Who pays for the costs behind the programme?

A grant can pay for a programme while the rent, the coordinator and the accountant who keep it running wait for something else.

Seven in ten nonprofit leaders surveyed in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore call the lack of multiyear, unrestricted funding a highly or critically important constraint. Unrestricted means the funder sets no conditions on which costs it pays for.

The finding comes from a survey published in 2026 by The Bridgespan Group, with 161 responses from nonprofit leaders across the three countries. It was an online survey that organisations chose to answer, and the answers are self-reported, so it is not a random sample.

The same survey found that more than four in ten had less than six months of operating reserves. Bridgespan also calculated that half had less flexible funding than their costs outside programmes need.

All of these figures cover three countries, not Malaysia alone.

Three things your team can do in about an hour:

1. List the costs that no project pays for. Rent, staff, accounting, phone bills. Next to each, write its monthly cost and what it makes possible. For example, a coordinator keeps the volunteer roster running.
2. Calculate how many months your available funds can cover. Divide the money available for general operating costs by the monthly total from step 1. For example, RM30,000 available against RM10,000 a month gives you three months. Do not count money already committed to specific projects.
3. Write three sentences you could use in a funding proposal: your monthly core costs (the total from step 1), what they pay for, and how many months your available funds cover (from step 2).

You don't need new software. A notebook works.