Rizwan Yusoof: Executive Director, Funders in Good
In this episode, Dave has a chat with Rizwan Yusoof, who leads Funders in Good - a venture philanthropy fund that provides tailored grant funding to Muslim-led social ventures.
“As a Muslim, I believe that as believers we must be of benefit to the world.”
Funders in Good’s model is really interesting and progressive. It pulls in clear elements from tech. It’s like an incubator, in that it’s not just about the money. The support - from strategy to governance - is key. And the funding it does provide is specifically designed to set an organisation up for long-term success, over years - not to deliver a quick, one-off project. It’s ‘patient funding’.
“And this is where grantmaking gets really interesting. In grantmaking there’s a really wrong and a strong power imbalance.”
Rizwan's the guy I think of when I think grant and impact measurement expert. He’s designed multi-million pound grant-making programmes at National Zakat Foundation, and has embedded real-time impact measurement dashboards using tech in a way that is genuinely unique and provides the data needed to drive better decisions.
“One of the challenges faced by Muslim projects is accessing grants from mainstream grantmakers.”
If you’re interested in rethinking how we fund charities for maximum chance of success, this conversation will provide insights. Learn from Rizwan as he makes the case for why and how the charity sector should move away from short-term, project-based funding to patient funding to have more impact.
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