(Re)Build Palestine

Firstly, there is the hope that the ceasefire holds and may be the start of a longer period of relative peace, allowing some modest sense of normality to return to the many people who see themselves displaced in Gaza.  

The team of BuildPalestine has crafted a response to the pause-of-arms, in which they call it “a welcome development that gives a moment to the people of Gaza to breathe, mourn, and return to their homes–most of which have been partially or completely destroyed”.  

Any process of reconstruction will be time-consuming and intensive, and requires more investment from the outside to become a reality. “There is an opportunity for those in solidarity with Gaza, both in Palestine and beyond, to double down on our support of mutual aid and investments into Palestinian-led initiatives directly serving affected communities.”  

In other words, more funding is needed to support the local community and its leaders in providing basic necessities and services to the people in Gaza and the West Bank. Impact investing is uniquely placed to enable local communities to make their own choices and to actively empower them to rebuild their own futures. Again, in the words of BuildPalestine:  

“It is a critical time to empower Palestinians in Gaza as much as possible to have agency in their recovery efforts. We must think and do beyond the status quo of international aid being the solution to Palestinian problems and place our trust and material support into Palestinian community leaders."

Beyond the Classic Aid

It’s no coincidence that there is a big motivation to look beyond the traditional sources of foreign aid. Global politics have fast-tracked the need to think out of the box. Just a matter of days ago, the decision of U.S. President Donald Trump to freeze/suspend all USAID funding has sent shockwaves through the world of philanthropy, putting extraordinary pressure on the already limited budgets of existing aid organizations. While it is unclear where the future of this funding lies, it is already apparent that its disappearance could provoke massive changes in the impact investing landscape in the next years.  

Many organizations in Palestine, as well as in the broader MENA-region, already see themselves forced to re-evaluate or terminate their activities as a consequence. INGO’s like the International Medical Corps were quick to sound the alarm bell and to indicate that they would not be able to extend their current offerings ‘beyond the scope of a week or so’ without an alternative to the USAID funding stream.  

Tragic as this course of events might be, it does not come as a great surprise to many weathered organizations in the region, including BuildPalestine. They have seen funding come and go over the years as policy changes in the developed world have increased or decreased the foreign interest in their region, making it hard to anticipate and build a plan that extends beyond the immediate future.  

It's partly what inspired them in their search for alternative funding models like crowdfunding. Last year, BuildPalestine launched their ‘Nourishing Hope for Gaza’ program, which screens and supports different social innovators in Gaza and helps them set up direct fundraising campaigns. These allow for people inside and outside of Palestine to contribute directly, creating an immediate stream of catalytic capital for these community leaders addressing immediate needs in a devastated Gaza. In addition to this, the online community ‘Under The Olive Tree’, also launched by BuildPalestine last year, serves a double purpose, uniting and empowering Palestinian changemakers from all over the world while generating a recurrent income stream for BuildPalestine to help fund their own operations.  

It all feeds into the main goal of all BuildPalestine operations – to reduce the dependency on foreign aid by growing a community of autonomous, resilient entrepreneurs. All the financial support deployed by BuildPalestine serves a catalytic purpose, in a sense that it is used to enable impactful entrepreneurs to become self-sufficient over time, to hone their skills and to create a market for their products and services. To use a somewhat cliché metaphor: it’s all about teaching people how to fish.

Funding with Purpose

As a part of our EU-funded market building program Impact Together!, they are exploring the opportunity to set up an impact fund of their own, that can serve a zero-interest financing model  to directly support social enterprises by providing them with grants and loans. As with all their operations, the key focus is on reclaiming agency. The fund will therefore aim to raise money from Palestinians and allies rather than involving institutional funding. According to the most recent estimations, the launch date for the fund is set for 2026. In the meantime BuildPalestine is already taking action by training cohorts of entrepreneurs and disbursing their first tranches of financial support in the form of grants.

It is worth noting that grant support is not typically prioritized as a support mechanism by BuildPalestine. However, in this case, they have chosen to disburse them strategically to help social enterprises strengthen their foundations on the path to financial sustainability. The grants are designed to support enterprises in enhancing their products and services while expanding their market reach beyond Palestine.  

The main point of entry to receive aid from the organization is through its fellowship program, which consists of a three-step process providing a comprehensive value chain. It follows this rough outline:

• The Root program, which consists of an intensive period of non-financial support with a focus on business modeling,financial management, and impact management and other indispensable skills for starting entrepreneurs.
• The Rise program, which expands upon the first branch, focusing on market access and adding a component of financial support in the form of a 5.000 to 10.000 euro grant.
• The Bloom program (BuildPalestine Fund), which will provide higher ticket zero-interest loans to scale operations. It is set to launch in 2026.

Three companies successfully completed the Root program in 2024, and will move on to the Rise program over the course of this year. Selection for the 2025 Root program is underway.  

The Wonder Cabinet is one of the three selected impact-driven enterprises that will partake in the Rise program of BuildPalestine and therefore receive grant funding.
 

Rather than to remain stuck on the challenges (which are many), these stories serve as a reminder of the opportunities that are present for any investor looking to make a true and immediate impact in Palestine. With the current lack of foreign aid, there is a real chance to fill that void with a new funding model that is more additional, more intentional and more mindful of how to measure and quantify its actual impact. Being a part of this change is an invitation that is extended by BuildPalestine, as well as by other partners in our market building work.  

By setting up small impact funds and creating investor communities, Impact Europe aims to contribute to accelerating this move towards more sustainable and impactful financing. It is a blueprint we aim to repeat in different emerging and developing countries, and one you can help us realize. Do reach out if you want to be a part of this meaningful change.