Transforming Media Development - Recommendations for Effective Funding and Collaboration

"Media development organisations often argue that the dynamic between donors and implementing partners needs to change."



This report, published by the Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD), documents the experiences and challenges that media and media development organisations face daily in their attempts to raise funds and live up to donor expectations on reporting and accountability. It also offers recommendations for donors and implementing agents that include, for example, improvements to the development and roll-out of funding programmes as well as measures that can be taken by both parties to introduce more effective ways of working and enhance engagement and collaboration across the sector.



The report is based on the findings of surveys conducted by GFMD in 2018 and 2022 as well as a series of online interviews with GFMD members from Eastern Europe, Asia, and South America. In particular, the study sought to explore the following issues:

• The scope of funders and existing grant cycles;
• Regional funding patterns and perceived ability to influence donor priorities;
• Fundraising capacity and capabilities, including procedures and administration;
• The overheads of donor reporting;
• Gaps in funding and ways of dealing with them;
• Fundraising challenges, including their impact on institutional strategy;
• Partnerships with other organisations; and
• Donor relationships.

The research revealed significant challenges in fundraising and business development for the media and media support organisations, including:

• The short-term nature of funding and a marked lack of continuity in development programmes;
• A tendency by donors to view news media as a tool for their communication strategies rather than a crucial requirement for democracy-building;
• Top-down relationships between donors and implementing agencies; and
• Opaque funding programmes and lengthy, overly complex application procedures.

According to the report, these challenges have led to the emergence of a fragmented sector that is plagued by duplication of efforts and poor coordination. Both media outlets and media support organisations spend a disproportionate amount of time applying for and servicing grants. Grants often cover non-essential activities rather than core business. As stated in the report, this state of affairs has had a negative impact on the credibility of media development efforts worldwide. In Eastern Europe, for example, there is a perception that cumbersome, underfunded interventions have helped to fuel the Kremlin's narrative that the West is ideologically weak and divided.



In addition, there is little evidence that donors are responding to repeated calls for a shift in the funding paradigm. Most still use antiquated templates for applications, and few provide useful feedback to applicants. They have also displayed little desire to address systemic problems or grant-giving policies, and they appear reluctant to coordinate amongst themselves and to explore synergies between funding programmes. Furthermore, funding programmes are based on assumptions rather than empirical evidence, and the very long lead times for some grants mean that projects risk being obsolete by the time they are launched. The burden of reporting to multiple donors is seen to be untenable.



On the positive side, several major donors have started commissioning needs assessments of media communities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and Eastern Europe. The findings of these assessments are used to determine funding priorities. In addition, several players have adopted more flexible funding arrangements. It is widely hoped that these best practice models will be embraced by the wider donor community.



The report shares a number of recommendations for both donor and implementing agencies. These recommendations are based on the premise that systemic change is necessary in order to ensure that donor funding better reflects the needs of key stakeholders and that available resources enjoy optimum impact. Real improvements would require concerted efforts on the part of the donor community and implementing agencies, thereby achieving greater accountability, transparency, and responsiveness from both sides.



Recommendations for donors include:

• Offer core or institutional support to independent media outlets, recognising that, without core funding, many of these actors will cease to exist, and the diversity of voices will be diminished.
• Take steps to improve dialogue with media development partners and to engage in the co-creation of projects.
• Conduct or commission regular, structured assessments of media landscapes, and use the findings to shape funding programmes.
• Invest in country-based audience research, which can give proper insight into the themes and formats that are likely to resonate with different target groups.
• Simplify procedures and reduce lead times for applications.
• Harmonise procedures across the donor community, thereby enabling joint reporting and collaborative monitoring and evaluation.
• Give leadership roles to media support organisations from the Global South, acknowledging their in-depth knowledge of local media landscapes and their credibility among local actors.

Recommendations for implementing agencies include:

• Diversify the donor base and consider opportunities for commercial activity to supplement grant funding.
• Prioritise donors who offer their beneficiaries long-term partnerships based on a common vision and shared goals.
• Avoid pursuing funding opportunities that have limited chances of success or that are a poor fit for core activities.
• Engage in network- and coalition-building with a view to pooling resources with counterparts.
• Improve resource allocation within in-house teams and consider ways of streamlining business development work.
• Improve monitoring and evaluation systems in order to generate stronger evidence of impact and success.
• Enter into strategic partnerships with other implementing organisations that have complementary skills.
• Establish a clear and distinct position in the media development market.