Fundraising remains a challenge for most organizations, and the need to explore innovative ways to remain sustainable and competitive is becoming imperative. In this digital age, organizations are continuously exploring innovative approaches to fundraising to remain relevant in an increasingly dynamic landscape. Nonprofits are no exemption from this pressure, as they continue to face multiple sustainability challenges. As non-profits engaged in the production and dissemination of ideas to inform policies think tanks are currently facing serious existential challenges which require innovative solutions. The challenges faced by think tanks come from both the demand-side and the supply-side of the market for ideas.

The need for an innovative strategy was prompted by the reality faced by CSEA: as a beneficiary of the 10-year Think-Thank Initiative grant, which ends in 2019, it is imperative for the Centre to reflect on its fundraising experience and creatively design a fundraising approach that can ensure its financial sustainability beyond 2019. While the Centre places emphasis on the production of high-quality research, and on building a sustainable relationship with other policy stakeholders, a well-defined resource mobilization, and fundraising strategy is required to provide guidance towards approaching targeted and potential funders.