Long-Haul Grantmaking: How Many-Year Grants Can Transform Nonprofit Jobs and Amplify Impact

In this independent report by Fund the People, the Walter & Elise Haas Fund’s Endeavor Fund serves as a mid-stream case study for what many-year—not just multi-year—grant commitments can accomplish. The Endeavor Fund’s many-year grants span seven years with $500,000 per year in unrestricted support, with a focus on creating good nonprofit jobs that support staff wellbeing.

Two years into the seven-year grants, grantees report that the guaranteed funding has led to:

• Stronger internal systems

• More liveable pay and benefits, leading to better staff retention

• Better work-life balance

• A lighter fundraising burden

• More collaboration and learning

• Greater program impact for the communities they serve.

This report surfaces ongoing lessons learned for extending many-year grants and offers recommendations for funders who are looking to make long-term funding commitments the norm.

For more, Fund the People recorded a webinar discussing the research report, now available on their YouTube channel.

For another deep dive, listen to Jamie Allison, Executive Director of the Walter and Elise Haas, on the Fund the People Podcast discuss how the Endeavor Fund came to be.