Sustainable funding and the board

Sustainable funding is a term used to describe a method used by charities to develop a diverse range of income sources, to help a charity become more financially sustainable or viable over the long term.

A sustainable funding approach avoids relying on single or unreliable sources of income or on traditional funding sources like grants and donations. 

Using a sustainable funding approach, trustees might seek to ensure that the charity’s income is generated from a mix of different sources. This might include exploration of funding sources not previously accessed such as income raised from trading goods and services, contracting or loan finance. 

A sustainable funding approach can help trustees in ensuring that funds are raised in a planned way that helps the charity’s long term viability.

The NCVO Sustainable Funding Project is a good place to learn more about this topic.