Ease of doing good
Report 1: The flexible funding gap for non-profit unicorns
India need 100s of non-profit unicorns. But despite their importance in driving country's social development, non-profits face structural challenges in scaling up.
Through our Ease of Doing Good series, we examine the systemic gaps that make it harder to build and grow high-impact nonprofits in India.
Drawing on responses from 146 organisations across India, this first study in the series focuses on
access to flexible, unrestricted funding.
We identify key gaps and barriers and offer recommendations for funders and policymakers alike
What's inside the report?
Insights based on the survey of India’s nonprofit ecosystem to diagnose why flexible funding remains scarce, how it can enable scale and what must change.
01
What's the status quo?
How common are multi-year unrestricted grants? Does it become easier for large scale organisations?
03
How would flexible funding enable scale?
What would organizations prioritise if they had more freedom? Stronger leadership teams? Better technology? Research and experimentation?
02
Who is giving flexible funding?
We unpack who funds flexibility, who doesn’t, and why institutional capital remains programmatic.
04
What can we do to unlock flexible funding?
If India wants institutions that impact millions, we will need angel philanthropists, innovation fund-of-fund by government and CSR that are willing to invest in data and technology.
