Two collaborations aimed to enhance grantmaking by systematizing processes through the use of cloud-based customer relationship management software. The Global Fund for Women, alongside the Secretariat of the Prospera International Network of Women’s Funds, developed the open-source system to facilitate women’s funds to make grantmaking and data analysis more efficient and accessible. Initially, this group was set up as one large collaborative, but discussions emerging from initial meetings demonstrated the need to divide the group based on their needs and knowledge of the topic. What emerged were two collaborations:
1. Emergent Collaboration: the Bulgarian Fund for Women, Taso Foundation, Women Fund Tanzania Trust, and Women’s Fund Z.
2. Advanced Collaboration: Fondo Semillas, the Equality Fund, Mama Cash, and the Ukrainian Women’s Fund.
Impact: Meeting the Purpose of Better Serving Movements
Through these two collaboration groups, funds reported key improvements in the following:
- Improved Grantmaking Efficiency
- By streamlining grant management and standardizing data, participants created more efficient processes, allowing for better service to movements.
- Equality Fund refined the data management software, enhancing the global advisory panel’s work and improving data security, reporting, and analysis.
- Fondo Semillas benefitted from shared practices and emphasized the importance of documentation in their team’s language to drive cultural shifts and the data management software benefits.
- Global Fund for Women upgraded its software to a new customized version, a more adaptable system based on the learning from this collaboration and the funds received.
- Expanded Peer Support and Customization
- Funds gained the ability to customize databases with peer support and technical help, enabling better data analysis. This shift allowed the staff to focus on strategic rather than administrative tasks and deepen partner relationships.
- Taso Foundation focused on using the collaboration to strengthen relationships and address data security concerns.
- Ukrainian Women’s Fund gained value from sharing challenges and accessing peer advice contextualized for feminist funding practices.
- Transformed Mindset and Practice Shifts
- Various funds shared strategies to optimize their use of databases—emphasizing the importance of aligning organizational culture with new tools—and clarity on their own needs and capacities to shift towards more advanced cloud-based software for grantmaking.
- Bulgarian Fund for Women integrated the Feminist Fund Database (FFDB) into their operations, significantly improving efficiency, democratizing knowledge, and allowing staff to focus on strategic matters.
Note: Not all funds were able to engage in the learning and implementation at the same level, as there were internal challenges in staff turnover and capacities and external challenges in finding consultants to work with funds in their local contexts.
Insights for Women’s Funds and Other Funds
1. Peer Collaboration
- Engaging with peers, regardless of IT expertise, leads to shared learning, problem-solving, and effective collaboration. Funds at similar points in their database journeys can share resources, avoiding duplication and ensuring relevant advice.
2. Flexible Resources
- The success of an IT project depends on allocating sufficient staff time, meeting technical costs, and providing access to expert advice. Collaboration should also be supported by a coordinator to keep the project on track.
3. Generosity and Flexibility
- For a collaboration to thrive, the group should allocate resources based on need and adjust work plans as organizational capacities fluctuate.
4. Regular Meetings
- Maintaining regular meetings fosters momentum, ensuring that technical issues are addressed and progress is made collaboratively.
5. Flexible Workplans
- Workplans must be flexible enough to accommodate different organizational rhythms and ensure constructive discussions.
6. In-House Expertise and Peer Collaboration
- Internal expertise is crucial in addressing specific needs related to feminist grantmaking. Access to internal experts, like the Global Fund for Women’s staff, proved invaluable, especially for smaller funds.
7. Customization Takes Time
- Customizing a database like FFDB requires phased implementation. Teams need time to learn the database’s capabilities, articulate their needs, and adjust expectations to allow for delays.
8. Mindset Shifts
- Shifting organizational mindsets and practices is crucial for leveraging new systems. Strategies for gaining buy-in from reluctant staff include demonstrating system benefits, phased system adoption, and fostering peer support to guide less tech-savvy staff.
9. Security Concerns
- Security remains a challenge and requires continued innovation, discussion, and learning to ensure data protection.
Leçons pour les donateurs
1. Flexible Funding for Tech Projects
- Donors should understand that IT projects may encounter delays and must allow for flexibility. Funding should cover infrastructure, staffing, and access to expert advice. It’s also crucial to support peer-expertise remuneration.
2. Resource People for IT Collaboration
- Donors should ensure that funds are allocating resources for staff participation, investing in relationship building, and funding project coordination and facilitation.
3. Sustained Support
- Long-term, flexible funding enables organizations to recoup the investments made in tech projects. The loss of flexible funding can diminish the impact and potential of IT systems like the FFDB.
4. Funding Collaboration Components
- Donors should support relationship-building work, especially for face-to-face meetings, as they are vital for successful collaborations. Translation and interpretation support is essential for multilingual groups.
5. Staying the Distance
- Participating funds emphasized that staying committed over the long term is critical to ensure the success of complex IT projects. Changes in donor priorities, such as withdrawing flexible funding for gender equality, can negatively affect the outcome of collaborative tech projects and reduce the return on investment across the ecosystem.
The collaborations between feminist funds, facilitated by the development, customization, and implementation of grant management systems like the FFDB data management software package, significantly improved grantmaking processes and created a space for mutual learning. The success of this effort highlights the importance of peer collaboration, flexible resources, and long-term commitment to achieving IT-focused operational strengthening. By providing grants that support these areas, donors can enhance the effectiveness of feminist funds, allowing them to better serve movements and sustain the long-term impact of their work.