonprofit partners, we conducted interviews with 14 nonprofit partners who have received funding from these funders. While not a rigorous impact study, the conversations with nonprofit partners helped to mitigate bias. Based on the interviews and secondary research, we drafted the funder profiles. The funders reviewed and approved the profiles to ensure the depictions captured the essence of their grantmaking practices.
