IRI believes that the humanitarian sector stands at a turning point — and that funders have a critical role to play in shaping what comes next.
We call on donors and institutional funders to move toward trust-based, flexible funding models that:
The organizations closest to the crisis — the community-rooted NGOs and CSOs who have earned the trust of the people they serve — need more than project funding. They need the freedom to lead.
Impact and Resilience Initiatives
Recognize the expertise and lived experience of local organizations as the most valuable form of knowledge
Provide multi-year, unrestricted or lightly-restricted funding that allows organizations to plan, invest, and grow
Reduce administrative burdens that divert capacity away from mission-critical work
Support organizational development and capacity building — not just program delivery
Build genuine partnerships based on trust, mutual accountability, and shared goals — not compliance and control
Strategic investors in change
Organizational strengthening hub
Empowered local organizations
Better informed, better served
Self-reliant civil society
By funding IRI, donors invest not just in one organization — they invest in the entire ecosystem of NGOs and CSOs we support.
Every financial system we build, every grant management framework we put in place, every training we deliver multiplies the impact of your contribution across multiple organizations and communities.
That is the leverage that trust-based funding makes possible.
Moving toward trust-based, flexible funding models that give community-rooted organizations the freedom to lead.
