Impact Trust • Working glossary

Flow funding

Decentralised funding where trusted intermediaries have the power and agency to decide how to distribute resources.

Details

Our Take
Deliberately challenges traditional grant-making by pushing decision-making authority closer to the ground. Connects to the deeper critique of philanthropy's control architecture - the gap between rhetoric about trust and the reality of centralised decision-making.
Examples of Use
Regenerosity, social finance, philanthropy
Synonyms/Variants
Participatory grantmaking; Devolved funding; Trust-based philanthropy (related)
Typical everyday wording
Giving local people the money and the power to decide