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Table 5 Mama Cash: Example of pooled funding, core funding, intermediaries, and simplified grantmaking

From: How donors support civil society as government accountability advocates: a review of strategies and implications for transition of donor funding in global health

Mama Cash is a pooled mechanism recognized for providing small, core grants to local advocacy organizations, networks and funds focused on women, girls, trans and intersex groups ([26], p. 6), [80]. The oldest international women’s fund and headquartered in the Netherlands, it supports CSOs with funding for salaries and core operational costs. Mama Cash is praised for its ability to adapt its support to the needs and contexts of individual organizations. Donors that have channeled their money through it include the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Irish Aid ([26], p. 6).

Mama Cash also requires simple application, evaluation and reporting processes to reduce the burden on grantees ([26], p. 6). To capture the impact of its grantees’ advocacy work, at times it uses a participatory tool that helps organizations evaluate behavioral changes that result from their work, rather than emphasizing quantitative indicators ([26], p. 7). Mama Cash is also focusing on providing multi-year funding to reduce the resources grantees must devote to fundraising and enable more long-term planning ([26], p. 7).