In a previous post, I highlighted a gap between foundations' narratives about making general operating support accessible to grantees and their actual practices. Here, I go over feedback received from colleagues, friends, and practitioners working on both sides of the grantmaking equation.

The field of philanthropy–at least in the Americas, if not in the broader global North–seems to have reached a consensus that unrestricted support is fundamentally better than restricted funds for organizations. Why then has it kept the practice of mostly providing restricted funding?   Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) researched this very question.