In Serbia alternative resources mobilised within community have gone to supporting student movements. It has also nudged a rethinking of what civil society should look and the realisation that sometimes external resources undermine the local legitimacy of such movements. #ShiftThePower

Nour Nussseibeh in Palestine shares that Dalia Association has been working (in communities) for more than 20 years. It starts with organizing community resources that exist locally and external philanthropy is complementary. #ShiftThePower

Starting now: A conversation on alternative civil society resources that exist within communities and not just beyond and outside. We will shine a light on examples from Serbia, Palestine, India and Indonesia. #ShiftThePower

In this blog on who is funding the arts in the Global South, Twasiima Bigirwa, a development expert turned writer gets into why there is something about the term “self-published” that erases the local funding communities pour into the literary arts shiftthepower.org/2025/09/18/w... #ShiftThePower

Funders assume 💰 is what movements need most but movements have always found ways to self-resource. So how should funders engage with things that can exist with or without their support? Here is the case for messy/vital movement building as real power shiftthepower.org/2025/08/22/a... #ShiftThePower

When Shila & Nish of Freedom Studio (Nepal) visited the Nebraska Community Foundation, they saw big differences & surprising similarities. Nebraska’s community philanthropy models offered new inspiration for Nepal, especially as global aid shrinks shiftthepower.org/2025/08/20/f... #ShiftThePower

An important reminder not to reduce civil society to NGOs.

What happens when NGOs shut down, donors walk away & the reports stop printing? Movements don’t die — they shapeshift. History shows that mutual aid & stubborn resistance kept civil society and movements alive long before donor funding shiftthepower.org/2025/08/21/b... #ShiftThePower

Feeling dissatisfied with a measurement tool that ignored the non-linear path of children learning art, FacesUp set out to create an alternative measurement tool to define success by the richness of learning art, and not a "defined set target." shiftthepower.org/2025/08/13/a... #ShiftThePower

Why does wisdom from the Global South still wait for a Northern seal of approval before it goes mainstream? Because the platforms for debate/thought leadership are still Northern "owned." Join us for the launch of the Global South House on 30th July globalfundcommunityfoundations.org/news/launch-...

Born out of a powerful weaving of Global South orgs, the #GlobalSouthHouse is a space by & for the South's political articulation, mobilization, & knowledge production for dev't The weaving has already begun. Join us on 🗓️ 30th July to be part of it shiftthepower.org/event/offici... #ShiftThePower

"We do not want to create a culture of fear or compliance over genuine commitment to the communities that are underserved." Reflections on 25 years of the Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust & its ambition to be "more than just a grantmaker." #ShiftThePower globalfundcommunityfoundations.org/blog/the-bal...

Dear funders, not everything needs your ruler, highlighter or template. Movements are colouring outside the colouring book & making magic, & doing the work they need to do in complexity & messy organising. They are only be supported, not controlled shiftthepower.org/2025/07/03/c... #ShiftThePower

🚨 Gov'ts are weaponizing climate crises to ban protests, militarize resources, & criminalizing environmental defenders, but communities are pushing back with the local resources they have. 🌍 Join us for a critical 3-part series👇 🗓 June 9, 18 & 25. 🔗: climasolutions.org/climate-auth... #ShiftThePower

Dumi Gatsha (they/them) is the first ever gender diverse parliamentary candidate in Botswana, a former facilitator of the #ShiftThePower UK Funders Collective and founder of Success Capital. Their new piece in @shiftthepower.bsky.social reckons with the future of philanthropy.

Happy to joining the Alliance Magazine and #GivingForChange conversation on community philanthropy as a radical force beyond aid. 😃 #ShiftThePower

Civil society around the world is reimagining & building new systems. It's also saying "we don’t want to go back to what we had before the cuts, because that wasn’t a system designed by us or for us." Sign this to stand with CSOs www.standwithcivilsociety.org #ShiftThePower @peacedirect.bsky.social

🌍 Funding cuts are hitting hard, but local orgs are also building a new system rooted in mutual aid, community philanthropy and solidarity saying, "what we need now is not rescue, but recognition." ✍🏽 Sign this open letter to #StandWithCivilSociety #ShiftThePower standwithcivilsociety.org

This reflection on alternative measurement gets into why the log frame often feels like an attempt to nail spaghetti to a wall — to force complex, relational, adaptive work into a linear accountability framework shiftthepower.org/2025/04/14/r... #ShiftThePower #MeasuringWhatMatters

Philanthropy didn’t understand what it was trying to fix shiftthepower.org/2025/04/02/p... They mistook what was unfamiliar for something broken... they encountered something mess and unpredictable, they assumed managing it was the same as improving it. So they built bureaucracies. #ShiftThePower

This is one of the most frustrating and infuriating practices. It feels like, unless you already know us, we don't want to know you. We don't accept unsolicited proposals. It's not the fault of any one foundation. It's a systemic issue.

Remarkable

A Poem: This is a no solicitation space. "...The funders meant to say, “even though I am here, I am still inaccessible to you...” Anonymously published under the Unmute Yourself Series shiftthepower.org/unmute-yours... #ShiftThePower

Why is network weaving needed now? 🧶 The world is going through multiple changes and crises. In times like these, e need networks now - more than ever. Join this conversation on 27th March on building the networks we need for social healing interactioninstitute.org/why-weave-ne... #ShiftThePower

The GFCF's own @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social sat down with the Centre for Policy Analysis to discuss why now is the moment to get serious about nurturing local resources. #ShiftThePower www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMw1...

