Opportunity Without Boundaries
Supporting ideas that create lasting change.
Exishmum Foundation supports people, organizations and ideas working toward meaningful social progress. Explore our areas of focus, discover funding opportunities, and learn how we approach long-term impact.
Clear criteria
Open processes
Global perspective
The foundation
A foundation built around opportunity.
Exishmum Foundation works with individuals, organizations and institutions pursuing social progress. We organise our interests into ten areas of focus, and we define what we support at the level of each individual funding opportunity.
We publish our process, our criteria and our reasoning so that applicants know what to expect. Where we do not yet have information to share, we say so rather than filling the space.
What we fund
Ten areas of focus
Areas of focus describe where our interest sits. They are not a claim that active funding exists in every area at any given time.
- 01
Education & Learning
Learning environments, teaching practice and pathways that help people build knowledge and skills over a lifetime.
Explore - 02
Economic Opportunity
Work that helps people and communities build stable livelihoods, enterprises and financial resilience.
Explore - 03
Community Development
Locally led efforts that strengthen the places people live, and the institutions communities rely on.
Explore - 04
Innovation & Technology
Responsible use of technology and new practice to address public-interest problems.
Explore - 05
Climate & Environment
Efforts to protect natural systems and help communities adapt to environmental change.
Explore - 06
Health & Wellbeing
Approaches that support physical health, mental health and the conditions that make wellbeing possible.
Explore - 07
Research & Knowledge
Research, evidence and knowledge-sharing that helps practitioners and decision-makers act well.
Explore - 08
Arts & Culture
Cultural practice, heritage and creative work as part of how communities express and sustain themselves.
Explore - 09
Youth & Leadership
Young people, emerging leaders and the structures that help them shape decisions that affect them.
Explore - 10
Equity & Inclusion
Work that widens participation and addresses barriers that keep people from opportunity.
Explore
How we work
Six stages, in sequence.
Our practice moves from listening through to helping durable approaches reach further.
- 01
Listen
We begin with the people closest to a problem and the context they work in.
- 02
Discover
We look for ideas, organizations and evidence already showing promise.
- 03
Support
We provide funding and support shaped around what the work actually needs.
- 04
Collaborate
We work with partners, practitioners and institutions rather than around them.
- 05
Learn
We evaluate openly, including where things do not go as expected.
- 06
Scale
We help durable approaches reach further, when the evidence supports it.
Funding
Featured opportunities
Each opportunity publishes its eligibility, assessment criteria, deadline and required materials before it opens.
- OpenCommunity Development
Community Futures Fund
Flexible, multi-year support for locally led organizations strengthening the institutions, spaces and networks their communities depend on.
- Award
- USD 25,000 – 150,000 over two years
- Closes
- 2026-11-30 (UTC)
- OpenEducation & Learning
Learning Pathways Grants
Project grants for educators, schools and learning organizations widening access to quality teaching and to the pathways that follow it.
- Award
- USD 15,000 – 80,000 per project year
- Closes
- 2026-10-15 (UTC)
- OpenResearch & Knowledge
Practitioner Fellowship
A twelve-month fellowship for practitioners who want protected time to document, test and share a method that is already working in their field.
- Award
- USD 45,000 stipend plus 10,000 project costs
- Closes
- 2026-09-30 (UTC)
Global reach
Organised for a global perspective
Our geographic structure is organised by region and country. Locations are published only once verified information exists.
- 01
Africa
Countries to be published
- 02
Asia & Pacific
Countries to be published
- 03
Europe
Countries to be published
- 04
Latin America & Caribbean
Countries to be published
- 05
Middle East & North Africa
Countries to be published
- 06
North America
Countries to be published
Our people
The team behind the work
Strategy, grants and operations, programs, communications, community wellbeing and writing.
Impact
Stories of the work
Each story follows the same structure: the challenge, the idea, the support, the work, the result, and what we learned.
- Education & LearningAsia & Pacific
A teacher-led literacy network takes ownership of its own training
Teachers in a rural district described the same problem repeatedly: training was designed elsewhere, delivered once, and rarely matched the classrooms they returned to.
The network reports higher participation in its second year and now maintains a shared, teacher-written lesson bank. Learning outcomes are being assessed by the independent evaluator and will be published with the evaluation.
- Climate & EnvironmentLatin America & Caribbean
Rebuilding water security on a changing coastline
Saltwater intrusion had made two community wells unusable, and households were spending an increasing share of income on trucked water.
Household capture is operating and the association is reporting reduced reliance on trucked water. The shared works are under way, with completion expected in the next cycle.
- Health & WellbeingNorth America
Peer support that keeps people out of crisis services
A small clinic's caseworkers were carrying more referrals than they could follow up, and people were returning to crisis services between appointments.
The clinic reports that follow-up contact is now happening consistently between appointments. Outcome data is being collected and will be published once reviewed.
Resources
Latest reports, research and guidance
Written for the people who use them: applicants sizing a budget, grantees writing a report, practitioners looking for evidence.
- Guides12 min
Writing a strong application
What our reviewers actually read for: a clear problem, a plan that fits the money, a budget that matches the narrative, and evidence you can stand behind.
- Guides15 min
Budgeting for grant-funded work
How to price staff time, overheads, regulatory work and contingency — and the budget mistakes that most often send an application back for revision.
- ToolkitsToolkit
Monitoring and evaluation starter kit
Templates for indicators, data collection plans and reporting, built for small teams without a dedicated evaluation function.
- Publications9 min
Our approach to multi-year funding
Why we favour longer commitments with fewer conditions, what we ask for in return, and where multi-year funding is the wrong instrument.
- Research6 min
Reading list: locally led development
A curated set of open-access research and practitioner writing on shifting decision-making closer to the communities affected.
- ToolkitsChecklist
Responsible technology checklist
The safety, accessibility, data governance and maintenance questions we ask of any tool we are asked to fund.
Transparency
How we account for our work
Grantmaking, governance, financial information, reports and policies are gathered in one place.
Not sure about a communication or funding opportunity?
If you have received a communication or encountered a funding opportunity that you would like to verify, please contact us through our Contact Us page and provide the relevant details. Our team can assist with verification.