Rebuild India Fund (RIF) is an initiative of Dasra, India’s leading strategic philanthropy organisation, established in 2022 to address a persistent gap in Indian philanthropy: grassroots organisations, despite being closest to communities and best placed to respond to local challenges, often receive short-term, restricted funding. Each year, the Fund supports 100 grassroots organisations through five years of flexible funding alongside tailored organisational development designed to build resilient institutions rather than simply fund projects.
What distinguishes RIF is its deliberate approach to shifting power within philanthropy. Grant decisions are made by an Investment Committee comprising experienced grassroots leaders from across India, bringing lived experience, local knowledge and trusted community relationships into funding decisions. The Fund also adopts an intersectional sourcing approach to identify organisations led by, or deeply rooted in, the communities they serve, helping ensure funding reaches groups that traditional philanthropy often overlooks.
Alongside multi-year flexible funding, RIF provides tailored support that evolves alongside each organisation, including leadership development, governance, strategic planning, fundraising, communications and financial management. The aim is to strengthen organisations’ long-term resilience and enable them to attract additional funding beyond the life of the grant.
Since its launch, Rebuild India Fund has supported more than 340 grassroots organisations across 25 states and five Union Territories, collectively reaching more than 21 million people. Evidence from the portfolio shows improvements in strategic planning, succession planning, financial sustainability and the use of evidence in programme design, while many partners have strengthened their ability to secure future funding.
RIF also works beyond its own portfolio by engaging funders across India to strengthen understanding of the grassroots giving ecosystem and encourage greater investment in community-led organisations.
What practitioners can take from this
RIF’s experience shows that getting funding to organisations closest to communities may require changing who makes funding decisions. By involving grassroots leaders in grant making, funders can draw on local knowledge and relationships that help identify organisations often missed by traditional approaches. RIF also highlights the value of investing in the long-term strength of organisations, not just the delivery of projects. Support for leadership, governance and fundraising can help grassroots organisations become more resilient and better able to attract funding in the future, increasing the impact of grant funding over time.