The Trust, Accountability and Inclusion Collaborative (TAI) creates annual work plans, co-​designed and approved by our Steering Committee. This process ensures that our ​initiatives align with the collective goals and priorities of the collaborative. While TAI is guided ​by its members’ priorities, most of our activities are welcoming all interested funders.

Currently, we are in the midst of refreshing our strategy. This means that our priorities, as outlined in this work plan, will evolve to reflect the new strategy framework. We continually review and adjust our activities based on our learnings and to stay relevant and effective.

We understand that the landscape can change rapidly. Therefore, we anticipate that some activities will need to be adjusted throughout the year as we respond to emerging opportunities. This flexibility allows us to remain agile and responsive to the dynamic environment in which we operate.

The work plan is structured around three strategic pillars. We recognize the ​interconnectedness of the challenges and potential solutions. While activities are listed ​under the most relevant strategic pillar, most of them would fit under multiple pillars. TAI ​activities are often mutually reinforcing, for example, connecting member efforts defending ​democratic values, securing a just energy transition, and pushing for corporate ​accountability

What We Fund

Bridging expertise and skills to boost impact of thematic portfolios (and across portfolios).

How We Fund

Building accountable, inclusive, equitable and effective grantmakers.

Funder Landscape

Expanding and enhancing funder connections.

What is it?

Create online interactive map showing TAI members’ geographic and thematic priorities

What does success look like in 12 months time?

We can easily identify geographic and thematic overlaps of interest, increasing potential for knowledge sharing and collaboration.

What is it?

Coordination and strategizing among funders with debt-related portfolios and exploring:

• potential for new debt accountability frameworks
• governance conditionalities for new debt
• coordination with climate funders interested on debt
  

Collation and sharing of new research, events, debates, and resources.

What does success look like in 12 months time?

Shared understanding of different donor approaches to debt work.

More visibility and/or funding for debt transparency and accountability dimensions, including with climate funders.

What is it?

Coordination and strategizing among funders with tax-related portfolios, including discussion of field needs, developments and specific intersections, such as gender and tax - sharing resources.

Focus on establishing a mechanism for mapping, tracking, supporting a coordinated approach advocacy toward the the UN Framework convention on international tax cooperation (UNFCITC).

Active coordination with climate funders; engagement of High-net-worth individuals (HNWIs).

What does success look like in 12 months time?

Better coordination; identifying and prioritizing gaps; understand field trends.

Greater engagement of tax justice groups in climate funder portfolios and advocacy.

Potential outcome: credible UNFCITC that reflects the ambition set out by members states particularly from the global south, addressing and incorporating the issues and concerns identified by civil society organizations.

At least one new example of a HNW funding tax justice programming.

What is it?

To bridge funders across sectors: women’s economic empowerment, social and economic rights, economic justice, women’s rights, feminist movement strengthening, workers and labor rights, macroeconomic policy, economic governance and economic development to share and learn about theoretical paradigms for gender-just economic models, current solutions-oriented research and programming in specific geographies, funding opportunities, including work supported through the (separately managed) pooled fund.

What does success look like in 12 months time?

A community of learning and practice consisting of a diversity of funders and other stakeholders established and fully operational, which collaborates closely with the parallel pooled fund managed by the Global Fund for Women.

Longer term goal: increasing knowledge among and strategic alignment and collaboration between funders for gender just economies.

What is it?

Building on TAI’s mapping and other scans of ​opportunities to combat illicit financial flows (IFF) ​that are undermining rights and climate action, ​this follow up work will be integrated into the ​programming on fostering donor action on ​climate integrity and as a potential topic for the ​democracy funders table (see Funder ​Landscape), and within the gender just economy ​learning conversations.

Will include convening for follow ups on the use ​of IFF to finance anti-rights agenda.

Potential partnership with UNDP on IFF ​symposium - input to Financing for Development ​(FfD).

What does success look like in 12 months time?

Increased donor awareness of risks of IFF ​undermining effective climate action, gender and ​inclusion efforts, and democracy.

Utilization of opportunities mappings by funders ​to inform strategies and grantmaking.

Potential integration as a sub theme into Gender ​Just Economy learning community and co-hosting ​discussions with Global Fund for Women

What is it?

