Why AIF
Grantmaking Strategy
PRINCIPLES
AIF’s grants to community-based non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are at the heart of our efforts to accelerate social and economic change in India. AIF achieves maximum impact by taking a focused approach to the numerous challenges facing India. We fund organizations in only three focus areas: education, livelihood and public health. All grants are targeted at improving the lives of the poorest and most marginalized people in India. AIF operates with a clear strategy for investing in organizations. Through our grants we seek to demonstrate successful methods that can be implemented on a much larger scale. The following principles are the basis of our grantmaking:
Using local knowledge to identify innovative solutions
AIF’s professional staff in India has a vast amount of development experience, and work closely with grant partners in developing the framework for individual grants. The team is advised and guided by
a Resource Group
in each focus area, comprised of academics, social entrepreneurs and policy makers.
Demonstrating scalability of innovations
AIF’s grants provide NGOs the resources to develop the quality of their innovative solutions and increase the number of people they serve. By scaling up the projects, AIF demonstrates that these solutions can be replicated and expanded to achieve broad impact across India.
Involving local communities
AIF’s grant partners believe in engaging community members in their work as active participants and decision makers.
This community involvement increases the likelihood of the intervention becoming self-sustaining.
Engaging the government
Rather than duplicating government services or substituting that which the government should provide, AIF invests in solutions that can be adopted by the government. AIF’s vision is that local initiatives, developed and scaled in collaboration with local and state governments, will inform broad policy changes.
Leveraging funds
A multitude of funding partners share AIF’s investments in grant making and programs. AIF actively collaborates with Indian, American and international funders to increase the funds that are available for projects in which AIF invests.
Ensuring an exit strategy
AIF’s approach to development is defined neither by one-time fixes nor indefinite commitments. All of AIF’s grants include a long-term plan to transfer the responsibility and ownership of development models to communities or the government.
Sharing best practices
AIF is committed to disseminating best practices in each of its focus areas. AIF accomplished this by investing in resource centers to develop and share best practices and convening meetings of grant partners so they may learn from each other’s experiences.