Preface: A High-Level Summary of Findings This report presents a synthesis of findings from a three-year action research initiative undertaken by the Scaling Community of Practice. The main findings of the report are also summarized in a Policy Brief. The world faces enormous development, humanitarian, and climate challenges at the very time when traditional sources of support are suffering major cutbacks. This puts a premium on ensuring that the available financing shifts its focus from funding innovative standalone projects to increasing the capacity of governments, social enterprises, and the private sector to deliver long-term impacts that address global problems sustainably ...

Acknowledgements The Scaling Community of Practice (SCoP) and the authors are indebted to the many colleagues from the funder partner organizations that participated in this Initiative with case studies and in commenting on the findings. The authors received helpful comments on the Synthesis Report from the SCoP’s High-Level Advisory Group, the SCoP Executive Committee, a special Steering Group for the analysis of mainstreaming scaling by foundations, and from participants in various dissemination events. The authors and the SCoP wish to express their special thanks to the Agence Française de Développement and to Eric Beugnot for the financial support extended to ...

Executive Summary The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy is a not-for-profit operating foundation based in the US but with an international remit that seeks to improve the quality of life through the effective use, taxation, and stewardship of land. With its roots in the writings of Henry George, the Institute developed over the last 50 years from an organization funding land-related research and teaching into an organization that has pursued a broad range of activities, including research, teaching and training, tool development, data assembly and management, networking, advisory work and publication and dissemination. The Institute has funded its research traditionally ...

The Scaling Community of Practice – Annual Report 2025 highlights a decade of growth, expanding membership, and increased influence in advancing transformational scaling within development and climate sectors. The report showcases major milestones, including the completion of the three‑year Mainstreaming Initiative, the launch of the Scaling Campaign 2026–2030, strengthened leadership and partnerships, a significant rise in digital engagement, and a robust body of publications and events. It reflects the SCoP’s ongoing commitment to evidence, collaboration, and advancing best practices for achieving impact at scale ...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Fundación Corona is a Colombian family foundation created in 1963 by the Echavarría Olózaga family. Its mission is to promote social development, equity, and quality of life in Colombia by strengthening the capacities of diverse organizations. Its vision is to be recognized as a leader in developing innovative, replicable, and sustainable models that improve lives and advance systemic change. Evolving from its earlier focus on education-to-employment and citizen engagement, Fundación Corona now concentrates on transforming the broader youth system, including education, work opportunities, freedom of choice, and civic incidence. The Foundation is guided by eight core principles: (1) ...

Abstract The idea that country platforms can improve the effectiveness of development and climate action has gained increased traction in recent years, so has the idea that development and climate action must follow a systematic scaling approach to achieve transformational impact at scale. The purpose of this exploratory note is to bring these two ideas together to determine whether and how country platforms can support transformational scaling and whether and how a focus on scaling can make country platforms more effective. The note is exploratory and uses ChatGPT as a research aide along with references from the literature and examples ...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A. Introduction Despite considerable efforts to promote innovation in the agricultural sector, a significant amount of technology either remains on the shelf or is not effectively scaled to reach its intended beneficiaries – the farmers and marginalized communities it is meant to support. This is true across publicly funded programs and projects, even though the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and other donors prioritize striking a balance between fostering innovation and expanding stakeholder access to technology and innovation. Agricultural innovation has unique attributes and public good characteristics with distinct implications for technology management, dissemination, and scaling, especially ...

Executive Summary  This report examines how the Gates Foundation has approached scaling development outcomes across multiple Program Strategy Teams (PSTs), with a focus on strategies, pathways, partnerships, and lessons learned. In a context of declining global official development assistance and the foundation’s own 20-year wind down timeline (2045 close date), the foundation's catalytic role and ability to support sustainable scale is increasingly critical.   Key findings include:  Scaling approaches vary widely across PSTs but often follow a common innovation-to-scale trajectory, blending public and private delivery systems according to sector and context.  A shift from transactional to transformational scaling is evident, emphasizing ...

Executive Summary This paper is a study of the mainstreaming of scaling within the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation’s (SDC) research and innovation for development program. It focuses on the TRANSFORM program which is funded and coordinated through SDC’s Analysis and Research Section (A&R). This study complements and draws on a two-year “action-research” initiative on the part of the Scaling Community of Practice (SCoP) to study mainstreaming scaling in international development funder organizations.  When the SDC first initiated TRANSFORM in 2020, there was little emphasis on integrating scaling into its design, contracting and implementation. While this study devotes some ...

Executive summary The Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) is a global partnership that promotes improved food safety and animal and plant health in developing countries. STDF helps developing countries meet sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) requirements for imports and exports, based on international standards. It acts through three interlinked workstreams — Global Platform, Knowledge Work, and the Grant Mechanism — to catalyse change by convening, innovating, and learning for effective SPS practices. STDF is supported by donor contributions from Australia, Canada, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United States. This report explores what it ...