The +1 Global Fund is a collaborative platform for discovering, strengthening, connecting, and amplifying locally-led change in the Global South.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AemGg47mp5A

The +1 Global Fund uses a network-driven model, in partnership with globally recognized organizations, to source high-impact changemakers working with vulnerable and last-mile communities. Created by the Roddenberry Foundation, the +1 Fund serves to identify, invest in, and develop the capacity and collective impact of locally-led organizations in the Global South.

There are multiple +1 Global Funds—such as for WASH, Food Security, and Health—each dedicated to a specific issue and region and supported by multiple funders. Each +1 Fund taps existing networks to identify organizations through a cascading series of connections and nominations.

<aside> 💡 The name “+1” comes from the pay-it-forward ethos of the program. High-impact changemakers nominate up to 3 peers for funding. And those selected for funding are then invited to nominate their peers for support.

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In developing a funding model powered by trust-based networks and peer-nominations, we are striving to nudge ourselves and others within the philanthropic sector to:

• Build more diverse “applicant pools” of locally-led organizations that are traditionally overlooked and underfunded
• Provide organizations with unrestricted financial support, and keep the burden for accessing this support as low as possible
• Provide non-financial support that organizations need, such as promotion to other funders, capacity strengthening opportunities, and connections to each other
• Support networks of high-impact organizations sharing, learning, and supporting each other
• Shift power to those closest to the problems and best positioned & most qualified to lead the change

Problem: What is the +1 Global Fund responding to?

Most large-scale societal problems are held in place by a complex status quo that is resistant to change. Breaking through that status quo often takes a suite of innovations and an ensemble of changemakers—social entrepreneurs & innovators, activists, community leaders, government agencies, businesses, funders, and others—targeting different parts of the system in parallel. Yet, despite their best intentions, many are too often unable to find and support each other, exchange knowledge and resources, or collaborate towards catalyzing change.