Insights on Field-Building Intermediaries

"Insights on Field-Building Intermediaries" is a research paper from Social Ventures Australia exploring how field-building intermediaries, organisations that coordinate non-profits, funders and other stakeholders to address complex, system-wide problems, are funded across different stages of their development. Drawing on case studies of eight Australian intermediaries and conversations with international organisations, the paper sets out 11 themes on what helps and hinders their funding journeys.

The paper finds that long-term, patient philanthropic funding is highly valuable but rare, and that funders who understand field-building work often provide more than money, including introductions to other funders and in-kind support. It identifies real barriers too, including funders' expectations of early impact evidence, a lack of untied funding for overheads and capability building, and the significant time leaders spend chasing funding rather than doing the work itself. It also examines common funding arrangements at different stages, such as auspicing by a supporting organisation early on, and explains why earned income and a fixed end-state funding model are rarely realistic goals for this kind of work.

Readers will gain a clearer picture of why field-building work is hard to fund and measure, along with practical considerations for shaping better funding approaches. This paper speaks to philanthropic and government funders, as well as field-building intermediaries themselves, seeking to understand or improve how this often invisible work is resourced.