Foundations Look to New Models of International Development amid Retrenchment | Nonprofit Quarterly | Civic News. Empowering Nonprofits. Advancing Justice.

"It sought to jumpstart overseas projects that were run by local organizations on the ground, working to solve problems like refugee displacement or lack of access to clean water. This approach, known as Locally Led Development (LLD), was meant to be an antidote to top-down models of international aid, in which government agencies and large NGOs were often disconnected from the needs of communities and laden with administrative overhead."

"A recent survey by the Council on Foundations (CoF) found that three-quarters of the philanthropies that signed the joint USAID statement two years ago are giving more than 21 percent of their grant dollars directly to local organizations, and more than one-third report disbursing over 90 percent of their grant dollars to locally led groups. None of the foundations reported pulling back from LLD."

USAID shifted in 2023 toward Locally Led Development (LLD), aiming to fund locally run projects addressing refugee displacement and clean water access. LLD sought to counter top-down aid models by empowering community-rooted organizations and reducing administrative overhead from large agencies and NGOs. Subsequent U.S. federal funding cuts and a change in administration led to USAID's program termination and the agency's effective defunding. Despite that, international philanthropies sustained and in some cases accelerated LLD initiatives outside traditional bilateral and multilateral frameworks. A Council on Foundations survey found many foundations increased direct funding to local organizations, with several disbursing over 90 percent locally.

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