In 2005, the Global Fund for Children established the GFC Sustainability Awards. These special awards are presented to organizations that have not only succeeded in improving the lives of underserved children, but have also achieved a stage in their organizational development where they are able to sustain new levels of financial and program development.



GFC Sustainability Awards honor and recognize recipients’ extraordinary work, and seek to draw international attention to organizations that have developed grassroots solutions to global problems. The awards are an integral part of GFC’s grantmaking approach and, in most cases, constitute GFC’s final investment in the work of recipient grantee partners. However, these organizations remain in GFC’s global network as learning partners, receiving tracking grants and benefiting from GFC’s continued assistance in leveraging funds from other sources, thereby enhancing their future security.



GFC Sustainability Awards are given to organizations that:



* Have received GFC funding for a minimum of two years

* Are representative of organizations that GFC strives to support due to their innovations and effectiveness

* Have arrived at a critical stage in their organizational development

* Can demonstrate organizational development in budget growth, program expansion, and/or diversifying funding sources over the course of their relationship with GFC

* Have increased their public profile and ability to leverage additional funds through prizes or awards, government recognition, and/or increased financial support

* Affect broader issues related to children, education, and/or development through advocacy, training, and/or replication

* Have proven management capacity to administer this large, strategic grant

* Maintain strong communication links with GFC’s program staff, leadership, and representatives