The ACFID Conference 2025 brought together leaders from across international development and humanitarian action to explore the future of aid, partnerships, and accountability. As a silver sponsor, Tactiv had the opportunity to connect with organisations navigating a rapidly changing funding environment — and to share how stronger systems and clearer impact measurement can help them meet these challenges.
The Importance of the ACFID Conference
ACFID (Australian Council for International Development) continues to be a central forum for Australian NGOs, donors, and sector partners. The event provides:
Strategic alignment across NGOs, government, and funders
Insight into sector-wide trends, including funding, governance, and compliance
A platform for collaboration, especially as partnerships increasingly shape global development work
With humanitarian and development organisations facing rising needs and shrinking budgets, the ability to demonstrate measurable, evidence-backed outcomes is more critical than ever.
Sector Trends: Funding Tightens as Expectations Rise
A recurring theme throughout the conference was the global reduction in aid and philanthropic funding. NGOs highlighted that:
Income generation has become significantly harder
Competition for grants is increasing
Funders now expect clear, validated evidence of impact
This pressure is felt acutely within the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP), where matched-funding requirements determine an organisation’s ability to access its full allocation. When fundraising falls short, so does the matched amount available to deliver programs — limiting scale and reach.
At the same time, maintaining ANCP accreditation demands strong governance, robust oversight, and high-quality reporting. Compliance remains substantial, and for many organisations, it diverts valuable capacity away from program design and fundraising.
Transformative Partnerships: A New Mindset for Impact
One of the conference’s most compelling discussions focused on transformative partnerships. Speakers emphasised that:
Good partnerships operate within an ecosystem of shared impact, not owned impact
Philanthropic actors are increasingly comfortable with risk
Transformation requires organisations to stay curious, be brave, unlearn, and pursue clarity
True collaboration means improving systems “while living in them” — renovating without stepping outside day-to-day realities
These themes strongly echo the shift we see across the sector toward multi-stakeholder, relationship-driven models of delivering sustainable outcomes.
How Enquire Strengthens NGOs in This Environment
Tactiv’s Enquire platform directly supports the challenges and opportunities raised at ACFID:
1. Stronger Impact Measurement
As funding tightens, demonstrating outcomes becomes essential. Enquire provides structured, centralised data capture to measure impact consistently and credibly.
2. Streamlined Partner Engagement
With partnerships becoming more important — and more complex — Enquire enhances collaboration, visibility, and shared accountability across programs and organisations.
3. Reduced Compliance Burden
For ANCP-accredited NGOs, Enquire consolidates accreditation evidence, governance documentation, and reporting workflows. This reduces administrative load and ensures alignment with DFAT requirements.
4. More Capacity for Fundraising and Strategy
By automating reporting, oversight, and program governance, organisations free up the internal capacity needed to meet matched-funding requirements and strengthen donor engagement.
Looking Ahead
The ACFID Conference underscored what many already feel: development organisations are being asked to deliver more impact, with fewer resources, and higher expectations. Yet it also highlighted the resilience, innovation, and collaboration shaping the sector’s future.
For Tactiv, these conversations reaffirm the importance of tools that strengthen evidence, streamline governance, and empower partnerships — enabling NGOs to focus on what matters most: delivering meaningful, sustainable change.
Want to know more about how to navigate these development? We’re happy to have a chat!
