Balancing Trust and Accountability: How to Access More Unrestricted Funding

Every founder knows the paradox. Funders ask nonprofits to innovate, experiment, attract top talent, invest in technology, and build strong organizations. Yet most funding arrives tied to predefined activities, rigid budgets, and short-term outputs. How do organizations build for the future when they are only funded for the present? In this insightful session from Mission Billion Summit 2026 by Change Engine, nonprofit founders, funders, and ecosystem builders explore one of the sector's most persistent challenges: the gap between trust and accountability, and why unrestricted funding remains so difficult to access despite being critical for long-term impact. The session begins with findings from Change Engine's first report "The Flexible Funding Gap for NonProfit Unicorns" of their "The Ease of Doing Good," series, based on insights from more than 145 nonprofits across India. The findings reveal a stark reality: while organizations consistently identify flexible funding as essential for growth, innovation, and institutional strengthening, most continue to operate with very limited unrestricted capital. Speakers: • Shubham Bansal, Founder, Change Engine • Aakanksha Gulati, CEO, ACT Grants • Akshay Saxena, Co-CEO, Avanti Fellows • Muzamil Baig, Founder, Project DEEP • Tanvi Bikhchandani, Founder, Tamarind Chutney; Philanthropist Key Moments: 00:00 Introduction: The Flexible Funding Gap 01:08 Research Findings: Quantifying the Gap 05:08 Who Is Funding Nonprofits? 07:25 Solutions and Recommendations 14:00 Panel Discussion: Fundraising Journeys 19:13 Project DEEP: Early-Stage Fundraising Strategies 24:01 ACT Grants: What Funders Look For 28:44 Building Trust with Funders 35:44 Accountability Without Rigid Constraints 39:58 Audience Q&A: Space to Fail One of the most compelling ideas that emerges from the conversation is that unrestricted funding is not simply operational support—it is innovation capital. It is the funding that allows organizations to hire exceptional people, test new ideas, invest in technology, strengthen measurement systems, build evidence, and create the foundations required for long-term scale. The discussion also challenges a common misconception: that trust is something funders either have or do not have. Instead, trust is shown to be something that is built gradually through transparency, consistency, honest communication, and a willingness to share not only successes but also failures. For founders, the session offers practical insights into building lasting funder relationships. For philanthropists and ecosystem leaders, it raises an important question: If we want nonprofits to solve complex social problems, are we giving them the flexibility required to do so? Ultimately, this conversation is about more than fundraising. It is about creating an ecosystem where organizations have the freedom to innovate, the support to take risks, and the resources to build solutions capable of creating impact at population scale.