News
Small Foundation is excited to announce a new partnership with Fito Network, a global coalition of network leaders, facilitators and funders dedicated to strengthening and connecting social impact networks, movements and communities around the world.
Over the next 24 months, our partnership will support Fito Network to conduct research on understanding network resourcing models and sustainability, building an evidence base for what makes networks financially and structurally resilient.
Currently, most networks working toward systemic change are underfunded or financially fragile, often cobbling together resourcing approaches that don’t match their short-term needs or long-term ambitions.
Building on Fito’s 2025 guide, How to Resource & Fund Impact Networks, this research moves from broad network archetypes to applied, evidence-based learning. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data from networks, it will build a clearer picture of how resourcing models work in practice – including the non-financial resources such as the time, attention, skills and knowledge that sustain a network. The research will also examine how networks combine different resourcing components into models that are sufficiently diverse to improve resilience and ensure sustainability.
A 12-month learning journey with network leaders will test different approaches in real time, informing the design of an open-access online interactive resource hub.
“Every time I speak with other network leaders, I hear a version of the same pain: “I love this work and know it’s transformative. But it’s hard to resource our network and sustain myself.”
Because of these persistent struggles we aim to reimagine how to resource networks in more effective, relational, and emergent ways. I could not be more excited to co-create useful tools, practices and templates with more than 100 network leaders to move our field from scarcity to abundance.”
– Adrian Röbke, Fito Network
Fito Network is currently recruiting for the Collective Intelligence Lead, who will co-lead this work alongside the project coordinator and financial resource model analyst. Please find the job description and application form for this role.
To follow the research as it develops, sign up to Fito Network’s newsletter and download their ‘How to Resource & Fund Impact Networks’ resource.