To conduct research, learning and engage partners on how different parts of the fiscal advocacy ecosystem can be used to promote equity, trust and accountability across government and civil society.

Contribute to future frames and strategic paths to shift bargaining power in countries’ annual budget processes in ways that make progressive tax and budget policy choices more likely. It will do so by undertaking new country-focused political economy research to generate a collective conversation about a “fiscal ecosystem” approach to democratize budget processes and improve budget outcomes. This country pilot will test feasibility for a larger multi-country project.

What does success look like in 12 months time?

Funder engagement around initial South Africa case study and ecosystem framework.

Multiple funders commit to new funding to scale with multiple countries.

Knowledge products that make case for fiscal accountability ecosystem approach for Financing for Development (FfD).

Decision on best long term home for this project.

What is it?

Bimonthly calls for funder sharing/learning on funding practice around trust, accountability and inclusion themes and based on member demand:

• participatory approaches to learning and assessing impact (core support grants)
  
• narratives and stories of impact
  
• exit strategies as a way of building trust
• accountability mechanisms for trust
  
• overcoming burdens of funding and partnering in closing civic space contexts
  
• inclusion strategy in partnering and in grant-making - how to break power dynamics? (Link to overall GESI approach - see under cross cutting actions)
  
• working with and funding interconnected approaches
  

Some of these calls to be co-hosted with other philanthropy networks, such as WINGS.

What does success look like in 12 months time?

Bimonthly funder calls delivered (for different time zones) with active participation of diversity of funders on themes suggested by members and relevant to other funders.

Funders share and access frank peer advice; learn of new tools and approaches that they might test.

Increased sense of peer support among participating member staff.

What is it?

Disseminating the TAI mapping and case studies of intermediaries advancing just and equitable governance in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

Hosting further exploration (analysis, blogs, learning calls) on specifics:

• typology of intermediaries
  
• pros/cons, risks of engaging intermediaries
  
• mechanisms to monitor and evaluate intermediaries work
  
• recommendations on how to engage and strengthen global south (GS) intermediaries
  
• alternatives to intermediaries in the GS
  

Coordination and collaboration with other funders assessing intermediaries.

What does success look like in 12 months time?

Funders will have a shared understanding of the various modalities of intermediaries advancing just and equitable governance.

Bilateral funders increased awareness of GS based intermediaries with a track record on participatory governance (potential agents for localization).

Case studies, blogs, articles, meeting notes shared.

What is it?

Exploration of tactics for attracting more flexible resources, including from HNWIs, and for better donor coordination on TAI Collaborative’s themes.

Small funder working group sharing experiences.

Mapping what we know and what we don’t on tactics to influence peer funding choices and practices.

Differentiate by different target funders, such as HNWIs or international financial institutions.

What does success look like in 12 months time?

Improved understanding on what works and what doesn't in peer influencing.

Greater realism in what's possible and how to approach funder exits.

Application of learnings in at least one issue area.

Clarified ambition for TAI influencing (e.g. whether to set targets beyond the current membership).

What is it?

Exploring potential for trust, accountability and ​inclusion to be entry points for constructive ​conversations on achieving more effective ​climate outcomes. E.g., reframing the debate ​between urgency and rights protection, or ​mutual accountability for mobilization of finance ​and its deployment.

Potential for regular working group (backed by ​desk research) generating lessons that change ​practices and collaborations among funders.

Potential topics:

• Fast Accountability - how to balance rights ​and speed priorities in moving renewable and ​critical mineral investment
  
• Environmental democracy - Learning from ​Escazu model for processes in Africa and ​Asia
  
• Accountability in green industrial policy
  
• Accountability in the context of the New ​Collective Quantified Goal- supporting and ​encouraging governments championing good ​practices
  

Coordination with climate funders and regranters

What does success look like in 12 months time?

Non-member funders who have not traditionally funded accountability work have engaged on briefings and calls.

Increased visibility of accountability (and anti-corruption) dimensions in climate finance conversations, e.g. at COP 29.

Trust, accountability and inclusion dimensions highlighted with relevant funders in relation to critical minerals and renewables expansion and related green industrial policy.

What is it?

