How a Diverse Group of Funders Have Put Pay-What-It-Takes Principles into Practice

Below is a list of 14 funders we profiled — across corporate social responsibility, domestic philanthropy, and global philanthropy — whose grantmaking practices are aligned to one or more of the pay-what-it-takes principles. The profiles capture the journeys and approaches each funder took in its effort to employ these principles.

We developed these profiles based on secondary research and multiple interviews with the funders’ leaders and programme managers. To help substantiate the insights and learn more about the impact of the grantmaking practices, we also spoke 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. The funders reviewed and approved their profiles to ensure the depictions captured the essence of their grantmaking practices. 

Please note that the profiles reflect the funders’ approaches at the time of our study and may very well evolve further given the dynamic nature of funders’ grantmaking practices. We aspire to add more funders to the set of profiles, including additional segments such as ultra-high-net-worth individuals and philanthropic collaboratives.

We hope this compendium can serve as input for funders who are seeking to improve their grantmaking practices to better support their nonprofit partners.

(Click on the links in the below table to go to the organisation's profile.)