The future of regranting: What 2026 holds for collaborative philanthropy

Regranting, often known as cascade funding, is an innovative approach to grantmaking that allows funders to amplify their impact and create more equitable outcomes. 

Here’s the exciting news: with regranting gaining so much popularity, it’s bound to expand and take a new shape as we head into 2026—a time when technological advancement seems to be at an all-time high.

In this article, we’ll cover the definition of regrants, why they’re important and what we can expect in 2026 in the world of collaborative philanthropy.

What is regranting?

Regranting is an exciting approach to grantmaking: instead of funders giving directly to recipients, they fund someone closer to the community to make those decisions. For example, a national foundation might give $1 million to a local community foundation, which then makes 50 grants of $20,000 each to neighborhood organisations.

In an era of trust-based philanthropy and community-led grantmaking, in which funders are increasingly turning to their recipients to guide decision-making, regranting emerges as a powerful approach. It empowers grassroots organisations, which often know more about their communities and their needs, to lead and create more impact than ever before.

Top 3 regranting trends to watch for in 2026

1. AI tools

While many people are worried about AI and its potential to remove the humanity so fundamental to nonprofit work, with the right strategy, approach and tools, AI will possibly make regranting more efficient and effective than ever. 

In fact, with the right tools, AI can help grantmakers better match the right grants to the right groups and read and understand applications faster. The right AI grantmaking tools might also spot patterns across regrantmaking and help funders better identify, predict and assess risks.

Altogether, this means that grantmakers cab get more time back in their days to focus on meaningful, strategic work—like relationship-building—instead of admin tasks.

2. Blockchain

If you’ve heard about blockchain, you’ve probably known that it’s the technology behind cryptocurrency. But despite how buzzwordy the term is, you don’t need to understand the technical details to grasp why it matters for regranting. 

At its core, blockchain creates a permanent, shared record that no single person or organisation controls. For philanthropy, blockchain offers the opportunity for grantmakers to track money from the moment a foundation transfers it to a regranter, through every sub-grant, all the way to the community organisation that spends it.

For funders, this automatic tracking means less paper and more visibility, which can reduce risk and enhance strategic oversight. Plus, blockchain can be essential for international grants, cutting out intermediary banks to lower costs and speed up transfers that usually take days. That means more money reaches communities faster.

3. Participatory grantmaking

Like trust-based philanthropy, participatory grantmaking involves the same core principles and ethos. In essence, participatory grantmaking invites grantees to decide, with funders, what the community needs are, what the grant application might look like and how it will be awarded—an approach that aims to reimagine traditional top-down decision-making.

Participatory grantmaking represents the logical evolution of trust-based philanthropy, moving beyond simply trusting grantees with how they spend money to trusting them with deciding who receives it in the first place. And in 2026, it’s likely that grantmakers will lean into this approach even more, letting direct community members shape entire grants and even the evaluation of them.

Toward a more collaborative future

The trends that will shape regranting in 2026—AI tools, blockchain transparency and participatory decision-making—will work to make regranting more efficient, transparent and ultimately amplify the human voices in every community.

With platforms like Good Grants, grantmakers can streamline the administrative burden of regranting—from tools like simplified application workflows to simple and user-friendly reporting that reduces paperwork for both regranters and their grantees. With Good Grants, funders can overcome the operational complexity that comes with regranting and focus on what really matters: making grantmaking more collaborative, equitable and impactful for all.