Campaign to raise the profile of fiscal issues and support the fiscal policy accountability and transparency ecosystem to raise additional political and financial capital.

Tied to the Financing for Development (FfD) process, highlighting how fiscal policy transparency and accountability is needed to deliver on the SDGs and Agenda 2030, through creating a set of convenings, narratives, evidence pool, and fundable opportunities.

Better integrating fiscal accountability into quality of climate finance discussions.

What does success look like in 12 months time?

Non-member funders who have not traditionally funded fiscal work have engaged on briefings and calls.

Fiscal accountability is a track of conversation and negotiation in FfD Conference (June 2025).

Field partners have new fundraising leads.

What is it?

Governments and private actors have been increasingly using a narrative that civil society is corrupt, co-opted by foreign interests, or ineffective, to undermine public support for civil society actors. Some say “civil society as a term, doesn’t resonate anymore”. To address these challenges we will:

• Collect and analyze what we have learned about narrative change from those who have been doing it to date (how to approach it, what works what doesn’t, what are the needs and opportunities)

• Host members only and broader funders call(s) on the above with expert speakers.
  

What does success look like in 12 months time?

Members/funders understand insights from existing work and approaches on narratives and are able to implement learning into their grantmaking practice.

Members/funders clarify their potential to reinforce positive vision of progressive civil society in contexts where they fund.

Insights on potential for civil society narratives to navigate and defuse polarization.

What is it?

Several philanthropies, including members, have ​expressed a desire for a more regular space to ​strategize, learn, and advocate together for ​smarter approaches to strengthening / building / ​reforming democracies worldwide - building on ​research, evidence and networks in different ​geographies.

TAI will incubate this initiative, however the ​space will be co-designed by a core group of ​interested funders. Given the diversity of ​approaches and the aim to bring in to the ​discussion other funders and a variety of ​stakeholders, the design phase will have special ​relevance - including discussions on shared ​values and framing.

What does success look like in 12 months time?

At least 10 funders participate in a dedicated space for philanthropic learning and coordination on international democracy support (informing their grantmaking).

Established mode for engaging with activists and movements and agreed framework to be accountable to the field.

New opportunities for two way learning with established spaces for democracy funders in specific geographies.

Additional funding secured to assure sustainability.

What is it?

In person learning opportunity around specific issue area. In the past two years TAI moved from a funder only to a more inclusive learning space, including local activists and other funders.

2025 TAI Learning Days to be hosted in a global south location on themes of shared interest and priority of TAI members.

What does success look like in 12 months time?

TAI members build and deepen human connections and learn in a safe space together with practitioners and fellow funders.

Informs thinking/practice of members and non-member funders.

Raises interest of non-members in TAI.

Strengthened sense of community.

What is it?

Four Steering Committee (SC) meetings a year (one in person)

NEW: Extended SC Meetings: with extra time for discussing shared issues such as narratives, civic space, democracy, intermediaries (or other) in a safe and intimate environment.

What does success look like in 12 months time?

Trusted community that is able to build more aligned and strategic joint work/thinking, with active participation of all SC members.

What is it?

Highly popular weekly digest for funders and practitioners and monthly report to TAI members only.

Subscribe to our Weekly

What is it?

Building on TAI's recent rebrand, the strategy refresh is to sharpen goals, update offerings and approaches, clarify target membership size and parameters for non-member engagement, and determine an appropriate financial and operational model to deliver on the updated strategy.

What does success look like in 12 months time?

Members endorse strategy that will define TAI's work for the next 5 years (2025-2029) - to be published in December 2024.

Updated monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) approach aligned with the new strategy.

What is it?

Sharing experiences and learning about how to advance gender equity and social inclusion (GESI) in programs and grant-making practice.

Political economy analysis of gender in governance (including gaps in funding): understanding the state of women’s representation and participation with concrete recommendations about what donors could fund to address them.

Combination of member led calls, desk research, potential coaching sessions.

Ties to Grantmaker Practice Calls, Democracy, and Gender Just Economy Learning Community work.

What does success look like in 12 months time?

Members gain new insights and greater shared understanding of latest practice in applying Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) around participatory governance.

Awareness of available tools and approaches.

More members start testing GESI lens.