Community Foundation Development in Malawi

About this grant

The purpose of the project is to develop community foundations in Malawi. Over the past year, World Connect Malawi introduced the community foundation concept to 10 groups that expressed an interest in becoming community foundations. Support to the groups included capacity-building training, governance restructuring and registration with the Malawian government. The grantee partnered with local media groups to create awareness of the community foundation concept nationally. Over the next two years, the grantee will increase the number of groups that are exposed to the community foundation model, provide ongoing support and training to existing groups, produce learning materials, build a community of supporters and continue to raise awareness about community foundations in the country. Additionally, the grantee will support the emergence of a network of community foundations to enable learning. Based in Lilongwe, the grantee was established in 2021 as an independent grantmaking entity to support community-led development. Since 2018, World Connect Malawi supported over 121 communities across the country to unlock over $1 million towards activities prioritized and led by the communities themselves.