Safe Online

Case Study

Strengthening Global Fundraising for Child Protection in the Digital Age

Overview

We partnered with Safe Online to design and implement a comprehensive resource mobilisation strategy that would support long-term growth and global impact.

Context

Safe Online is a global initiative dedicated to protecting children from sexual exploitation and abuse in digital environments.

While they had successfully secured early backing from major funders, leadership recognised that long-term growth and resilience would require a more structured and diversified approach to resource mobilisation.

Objective

Specifically, Safe Online sought to:

Broaden its donor base beyond a small group of anchor funders to include philanthropic foundations, bilateral agencies, and private sector partners.
Clarify and strengthen its value proposition, positioning the initiative as the leading global convenor and funding platform for digital child protection.
Identify new opportunities across regions and sectors to support both global policy work and locally led innovation.

To meet these ambitions, Safe Online engaged Global Leaders Consulting to sharpen its fundraising strategy and unlock new streams of support.

Our Approach

Global Leaders Consulting designed a multi-phased engagement grounded in research, evidence, and narrative clarity. The objective was not only to identify new donors, but to position Safe Online for sustained growth within a complex and rapidly evolving funding landscape.

We began with a comprehensive analysis of the global funding environment for child protection, digital rights, online safety, and technology governance. This included:

Mapping philanthropic, bilateral, and multilateral funders active in adjacent fields.

Analysing emerging trends, including increased interest in responsible technology, online harms, and public–private collaboration.

Assessing Safe Online’s competitive positioning relative to peer initiatives and thematic funds.

This analysis provided evidence-based insight into where funding was growing, where competition was intensifying, and where Safe Online could most credibly differentiate itself.
Building on this market intelligence, we worked with Safe Online’s leadership to develop a clear fundraising framework that aligned organisational ambition with realistic resourcing pathways. This included:

Defining priority funding streams (philanthropic, bilateral, and corporate).

Setting diversification targets to reduce risk and increase long-term resilience.

Translating strategic objectives into a practical action plan with phased milestones.

The resulting roadmap gave the organisation a shared, structured approach to fundraising that could be operationalised across teams.
Using our in-house funder intelligence systems, we created a curated pipeline of high-potential prospects whose priorities aligned with Safe Online’s mission. This went beyond generic donor lists to include:

Detailed donor profiles, funding histories, and thematic priorities.

Identification of entry points through existing networks, coalitions, and shared partners.

Regional mapping to support both global initiatives and locally driven programmes.

This targeted approach ensured that outreach efforts were focused, strategic, and efficient.
A central component of the engagement was strengthening how Safe Online articulated its role in the ecosystem. We worked closely with the team to refine a narrative that clearly positioned the initiative as:

A global convenor bringing together governments, civil society, and the private sector.

A funding platform that channels resources to high-impact, frontline organisations.

A catalyst for innovation, supporting scalable solutions to emerging online harms.

This positioning was embedded into a refreshed case for support and a suite of proposal templates, ensuring consistency across donor communications while allowing for tailored messaging by audience and region.
Recognising that long-term sustainability depends on strong relationships, we supported Safe Online to design a structured engagement approach that included:

Personalised cultivation strategies for priority donors.

Stewardship frameworks to deepen existing partnerships.

Strategic engagement pathways for corporate and technology-sector actors, including opportunities for collaboration beyond traditional grantmaking.

Where appropriate, we also explored avenues for innovative financing and public–private partnership models that could unlock new forms of capital and shared value.

Outcomes

Through this partnership, Safe Online strengthened both the strategic foundations and operational tools needed to scale its fundraising:

Clearer market positioning as a leading global platform for digital child protection.
A diversified prospect pipeline spanning foundations, bilaterals, and private sector partners.
A practical, multi-year fundraising roadmap aligned with organisational priorities.
Stronger donor communications, including a refined case for support and tailored proposal materials.
Improved internal clarity and focus, enabling the team to prioritise high-impact opportunities and allocate effort more effectively.

Together, these outcomes positioned Safe Online to move from early-stage funding success toward a more sustainable, diversified, and strategically aligned resource mobilisation model.

Why It Mattered

As digital environments continue to evolve, the risks faced by children online demand coordinated, well-resourced global action. By strengthening Safe Online’s fundraising strategy, Global Leaders Consulting helped ensure that the initiative could not only grow, but do so with resilience, credibility, and long-term impact.

This engagement reflects our broader approach: combining market intelligence, strategic clarity, and compelling storytelling to help organisations secure the partnerships and resources they need to deliver meaningful, lasting change.