There is no shortage of good ideas in the philanthropic sector. But anyone who has ever sought funding for those good ideas knows how much time goes into searching, filling out forms, and reporting. For Mariëtte and Patrick, this frustration became clear when they themselves were seeking funding for an NGO project in Brazil.
They turned out not to be the only ones facing this challenge. In conversations with initiative leaders, foundations, and sector organisations, it quickly became clear that these problems are sector-wide. The way the sector is structured means that applicants have to start from scratch each time when searching for and applying for financial support, while foundations all have their own internal processes, working with limited capacity and a great deal of manual work.
Frustration grew into FindNFund. A digital infrastructure that connects foundations and applicants and makes collaboration easier. By developing this infrastructure together with the sector, a new way of working is emerging step by step — one in which collaboration becomes more natural and greater impact is possible.
A foundation on which the sector continues to build
By now, more than 5,000 initiatives have a profile on FindNFund and over 2,600 projects can be found. Applicants can already efficiently submit applications to more than 60 foundations via Smart Application using their FindNFund account.
Now that the foundation is in place, it is not just what is possible that is changing, but above all how the sector works in practice. Applicants no longer have to start from scratch each time. Smart Application ensures they can use their FindNFund account with multiple foundations, reusing information. What previously often took hours per application becomes considerably easier and faster. Time freed up can be spent on the initiative itself.
For foundations too, many opportunities arise when they work with Smart Application. They not only gain better insight into initiatives that match their focus, but also into other foundations that are involved. This makes new forms of collaboration possible. In addition, the network of initiative leaders from affiliated foundations is unlocked, giving foundations access to initiatives they previously could not find.
What exists now is not an endpoint, but a foundation. A first step towards a way of working in which foundations and applicants no longer work past each other, but find each other. The digital infrastructure is in place.
For the thousands of initiatives working daily on societal impact, this means concretely: less time spent on searching and administration, and more time for the work that truly matters.
More and more foundations and organisations are joining because they see that things can be done differently and work better. The question is therefore not whether this way of working is needed, but who is already choosing to be part of that change.
Would you like to explore what this could mean for your foundation? Feel free to contact Nienke at nienke@findnfund.com.
