Where can funding for early work come from?

Funding is likely to be an early challenge for any coalition. Most coalitions rely on grants from charitable trusts and foundations, or from governments. Sometimes individual member organisations might have sufficient funds in a flexible form to allow them to kick-start some collective work.

Some questions for consideration regarding early funding:

• Can coalition work be developed on the margins of work for which people already have funding? For example, on the margins of meetings that various partners are already funded to attend?
• Can coalition work be subsidised as a component of research work on the issues in question – especially staff time so that people can also work on coalition needs?
• Can some initial funding be found for coalition activities before the coalition has been formally constituted?

Early funding for the CMC came from a broad grant that was provided by The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund to UK NGO Landmine Action. With the Fund’s permission, Landmine Action was able to allocate a portion of this grant to cover the costs of a full-time coordinator working out of the Landmine Action office. From this, the staff of the CMC began to be built.