fueling transformation
The Impact of Funding
African-led Innovation
On the Cover: CIYOTA
Photo Credits: Petros Teka
MsichanaInitiative
africancollaborative’smodelis simplebutrevolutionary:
weprovideunrestricted,multi-yearfunding toAfrican-ledorganizations,coupledwith tailoredsupportthatamplifiestheir impact.everygrantwemakeisabeton Africanexpertise,andourpartnersdeliver.
thebigpicture
Since launching in 2020, African Collaborative has tested a bold hypothesis: that flexible, trust-based funding to Africanled organizations would unlock greater impact and shift deeply entrenched power dynamics in philanthropy.
We have funded 35 organizations across 13 countries, with $8.4 million committed in unrestricted, multi-year grants. The results speak for themselves. Our partners have achieved meaningful systems transformation and impacted 15.4 million lives over the past four years by improving maternal and child health outcomes, improving young people’s access to education, and increasing income for youth farmers amongst many other impactful solutions across multiple sectors.
CURRENTPORTFOLIO PARTNERS 35
PORTFOLIOPARTNERSTHAT AREWOMEN-LED 51%
$8.4M COMMITTEDACROSS 13COUNTRIESTODATE
15.4M
PEOPLEIMPACTEDBYOUR PARTNERS’SOLUTIONS
amodelforgrowth: cohort1'sjourney
African Collaborative launched our first cohort of six portfolio partners in January 2021. In four years, and with African Collaborative's support, BarefootLaw, Dandelion Africa, Rays of Hope, SaCoDé, Shule Direct, and Wezesha Impact grew their programs, developed innovative new solutions, each growing their operating budgets by an average of 170% and revenue by an average 133%. During this same time period, they grew their impact reach by an average of 936%, growing their collective impact to more than 3.3 million individuals across Kenya, Malawi, Burundi, Tanzania, and Uganda.
thepatternrepeats: cohort2'sacceleratingtrajectory
The transformative journey we witnessed with Cohort 1 is not an anomaly, it's a repeating pattern now emerging across subsequent cohorts. Our second cohort of partners, who joined our portfolio in December 2021, each grew their budgets by an average of 170% and revenues by an average of 141% during our first three years of partnership.
Their impact growth has been even more remarkable with their growth curve surpassing Cohort 1. Cohort 2 grew their impact reach by an average of 1,313% over the course of our partnership. This acceleration suggests our model is not only replicable but actually improving as we evolve and our ecosystem matures.
cohort1totalreach cohort2totalreach
firstyearofpartnership firstyearofpartnership
1,500,000
0 500,000 1,000,000
2,000,000 2,500,000 3,000,000 3,500,000 YEAR
connectingfundersto extraordinaryorganizations
Clean Start Africa
AfricanCollaborative'ssupporthasbeena game-changerforus,butwhat'struly remarkableistherippleeffectit'shad.
Byjourneyingwithusandservingasatrusted reference,they'vehelpedotherfundersgain confidenceinourmodel,pavingthewayfor additionalsupportandamplifyingourimpact.
—TeresaNjoroge Founder&CEO,CleanStartAfrica
$9.5M
ADDITIONAL LEVERAGEDFUNDING
While our partners drove impact, we utilized our networks and platform to promote their work and crowd-in $9.5 million in new external funding to support and sustain their growth. For every $1 we have invested in our partners, we have leveraged an additional $1.12 in new funding from other funders a $2.12 return on each dollar we invest.
$1INVESTED
Unrestricted, multi-year support AFRICAN-LED PARTNER ORGANIZATION
GainsRecognition AttractsVisibility
OTHERFUNDERS TAKENOTICE
$1 sparks wider support for partner organization $2.12RETURN
We have leveraged an additional $1.12 in new funding from other funders
CIYOTA
afunder’sperspective
ACADES
Thispartnershipexemplifiesthepowerof collaborativefundsasessentialbridges betweeninternationalfundersandAfrican-led organizations—reshapingnotonlytheflowof resourcesbutalsoourcollective understandingofwhattrulydefineseffective, locallygroundeddevelopment.
—JuliaPettengill TheSchoonerFoundation
africa'smostbrilliantsocialimpact leadersarealreadytransformingtheir communitieswithinnovativesolutionsthat drivelastingchangeandprovelocally-led developmentworks.
theseleadersdon'tneedimported solutions,theyneedinvestmentintheir provenmodelsandthepowertoleadtheir owndevelopment.
african-ledorganizationsarerootedIncommunity
African-led organizations maintain accountability where it matters most, ensuring that power flows from those served rather than those who fund. They operate through existing social networks, speaking local languages and understanding unspoken cultural norms that determine whether communities embrace or reject development initiatives.
forafrican-ledorganizations,proximitybegetsinnovation
African-led organizations have a proximity advantage they see problems earlier, test solutions faster, and innovate more cost-effectively. Resource constraints become catalysts for creativity, and with flexible funding, our partners have pioneered approaches to scale and systemic transformation that reshape entire sectors, from education and healthcare to agriculture and technology.
african-ledorganizationschallengetraditionalphilanthropy
The rise of African-led development fundamentally challenges decades of aid orthodoxy and its disappointing results. Our partners create systemslevel change with annual budgets under $1 million, matching the quality of international NGOs that operate with far larger budgets—and the power dynamics of development are shifting as African organizations prove their superiority in delivering results.
