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What Grantmakers Want to See in 2025

What Grantmakers Want to See in 2025

Current funding trends and how mission-driven leaders can get ready.


The 2025 funding landscape rewards strategy, evidence, and ecosystems. Stories still matter, but today’s grantmakers back organizations that prove and multiply impact. Drawing on Ne Taba’s consulting work and the latest sector research, here are the three signals funders are scanning for and five concrete moves to make before year-end.


1. Cross-Sector Collaboration: Partnerships that Multiply Impact


Grantmakers increasingly favour proposals that braid nonprofit trust with private-sector reach. Think:


Nonprofit Strength For-Profit Strength Deep local insight Scalable tech & logistics Mission credibility R&D and capital agility Community networks Brand & distribution channels

Recent commentary in Stanford Social Innovation Review argues that embedding social innovation “across sectors is how we drive more durable systemic change.” Stanford Social Innovation Review


Action: Map 3–5 values-aligned companies whose products or platforms extend your mission. Open with a pilot small enough to learn, visible enough to excite funders.


2. Data-Driven Impact: Evidence Beyond Anecdote


Dashboards are no longer a luxury; they’re a readiness signal. Funders want to see:

  • Real-time metrics tied to a clear theory of change

  • Predictive insights that inform pivots—not just post-hoc reports

  • Data maturity plans that grow with the organization


The DataKind UK Data Maturity Framework outlines seven areas  from leadership to tools or building sustainable data capacity. DataKind UK


Action:

  1. Audit what you measure now.

  2. Choose one high-value outcome (e.g., six-month job retention) and build a simple Looker Studio or Smartsheets dashboard around it.

  3. Share early insights with staff and funders; transparency breeds trust.


3. Integrated Models: From Programs to Ecosystems


Funders want to know where your intervention sits in the larger system and how you adapt as that system shifts. GEO’s 2024 sector report highlights a move toward “trust-based, community-driven philanthropy” that funds organizations able to show their ecosystem role. GEO


Action: Include an ecosystem map in proposals:

  • Upstream partners mitigating root causes

  • Adjacent actors (schools, clinics, civic groups) reinforcing your work

  • Downstream services sustaining results after your program ends


5 Moves to Make in Q4

# Move Why It Matters 1 Invest in Data A modest dashboard can elevate credibility overnight. 2 Prototype a Cross-Sector Pilot Demonstrates agility and shared value creation. 3 Map the Ecosystem Shows funders you see the system—not just your slice. 4 Strengthen Relationships Schedule 5 touchpoints (updates, site visits) with current/potential funders before Dec 31. 5 Refresh Your Narrative Website, deck, and socials should highlight evidence, partners, and systems thinking.

Funders Are Evolving Are You?


Grantmakers in 2025 are signaling a clear preference: evidence-backed solutions delivered through collaborative, system-aware models. Organizations that invest now in data, partnerships, and narrative will meet the moment and shape what comes next.


Ready to road test these moves? Ne Taba offers a 45-minute “Discovery Call” to explore benchmarking data maturity, map cross-sector partners, and sharpening your 2025 funding story. Reach out to schedule.



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