Scaling with Government: Government’s Perspective on What Nonprofits and Funders Need to Do Differently

Scaling with government represents one of the most credible routes to sustained impact at scale. Yet even nonprofits with strong evidence, long-term government partnerships, and political access often struggle to move beyond pilots or partial adoption. The type of scaling with government this report focuses on – where governments authorize, finance, and sustain delivery – remains particularly difficult to achieve. 

This challenge has become more acute in recent years. Levels of Overseas Development Assistance have flattened or fallen, and philanthropic funders increasingly see their role as catalytic rather than permanent. As a result, support for nonprofits pursuing the long-term, complex and uncertain route to scale with government has become harder to secure. 

Existing literature offers extensive guidance for nonprofits on how to partner with governments and influence policy, but provides limited insight into how scaling with government actually happens and the conditions that enable it – particularly from the government’s perspective.  

This study addresses that gap. Spring Impact, in partnership with Instiglio and LGT Venture Philanthropy, examined 12 cases across low- and middle-income countries where nonprofits have navigated scaling with government in practice. The study draws on 30 in-depth interviews with senior government officials and nonprofit leaders directly involved in these processes. Over half of the cases are drawn from Sub-Saharan Africa, with additional examples from South and Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe, spanning health, education, WASH, and infrastructure. 

By centering government decision-makers – not just nonprofit narratives – the study surfaces how governments assess risks, make decisions, and choose when (and whether) to institutionalize change, rather than offering a blueprint for scaling with government.