A few elite men are planning global schemes to roll back & undermine our collective resilience. We must stop being paralyzed & to mobilize all our possible assets to dismantle the system proposed by these men and to co-create alternatives paths. shiftthepower.org/2025/03/12/t... #ShiftThePower

"The truth is that there is no better time for those concerned about development approaches that build local constituencies and local supporters to listen more closely to the voices of the emerging global field of community philanthropy." @opendemocracy.net @globalfundcf.bsky.social

"Our society may be like a snake shedding its skin – off with the yoke of colonialism, imperialism, white supremacy, patriarchy & capitalism. We are in the midst of a cycle of destruction & creation." How can we organize together in dark times? globalfundcommunityfoundations.org/blog/organiz...

We're looking for someone creative to lead an exciting initiative aimed at contributing to narrative shifts in #GlobalDev towards locally-driven & owned solutions, through the lens of #CommunityPhilanthropy. Know someone? Pass it on! #ShiftThePower globalfundcommunityfoundations.org/news/consult...

📣 📣 Calling all communications and documentary production people in Global Development.... This project is looking for you. #ShiftThePower

Déjà vu all over again? Writing in @theguardian.com, Janet Mawiyoo points out that donors changing strategies and slashing programmes over night is nothing new. This time, we need to learn this lesson and grow alternative resources for our work. #ShiftThePower www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Aid is shrinking, but hope must not. Because the future of global development lies in self-determination, we must accept the new reality and shape our own destiny, and work towards growing alternative local resources, however small they may be www.theguardian.com/global-devel... #ShiftThePower

Who is M&E really for? 🤔 Also, what if we designed monitoring & evaluation for the communities it’s meant to serve, not just funders? shiftthepower.org/2025/02/19/m... #ShiftThePower

A view from both sides: Jonathan Kifunda writes about his journey from being the head of an INGO - with resources, privileges and status - to founding and leading a local organization instead. This is "new ways of deciding and doing" in action. #ShiftThePower shiftthepower.org/2024/08/01/h...

In 2017, Jonathan left his job with an INGO to start a community-led development work. After struggling to get funded, he turned to local fundraising as an alternative to international funding. In his reflections he offers an alternative to say #AnotherWayIsPossible shiftthepower.org/2024/08/01/h...

Around the world, communities have been relying each other, outside the gaze of international aid, as the world thinks about moving on without USAID funding, we start to look at how Giving Circles globally are redefining what it means to be a donor globalfundcommunityfoundations.org/resources/si...

"With no money, we have been able to do more work, and more challenging work." Writing in Alliance, Martin Macwan pertinently reminds us of the perils of foreign funding & the necessity of resourcing our own work towards justice & rights. #ShiftThePower www.alliancemagazine.org/blog/philant...

In the face of aid cuts, the future looks to a world where marginalised communities must look to ourselves to resource our fight for justice. Funders interested in supporting justice struggles must reflect on blending their money + local movement resources www.alliancemagazine.org/blog/philant...

From STAR Ghana Foundation & Songtaba, a reminder that - even in difficult times & in unlikely places - community philanthropy can be a powerful force that brings communities together in response to complex local issues. #ShiftThePower globalfundcommunityfoundations.org/blog/the-wom...

It’s not the Billions that will fill the funding gap left by USAID, it’s the Millions. Yes - the Millions. Bringing back this work by @jonathanglennie.bsky.social for those interesting in how community philanthropy could fill existing funding gaps globalfundcommunityfoundations.org/wp-content/u...

Another throwback to the excellent 2019 report from @jonathanglennie.bsky.social, which suggests that community philanthropy has been hiding in plain sight, and is overlooked as an essential part of financing for development. #ShiftThePower globalfundcommunityfoundations.org/resources/fr...

As foreign aid diminishes, it's even more urgent for communities to be more self-reliant, and community philanthropy can play a key role in fostering this resilience. Here is what donors can do to support that self reliance globalfundcommunityfoundations.org/wp-content/u... #ShiftThePower

📍What we are reading. So powerful. Full article in link below.

@themrise.bsky.social: Many people have been talking about alternatives to foreign aid but they were never heard. #ShiftThePower

@themrise.bsky.social: With philanthropic resources, we always track ODA/foreign money, but we don't always track how much money we are getting within the boundaries of the country. #ShiftThePower

@themrise.bsky.social: We talk about international orgs, but what we really mean are Global North orgs... When you remove the distinction of "international orgs" what you start to see are local orgs (wherever in the word they might be based). #ShiftThePower

Starting now: #ShiftThePower

In this difficult time for CSOs & donors alike, community philanthropy cannot provide all the answers but it offers some important insights on why local funding is not just an option anymore – its an imperative globalfundcommunityfoundations.org/blog/local-f... #ShiftThePower #AnotherWayIsPossible

Our cartoon "The answer is local: How community philanthropy shifts power & changes the world" was drawn in 2018. 7 years on & after these last wks, it feels more relevant than ever. Take 3 mins to watch (available in 16 languages!). #ShiftThePower globalfundcommunityfoundations.org/news/new-ani...

Local people have been building a safety net less dependant on international aid. In this clip Rita Thapa talks about why and how #AnotherWayIsPossible www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwyu... #ShiftThePower