Interesting work from the United Kingdom! We have been in touch with researchers from the University of Cambridge and Foundations of Success who synthesized the evidence on the role of flexible funding in nature conservation. They work with the MAVA Foundation, a family foundation which has been supporting their partners with flexible funding for years.
The collaboration between Foundations of Success, Conservation Evidence and the MAVA Foundation is embodied in the Conservation Learning Initiative, which applies a 5-step approach to learn more about some key issues. One of them is flexible funding.
In an excellent review of the evidence, the project provides insights on the following learning questions:
- Does flexible funding enable organizations to be more strategic and follow through with their programmatic work?
- Are organizations that receive flexible funding more organizationally and financially sustainable?
- Does flexible funding increase the resilience of organizations and the likelihood of overcoming crises?
Although the reliability and validity of the evidence varies, the evidence suggests that organizations receiving flexible funding are, amongst others: more likely to work strategically; invest more in organizational development and maturity; more resilient during times of crisis.
It was great to see that the researchers reached out to us after finding our work on the Open Science Framework. By sharing work, either in progress or as final publications, we can build upon each other’s efforts.
