Organisation type: 
Global Philanthropy

Develop multiyear funder-nonprofit partnerships

• Programme grants range in duration from one to three years.
• The Social Justice Bond, which launched in June 2020, doubled the annual level of the foundation’s global grantmaking between 2020 and 2023. Most of the Social Justice Bond’s grants span three to five years.
• Through the global Building Institutions and Networks (BUILD) initiative, Ford provides grantees with five years of funding for general operating and core support for organisational development (OD). This mix varies depending on a recipient’s organisational needs. In India, Ford looks for clear progress in institution building. (BUILD is open by invitation only to current grantees.)

Pay a fair share of core costs

• In India, the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) limits the amount of foreign funding nonprofits can spend on “administrative” or (non-programme) core costs to 20 percent. Globally, effective 1 January 2023, Ford raised its minimum core (indirect) cost rate from 20 percent to 25 percent where local regulations permit. Under certain circumstances, the rate could be even higher.

Invest in organisational development

• Ford has created an open-source Organizational Mapping Tool designed to provide a nonprofit with an assessment of the organisation’s current OD needs along with a roadmap for improvement.
• BUILD grantees receive funding to help them develop and implement an institutional strengthening plan.
• Ford participates in sector-wide efforts to create information, tools, and resources for nonprofits and funders about core (indirect) cost recovery and multiyear flexible funding. It also has organised workshops (e.g. audit and governance for nonprofits when FCRA was amended) on financial aspects, including true cost estimation and financial sustainability.

Build financial resilience

• As part of most grant relationships, particularly new ones, Ford conducts a Financial Health Analysis that assesses, over the prior three years, an organisation’s level of reserves, patterns of surplus or deficit, and timeliness of financial audits. This analysis informs conversations on building financial resilience with grant partners throughout the grant period.
• The BUILD initiative offers a variety of programmes through third-party providers, including cohorts on financial management, accounting for growth, and executive transitions.

Embed diversity, equity, and inclusion in grantmaking

• Ford applies diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles within the organisation as well as in its grantmaking. To support the latter, Ford has developed a toolkit to help funders, organisations, and the larger philanthropic community identify and instill best practices for DEI-related issues.
• Ford is also putting significant effort into deepening its work on disability inclusion and raising the visibility of the need for more focused disability inclusion efforts in the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors.