Introduction

While the stories below do not prove causality, they reveal patterns. They suggest that even modest strategic social-sector funding can generate highly leveraged results. When the right fuel meets the right moment, it creates what Propel Philanthropy and Catalyst Now call A Million Dominoes. When funding is also designed to achieve far-reaching results, as in the examples below, it can yield unusually large outcomes.

Catalytic Grants

GivingTuesday: The organization launched a $355,000 national media campaign in partnership with funders. The campaign raised millions to tens of millions of dollars, generated 16.8 million impressions, and helped thousands of nonprofits. Read the report.

TechSoup: A $65,000 grant served as a pivotal resource enabling TechSoup to secure $11.5 million in a global capital campaign. This funding launched a five-year development phase to modernize and significantly enhance its capacity to serve hundreds of thousands of organizations across 234 countries.

Millennium Campus Network (MCN): A $17,000 grant funded a full-time overseas assistant for a high-powered executive director, providing the operational fuel needed to focus on expansion. In a year, MCN reported a 140% increase in its graduation rate. To date, grants have been awarded annually and played a role in enabling the organization to graduate nearly 50,000 students, many of whom have taken up social-sector careers dedicated to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Humentum: A $50,000 grant provided “convening power” to organize a collective funding request among partners. This effort helped Humentum raise $800,000 to address the systemic financial inefficiencies that often hinder the evaluation and distribution of global grants. The organization has partnered with high government officials to resolve this critical bottleneck across the country of Kenya. 

Anonymous Organization: A $100,000 grant helped design and launch a new revenue-generating model. This organization has already brought in over $1.4 million in new funding and continues to generate revenue annually, allowing it to serve members with billions of dollars in assets under management to deploy their resources more ethically, equitably, and effectively.

WINGS: A $35,000 grant (of a $70,000 total provided) was used to update the organization’s CRM and fundraising strategy. As the largest global network representing the philanthropy sector, these infrastructure upgrades were designed to help WINGS more effectively improve the capacity of its sizable membership of grant-makers, nonprofits, consultants, and networks, with a significant portion located in the Global South.

Synergos: A $100,000 grant supported the integration of a comprehensive CRM system across the full team. This allowed Synergos to organize its vast network of contacts and partnerships, strengthening its ability to prepare for events and facilitate collaboration between influential individuals, governments, and social initiatives.

Creative Visions: A $100,000 grant funded two staff positions and helped grow and diversify its board. Following this expansion, the organization secured a grant exceeding $1 million, raised millions for impact media films, and established a new partnership with Discovery Education.

SDG Philanthropy Platform: A $17,000 grant enabled a temporary grant writer to raise $240,000. These funds helped women in 72 Indian villages to reclaim land, support entrepreneurship, and implement water harvesting and girl-empowerment programs.

Epic-Africa Foundation: A $5,000 grant provided foundational AI knowledge to eventually offer digital training to more than 4,000 civil society organizations and infrastructure groups within its network.

Catalyst Now: A $75,000 grant (matched by another funder) led to hiring a coordinator to strengthen communication and collaboration among thousands of members and organizations across 156 countries.

Examples Involving Other Funders

The END Fund: Revenue escalated from $57 million to $104 million in two years—an 82% increase that markedly expanded the organization’s capacity to save lives by combating neglected tropical diseases. This transformation was made possible by strategic capacity and operational funding that enabled the organization to hire dedicated development and communications staff. Learn More.

The GiveIndia platform raised $120 million from $3.6 million awarded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, A.T.E. Chandra Foundation, and Omidyar Network.

Transforming Nonprofits With Grants
Providing far-reaching grants can do more than create an impact multiplier effect. They can change the trajectory of organizations, including the largest and most influential. In some cases, even modest funding can be the catalytic fuel that creates the A Million Dominoes effect.

Putting a Human Face to the Numbers

Numbers only matter if they translate to improved lives and healthier environments. Far-reaching grants can reach deeply within many cause areas, communities, people, and environments. They can help many children who might otherwise never have a chance, support many people working to transform trauma into leadership, fight climate change, and train large numbers of individuals who might not have otherwise had a future.

Current Far-reaching Impact Candidates
The A Million Dominoes group consists of seasoned philanthropy professionals who scout for and evaluate potential A Million Dominoes opportunities. We offer our findings to funders at no charge as our way of supporting the social sector ecosystem.