Series - Editorial Fellowship: Transforming Funding Models

'Traditional' foundation makes big bet on unrestricted giving. Will it stick post-COVID?

Author Gabe Oatley
In 2017, just 4 percent of the Lyle S. Hallman Foundation’s grants were “unrestricted.” Today, their no-strings-attached giving has surged to about 70 percent of all gifts.

Why It Matters

During the pandemic, many funders relaxed granting restrictions, allowing charities to be more adaptable and resource hard-to-fund infrastructure costs. Two years in, many charities are still struggling — with increased service demands and decreased donations — and wonder: will grantors be snapping back to program-funding business-as-usual?

var TRINITY_TTS_WP_CONFIG = {"cleanText":"\u2018Traditional\u2019 foundation makes big bet on unrestricted giving. Will it stick post-COVID?. This journalism \u200b\u200bis made possible by the Future of Good editorial fellowship covering the social impact world\u2019s rapidly changing funding models, supported by Future of Good, Community Foundations of Canada, and United Way Centraide Canada.\u00a0See our editorial ethics and standards here. On the morning of March 16, 2020, as COVID was bearing down on Canada, Laura Manning fired off an email that delighted her foundation\u2019s 30-odd grantees \u2014 and made one cry.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cEffective immediately,\u201d she wrote them, \u201cwe are removing restrictions on all current grants\u2026Use the money for WHATEVER you need to \u2014 giving

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