Can you imagine a world in which every nonprofit has to reinvent the wheel to fund each program they develop, where donors fumble in the dark to find causes that align with their missions, and where most groundbreaking social innovations remain isolated and unknown? That was the way the world was before social sector funding heroes stepped forward.
The reality was that countless nonprofits working to address egregious conditions, ranging from helping malnourished children to any critical cause you can imagine, did not have a clue about which foundation to turn to for funding. Thanks to visionary funders, today they do. Since Foundation Center’s (Now Candid) first publication of the Foundation Directory in 1960, countless nonprofits have been able to find funders. We can’t count the number of organizations that have survived and thrived because of this resource.
Candid exemplifies a social impact infrastructure organization (SIIO) because, from its beginning, it has accelerated the social sector. Many other far-reaching, groundbreaking funding results came from providing strategic and catalytic support to an SIIO. While growing public awareness of the importance of these organizations is recent, funders have reaped extensive results by supporting them for nearly a century, beginning with the Charity Aid Foundation in 1926.
Extraordinary Achievements Made Possible by Visionary Funders and SIIOs
Here are just a few examples of how these funding heroes have achieved transformative results:
- GoFundMe raised $30 billion since its inception, democratizing fundraising and enabling millions of individuals to support causes they care about.
- The Worldwide Initiative for Grantmaker Support received pledges from 909 foundations across 22 countries, agreeing to take urgent action to address climate change. Among these foundations, 63% have scaled up their climate funding, and 90% are engaged in climate advocacy.
- The National Council of Nonprofits (NCN) secured $50 billion in forgivable PPP loans from Congress for nonprofits during the COVID-19 crisis. NCN and its partners also prevented the Office of Management and Budget from putting a freeze on all federal financial assistance programs in January 2025.
- The Center for Asian Philanthropy (CAP) worked closely with governments across the Asian continent. Through its research and consultations, CAP has contributed to ensuring that many billions of dollars in philanthropic and development initiatives were spent effectively.
- GivingTuesday has faclitated the raising of 18.5 billion dollars and has national philanthropy coordinators working in over 100 countries.
Over the last twenty-five years, numerous SIIOs have been key organizations behind the movement that has driven more than a trillion dollars into social impact investments. Some of these included GIIN, EVPA, AVPN, the AVPA, Confluence Philanthropy, IIX, and IPE. Several other critically valuable SIIOs include COF, Philea, and Independent Sector.
Conclusion
The accomplishments listed above, and many more, would not have been possible without the champion funders who saw a vision not only for improving the present but for building the future. We owe considerable credit to these funders and the SIIOs they supported.
Next Steps
You will find:
- Extensive statistics on the direct ROI SIIOs achieved here.
- Curated listings to help funders drive exceptionally far-reaching results here.
- Information on joining the Funder-to-Funder Infrastructure Group here.
- Stories on how small grants drove big results here.