Nila Kartika Wati
As the global philanthropic landscape undergoes a period of significant contraction, nonprofit organizations are increasingly adopting a strategy known as multisolving to address complex, overlapping social and environmental challenges. This approach, which involves designing single programs to yield benefits across multiple sectors—such as public health, environmental sustainability, and economic development—is becoming a necessity rather than a choice. According to recent data from the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), nonprofit leaders are reporting heightened pressure as the demand for services rises while traditional funding streams become more restrictive or diminish entirely. In this environment, the "do more with less" mantra is evolving into a sophisticated methodology that prioritizes intersectional solutions and community-led design.
The Rise of the Multisolving Framework
The concept of multisolving is rooted in the recognition that social issues do not exist in isolation. For instance, poverty is inextricably linked to food insecurity, which in turn impacts educational outcomes and long-term health. Historically, the nonprofit sector has operated in "silos," where organizations focus on a narrow mission to satisfy the specific requirements of categorical grants. However, the rigidity of this model often leads to a redundancy of efforts and a failure to address the root causes of systemic issues.
The term "multisolving" gained traction in the context of climate change mitigation, where projects like urban reforestation were found to simultaneously reduce heat-island effects, improve mental health, and create local employment. In the current economic climate, this framework is being applied across the broader nonprofit sector. The shift is driven by a 2023 Giving USA report which indicated that, when adjusted for inflation, total giving in the United States has seen a downward trend, forcing organizations to maximize the "return on investment" for every dollar spent.
Case Study in Intersectional Impact: Iskashitaa Refugee Network
In Tucson, Arizona, the Iskashitaa Refugee Network provides a primary example of multisolving in action. Founded in 2003 by Dr. Barbara Eiswerth, a research geologist and environmental scientist, the organization began as an effort to map and mitigate local food waste. Eiswerth’s background in geospatial information systems (GIS) allowed her to identify thousands of pounds of unharvested produce from residential trees and public lands.
The organization’s evolution followed a chronological path of discovery. Initially focused on neighborhood improvement, the project shifted when Eiswerth integrated local refugee populations into the harvesting process. Today, the network harvests approximately 3,000 pounds of produce weekly. This single activity addresses three distinct crises:
- Environmental Sustainability: Reducing methane emissions from rotting fruit and conserving local water resources embedded in the produce.
- Food Insecurity: Providing fresh, nutritious food to refugees who often struggle with the high cost of produce in the United States.
- Social Integration: Creating a "common language" of agriculture that allows refugees to build social capital and community ties with long-term residents.
By processing surplus produce into value-added products—such as jams and preserves—sold in an online shop, the organization also creates a circular economic model where proceeds are reinvested into the program. This reduces the organization’s dependence on traditional grants, which Eiswerth notes can be "scraped for every penny."
Empowering the Next Generation: The Institute for Citizens & Scholars
The multisolving approach is also being utilized to foster civic engagement among youth. Audra Watson, who has led youth programs at the Institute for Citizens & Scholars for nearly 17 years, emphasizes that the most effective community projects are those that identify and fill specific gaps rather than duplicating existing services.
Supported by funding from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation, the Institute has sponsored 171 youth-led teams across 46 states. These projects are intentionally designed to solve immediate community problems while simultaneously teaching leadership and civic responsibility. For example, a youth-led team in Ohio initially aimed to create a voting tool specifically for their peers. However, through community dialogue—a core tenet of multisolving—they discovered that elderly residents faced similar barriers to information. By expanding their scope, the team addressed the needs of multiple demographics with a single digital platform.
Watson notes that this "pivoting" is essential. The objective is not just to provide a service, but to cultivate a "multisolve mindset" in young leaders, ensuring they understand how to navigate complex bureaucratic systems and address interconnected needs.
The Role of Flexible Funding: Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands
For multisolving to be sustainable, the funding mechanisms behind it must also evolve. Traditional grantmaking often requires strict adherence to narrow Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which can stifle the flexibility needed to address multiple issues. The Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands (CFVI), led by President Dee Baecher-Brown since 1996, has pioneered a model of "unrestricted" or "flexible" funding to counter this.
Serving a population of 87,000 across St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John, CFVI manages approximately 100 open grants. Their "Angel" donor program, established in 1999, aggregates donations of $500 or more to create a pool of unrestricted funds. This capital allows the foundation to support projects that do not fit into traditional buckets, such as the "Mangroves in the Classroom" initiative. This program, led by the University of the Virgin Islands, combines environmental restoration with STEM education. Students are not just planting trees; they are conducting growth experiments and learning leadership skills, effectively multisolving for climate resilience and educational equity.
Baecher-Brown describes this approach as "labor-intensive," requiring constant communication and "handholding" with grantees to ensure that the interconnected goals of the projects are being met without losing focus.
Strategic Analysis: The Necessity of Intentionality and Focus
While multisolving offers a path to greater efficiency, experts warn of the risks of "mission creep." Barbara Eiswerth of Iskashitaa recounts a period when the organization attempted to provide swimming lessons for refugees to address water-related trauma. While the need was real, the program strained the organization’s resources and diluted its core mission.
"The needs are never-ending," Eiswerth stated. "You have to focus on what you can do best. It has to be interwoven; it has to make sense." This highlights a critical lesson for the sector: multisolving is not about doing everything; it is about identifying the most strategic intersection where an organization’s unique expertise can solve more than one problem simultaneously.
Broader Implications for the Nonprofit Sector
The shift toward multisolving reflects a broader trend in the philanthropic world toward "Trust-Based Philanthropy." This movement advocates for multi-year, unrestricted funding and the removal of burdensome reporting requirements, allowing nonprofits the autonomy to adapt their programs to the community’s evolving needs.
Data from the USDA indicates that approximately 30% to 40% of the food supply in the United States is wasted, while the USDA’s Economic Research Service reported that 12.8% of U.S. households were food insecure in 2022. Projects like Iskashitaa demonstrate that these are not two separate problems, but two sides of the same coin. When funders recognize this, they can move away from siloed grants and toward holistic investments.
Furthermore, the multisolving model provides a buffer against economic volatility. By creating programs that yield diverse benefits, nonprofits can tap into various funding streams—for example, a community garden might qualify for environmental grants, public health funding, and urban development subsidies.
Conclusion: A New Standard for Social Impact
The adoption of multisolving signals a maturation of the nonprofit sector. In an era of "less is more," the focus has shifted from the volume of services provided to the depth and interconnectedness of the impact achieved. Success in this new landscape requires three essential elements:
- Community-Centric Design: Programs must be built on the lived experiences of those they serve to ensure the solutions are culturally and practically relevant.
- Flexible Capital: Foundations must move away from restrictive, issue-specific grants to allow for the cross-sectoral work that multisolving requires.
- Disciplined Focus: Organizations must remain anchored in their core expertise, ensuring that their multisolving efforts enhance rather than distract from their primary mission.
As the global community faces increasingly complex challenges—from climate-induced migration to systemic economic inequality—the ability to solve multiple problems with single, elegant solutions will likely become the standard by which social impact is measured. The examples of Iskashitaa, CFVI, and the Institute for Citizens & Scholars provide a blueprint for a more resilient and efficient nonprofit sector that can thrive even when resources are scarce.