Community Development Organization
Chipembere
African-LedOrganizations AccelerateOrganizational Efficiency
When we began tracking our Cohort 1 & 2 partners' impactto-revenue efficiency from their baseline year (Year 0) through their partnership journey, a compelling pattern emerged. At baseline, before joining our portfolio, partners generated 0.126 individuals impacted for every dollar raised. This efficiency improved to 0.150 in their first full year of partnership. Partners experienced a strategic dip that reflected crucial operational and infrastructural investments in Year 2. The payoff came dramatically in Year 3, when efficiency surged to 0.200, an 80% increase from the previous year and a 59% improvement from baseline. Our partners have proven that they are investment-ready by turning unrestricted grant dollars into accelerated impact and more lives changed.
Africancollaborativehasemergedasan unwaveringvoiceintheglobalmovementto shiftpowerandresourcestoAfrican-led organizations.
throughstrategicengagements, publications,andpartnerships,we'vemoved fromthemarginstothecenterofcritical conversationsaboutthefutureof developmentandphilanthropy.
2021:BUILDINGAFOUNDATION
Exploring equity-centered and trust-based principles to better serve underfunded organizations.
INNOVATIONS IN INTERNATIONAL PHILANTHROPY SYMPOSIUM
Learning to Get Proximal, Build Trust, and Develop Sustainable Relationships
CNBC AFRICA
How to Address the Funding Inequity to African-led Organizations
Building new equity-driven networks and redefining what sustainable community-led impact looks like.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
INNOVATION ALLIANCE
Innovating with an Equity Lens
AFRICAN PHILANTHROPY FORUM PODCAST
Understanding & Addressing the Imbalance in Funding African CSOs
2023:BUILDINGSTRA
Unearthing practical sol funding proximate Afric organizations.
SKOLL WORLD FORUM
Chain Reaction: Localizing Value Impact
CATALYST 2030'S CATALYSING Journeys on Intentionally Shifti
PHILANTHROPY TOGETHER’S SUMMIT OF COLLABORATIVE F Trends Emerging in Africa's Coll Landscape
Highlighting collaboratives as transformative vehicles for scaling partnerships and reimagining philanthropy in Africa.
WE GIVE SUMMIT
Collaborative Approaches to Scale Partnerships
AFRICAN PHILANTHROPY FORUM
Philanthropic Collaboratives as a Pathway to Transformation
co-creatingnewstandards: theIDIAequityframework
In 2023, we served as the Equity and Innovation Lead Learning Partner for the International Development Innovation Alliance, a platform of 14 of the world’s largest development innovation funders.
As co-authors of the IDIA Equity Principles & Metrics Framework, we’ve contributed to a sector-wide shift toward direct funding, power-sharing, and accountability rooted in community-defined outcomes.
we’veseentheframeworkusedtocontributeto strategydevelopment,withonememberusingit tocatalysestaffinputontheirstrategic refresh.we’vehadanothermember’semerging technologyprogramdrawonthemetricsto strengthenequityandinclusionintheir implementationandpartnerrelationships.
thepathforward
Four years of deep partnership with African leaders has crystallized several fundamental truths:
The funding desert is vast and systemic. This is not a pipeline problem; it's a power problem.
Partners need time to grow into their full potential. Transformation doesn't follow donor timelines; it unfolds according to community rhythms and relationship building.
Trust and flexibility work. When we remove the constraints of restricted funding and burdensome reporting, partners flourish.
Power can be shifted, but it must be intentionally designed into every interaction. Efforts to create space for African expertise to lead sector conversations require conscious choices to step back and listen more.
Collaboratives are leading the movement globally. With entry points for every type of funder, they make it easier than ever to find and fund exceptional African organizations.
Impact is self-defined. When partners define their own success, it reveals stronger ownership, clearer strategy, and more authentic accountability to communities—metrics that are invisible in traditional frameworks. THEEVIDENCEISCLEAR.THEMODELISPROVEN.
THELEADERSAREREADY.JOINTHEMOVEMENT.
READTHE FULLREPORT FORTHE DATA AND STORIES BEHINDTHE IMPACT