About Funding Change
A grant program built around one question: what does this community actually need?
Funding Change was founded to close the gap between good ideas and the resources required to carry them out — starting with clarity about who we fund, why, and how we know it worked.
Origin
From a single community grant to a national program.
Founding
Funding Change is established with a founding commitment to community-development grants in three pilot states.
First community grant cycle
The first cohort of community development and livelihoods grants is disbursed, reaching 6 communities.
Regional expansion
Funding areas expand to include Education Access, and the program's geographic reach doubles.
Climate funding initiative
The Climate Resilience Grant launches, focused on community-scale adaptation and sustainable agriculture.
Youth Opportunity Grant
A dedicated youth-led funding area is introduced, alongside a lower funding floor for first-time applicants.
Transparency program
Funding Change begins publishing a structured public reports archive covering allocation, learning, and financial transparency.
Values
What we hold ourselves to.
Evidence Before Assumption
We fund based on demonstrated need and credible plans rather than assumptions about what communities want.
Communities Before Headlines
Our reporting exists to inform partners and the public, not to produce marketing moments.
Transparency Before Complexity
Where a process can be explained simply, we explain it simply — starting with the Eligibility Checker.
Long-Term Impact
We favor projects with a plan for what happens after the grant period ends.
Responsible Funding
Award sizes are matched to what a project can realistically plan for and account for.
Governance
Grant decisions are reviewed by a program committee against the published eligibility framework, with funding-area leads providing sector-specific review.
Funding-area leads are drawn from practitioners with direct experience in their sector.
Impact measurement philosophy
We track progress against milestones agreed at the start of each grant, not only final totals, and publish what we learn — including where outcomes fell short of plan.
See our Reports archive for the illustrative figures this produces.