Braided Funding 

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Braided Funding Overview

Braided funding is a powerful financial management strategy to ensure the sustainability of community-based organizations. By integrating funding from multiple sources—such as government grants, private investments, and philanthropic funding—organizations can reduce their reliance on a single funding stream, allowing them to bridge gaps in funding cycles and provide more comprehensive services to participants. This diversified approach allows for greater flexibility in adapting to changing economic or policy landscapes while maintaining consistent support for program participants and exploring opportunities to scale programs. Braided funding also has the benefit of deepening collaboration across sectors, encouraging shared accountability for program outcomes.

Along with the benefits, braiding funding requires complex organizational systems, processes, and staff capacity. Given the depth of the existing literature about braiding funding, the Jobs for the Future team has curated a list of actionable and informative resources for community-based organizations interested in braiding multiple funding sources. To complement the resources listed below, we have included a case study featuring a High Road Training Fund grantee, the Worker Education and Resource Center.

Resources

Here’s a list of resources and guides that provide further details about braided funding and how to implement that strategy.

• Urban Institute: Blended and Braided Funding
• U.S. Department of Labor: Blending, Braiding and Sequencing
• Rapid IT Training and Employment Initiative (RITEI) Braided Funding Guide: Developing a Strategy and Approach
• JFF Center for Apprenticeship & Work-Based Learning: Braided and Adaptive Funding