Make Opportunity a Horse, Not a Unicorn
Opportunity doesn’t have to be rare—if we’re creative and proactive
Gloom. Despondency. Despair. Not here!
We launched our Make Opportunity a Horse, Not a Unicorn campaign at a time when the U.S. nonprofit sector—and its global counterparts—were reeling from deep cuts to federal funding and development assistance in the wake of the second Trump administration. These blows were compounded by coordinated attacks on the values and missions of many civil society groups. Even before—or shortly after—came additional reductions in development aid from other global donors, alongside a tightening of private giving in the U.S. Amid this metaphorical earthquake, we held fast to the central belief of the campaign: opportunity doesn’t have to be rare—if we’re creative and proactive.
Where's the Money?
In times like these, funding is understandably the central concern for most nonprofits and NGOs. That’s why our campaign has been laser-focused on generating opportunities for resource mobilization. We’ve tapped into Ignited Word’s creativity, imagination, and innovation toolbox—alongside the smarts of our collaborators—to bring fresh thinking and doing to the challenge.
We Can Help You:
Create a "New Horizon' Proposition
Time and again, we see organizations fail to attract funding, partnership, and support for their work, in part because they have not presented a bold and enthralling proposition that differs from other offerings on the market. It takes imagination to come up with a unique, yet feasible,proposition that opens up a new horizon of impact. We help you with this vital ideation and design stage, so that you can attract the resourced needed to innovate.
Build with Diaspora
Motivated by a strong desire to give back to their countries or places of origin, members of the diaspora from various regions give sum totals that dwarf foreign development assistance. This amounts to over $857 bn, about 21 times the USAID budget. But beyond seeing them as a donation, NGOs need to focus on better understanding and building relationships with these key constituencies, their preferences, and their visions for change. What this requires is being willing to go back to the drawing board on certain program approaches and donor engagement models to co-create new approaches with diaspora communities and collectively seek new opportunities for impact.
Identify Domestic Resources
Whether partnering with local community-focused companies, or forming coalitions with other NGOs to influence local tax laws that support philanthropic giving, Global South-based NGOs need to have a mindset of experimentation and ingenuity if they are to find local opportunities. They will need to be increasingly bold in formulating ideas, pitches, and pilots and soliciting partners in bringing these ideas to fruition.
Rewrite Funding Rules
In the current environment, not only do funders need to be flexible with their giving and magnanimous with both their financial and non-financial support, they also have to be willing to explore new models of funding. Could they/should they incentivize mergers and acquisitions in the nonprofit space? Should they apportion amounts for well-formulated experimentation and piloting within all program funds? Should they directly fund resource diversification efforts? There’s no one size fits all, just a needed mindset of experimentation and innovation on the part of all funders.
Meet Our Experts
Dr. Laté Lawson-Lartego
Chief Innovation Officer, Oxfam America
Dr. Laté Lawson-Lartego has championed innovation throughout his career. In Benin, he helped develop a groundbreaking solution to tackle over-indebtedness in the microfinance sector, leading to the creation of the first credit bureau for microfinance and earning the World Bank Innovation Market Prize in 2001. This experience sparked his lifelong commitment to innovation in the fight against poverty and inequality. In 2022, as Oxfam’s Chief Innovation Officer, Laté led the creation of aGILE, a global innovation lab designed to embed innovation into Oxfam’s culture. Now in its third year, aGILE continues to deliver impact and insight across the organization.
Malaika Cheney-Coker
Founder and Principal, Ignited Word
With a literary background and a passion for writing both fiction and non-fiction, Malaika has found a way to utilize the power of storytelling through her work as an international development and social justice professional of over 22 years.
She has worked in various roles across multiple sectors including for the international NGO CARE, as well as for Habitat for Humanity’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter.
In addition to being the founder of Ignited Word, she is also the author of the novel Creature of Air and Still Water, (April 2025).
Laura Cancisio
Founder and Principal, Allies for Change
Laura Cansicio’s mission is to help non-profit leaders survive and thrive in uncertain times. With over 17 years under her belt in high-net worth donor cultivation, she provides bespoke, cost-effective fundraising services mainly to non-profits led by women of color, serving BIPOC communities and marginalized populations in the Global South. Laura enjoys tapping into an organization’s network and current capacities, then building integrated communications, marketing and fundraising strategies that make it practical, tactical, sustainable to diversify revenue over time. Working for RTI International, CARE USA, Habitat for Humanity, CORE Response, and various clients, she has achieved team wins ranging from $500K to $250M.
