The Open Society Foundations (OSF) has announced that it expects to limit grantmaking from October to the end of February 2024 as the funder works through the implementation of a new operating model.

Earlier this month, OSF announced plans to lay off at least 40 percent of its global workforce of about 800 workers, a move that followed the announcement in June that foundation founder George Soros had ceded control of Soros Fund Management to his son, Alex Soros, who became chair of the foundation in December 2022.

The new model will see the majority of grantmaking organized around opportunities for impact, the specifics of which will be determined over the coming months. The foundation has indicated it will honor existing financial commitments and, “while we will not renew some of these, we expect to incorporate others into the new portfolio,” said OSF president Mark Malloch-Brown in a statement. “We will also be maintaining pools of funding with which to sustain certain existing relationships critical to our mission and to respond to urgent developments as they arise.”

According to the foundation, the new model will free OSF from annual strategy and budget cycles, enable it to pursue campaign arcs of different durations, and be more responsive. Despite the winnowing of its staff, the foundation indicated that the new model’s success depends on local knowledge and legitimacy, suggesting that staff will remain spread out, with staff drawn from and based in countries around the world. Moreover, the new framework will enable OSF to make multiyear commitments spanning multiple geographies while enabling partners to invest in ambitious, long-term action.

“Technological, environmental, political, and socioeconomic shifts are challenging open society ideals around the world,” said Malloch-Brown. “This flux demands that we reimagine our philanthropy.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Courtney K)