Strategic Impact Article
At a Glance
- 4 EU Grants and New Financing Forums (2022–2025) with 40–50 participants each
– ~30% first-time attendees
– ~25% local/national partner staff joining online - 12 webinars or workshops on EU funding, DG INTPA, compliance, diversification & innovative models
– Over 350 participants across all sessions - DG INTPA Resource Map launched (2023) as a shared reference tool
- 6 donor explainers circulated: MFF, Global Europe, DG INTPA, EU values in grants, ECA audits
- Funding Shifts & Challenges consultation held with members, 2023
- Business & Financing Workshop (Kenya 2023): first exploration beyond grant funding models
- 4 member-led working groups launched: Innovative Finance, Private Sector Engagement, Funding Innovation, Consortia Development
- 3 external partners engaged on innovative finance: KOIS, MzN, Oiko Credit
- Engagement from members and partners across 25+ countries
What Happened
The strategy began in the midst of what members called the “existential funding challenge.” Traditional donor support was tightening, compliance burdens rising, and competition for EU grants intensifying. The EU Grants and New Financing programme was created to help members navigate these pressures and adapt to the future.
Consolidating EU knowledge
In 2023, the programme produced the DG INTPA Resource Map — the first time collective intelligence on EU funding instruments, thematic priorities, and entry points was compiled into a single, practical guide. Alongside this, a stream of ‘explainer briefs’ broke down the complexity of the Multiannual Financial Framework, Global Europe, and ECA audits into actionable insights for members and their boards.
Understanding the pressure
That same year, the network undertook a Funding Shifts & Challenges consultation. A broad consultation on funding perspectives surfaced the reality of shrinking donor opportunities, tighter competition, and increasing compliance demands. These initiatives made clear that a dual response was needed: strengthen the grant base, while also testing diversification pathways.
Strengthening traditional grant capacity
Through webinars and hands-on workshops led by the Secretariat and in collaboration with MzN, members worked through the practicalities of EU institutional funding — compliance frameworks, proposal quality, and readiness to compete. This strand of work ensured that, as the programme explored new ideas, members were not losing ground in the traditional funding space that still underpins much of their work.
Kenya Business & Financing Workshop – a turning point
The next step was bolder. At the Business & Financing Workshop in Kenya (2023), members and their local partners sat with social enterprises, investors, and business actors to explore what fundraising could look like beyond grants. For many, it was the first time engaging these questions together.
The workshop sparked the creation of new working groups on Innovative Finance, Private Sector Engagement, and Funding Innovation. These spaces began to test ideas like blended finance, guarantees, and impact investment, supported by partners such as KOIS and Oiko Credit. The momentum from Kenya confirmed that diversification was not just a trend but a necessity.
Why It Matters
The programme has mattered because it helped members face a double challenge. On one side, there was the need to consolidate confidence in EU institutional funding, where compliance is complex and competition fierce. Tools like the Resource Map and the donor explainers gave members a clearer understanding of the system, while MzN’s training helped them strengthen their capacity to apply. This has allowed organisations to engage donors with greater credibility and precision.
On the other side, the programme began to shift the network’s mindset towards diversification. The Kenya workshop, and the member-led groups that followed, broke open conversations that had long been avoided — about risk, about private-sector engagement, and about new models of financing. While early, these steps signalled a willingness to confront the reality that grant dependency is unsustainable.
The combination of grounding and experimentation has created resilience in practice. The benchmarking pilot showed members that they were not alone in their struggles, and that peer support could provide both accountability and encouragement. The consultation on funding shifts ensured the programme stayed anchored in members’ lived realities, not abstract strategies. And by opening access to national partners across 25+ countries, donor intelligence is no longer the preserve of Brussels offices but shared more evenly across the network.
Reflecting Forward
Member CEOs have been clear that the funding landscape now feels more fragile and uncertain than at any point in recent years. They see the EU Grants and New Financing programme as having offered real value — especially the DG INTPA Resource Map, donor explainers, and the practical training on EU grants — yet they also point to uneven capacity across the network. Larger organisations are better able to act on the intelligence provided, while smaller members struggle to keep pace with complex compliance requirements and competitive bidding.
There is a strong call for the programme to stay focused on what matters most. CEOs want EU-CORD to concentrate its energy on high-impact areas: donor intelligence, compliance support, and building pathways into financing models that can ease reliance on traditional grants. At the same time, they stress that the Secretariat cannot and should not do this alone. The next phase will require a greater sharing of responsibility among members, with CEOs and their teams stepping up to lead and contribute to the programme’s practical work.
Looking ahead, member CEOs see both opportunity and risk. They recognise that collaboration on financing will be essential, not optional — whether that means joint bids, shared benchmarking, or experimenting with diversification together. The reflections converge on one message: the programme has laid important foundations, but deeper member-led action will be critical if the network is to thrive in the next strategy cycle.
