Why is Scaling so hard? 

Many solutions that emerge inside INGOs are designed for impactfulness but not necessarily for scalability. They may rely on bespoke delivery, high-touch facilitation, or deeply contextual expertise. That might make them highly impactful in one setting but it also makes them difficult for others to replicate, adapt, or deliver affordably.

Scalable solutions require a different kind of design from the beginning:

• A delivery model that others can take on without the original team.

• Clear documentation of what’s essential and what can flex.

• A cost structure that fits within what payers (governments, NGOs, markets) can sustain.

Without these considerations, even successful pilots risk becoming “one-off successes” - effective, but not replicable.

From: Elrha – Too Tough to Scale, IDIA – Scaling Innovation 

Pilots are often run in ideal or highly controlled environments: generous funding, skilled staff, close oversight, and supportive local conditions. These environments help validate whether a solution works but they rarely resemble the messier, more resource-constrained conditions in which scale must occur.

As a result, pilots may be seen as “proven” when in fact they were never exposed to the kinds of constraints that delivery at scale would bring:

• Would this still work if implemented by a local government office?

• Could it survive under tighter budgets or looser supervision?

• Would it deliver value in less supportive or more variable contexts?

Too often, these questions aren’t answered until after the pilot when it’s already too late to redesign for scale.

From: Next Billion- Pilots never fail, and pilots never scale

As organisations grow, they develop systems to manage risk, maintain quality, and comply with requirements. These systems - finance, HR, procurement, reporting - are essential for large-scale operations. But they also make it harder for innovation to thrive.

One model explains this progression as four stages: entrepreneurship, product, administration, and integration. The challenge is that the very systems that support scale operationally can also constrain the ability to adapt, experiment, or take bold steps. Internal innovators often face shrinking budgets, heavy approval chains, or rigid delivery templates.

The organisation becomes more stable - but less flexible. Like most of the INGOs today. And scaling, which requires both structure and agility, gets stuck in the middle.

From: Scaling Value Playbook – EPAI Model

Many project teams become deeply attached to the solutions they’ve developed. That emotional investment can drive quality—but it can also get in the way of scale. Scalable solutions often need to be simplified, standardised, or adapted to fit different delivery contexts and budgets.

Letting go of features, tailoring less to specific users, or ceding control to external actors can feel like compromising the integrity of the idea. But in reality, it’s often what’s needed to make it viable at scale.

Without a willingness to make those trade-offs, teams risk holding onto a version of the solution that works beautifully—but only in their hands.

From: Insight drawn across Elrha, IDIA, and Nesta’s Making It Big Report 

Many INGOs default to scaling solutions they created themselves, even when better or more scalable versions already exist externally. This "not invented here" instinct is common, but it limits the role INGOs could play as enablers of scale, not just originators.

Some of the most successful scale stories globally started with solutions created elsewhere and were scaled by institutions that had the credibility, reach, or resources to take them further.

In a world where duplication is costly and time is short, the question isn’t “Did we invent this?” but “Is this the best solution to scale?”

From: SSIR - Not Invented, But Scaled Here 

Scaling requires more than just belief in an idea. It needs delivery infrastructure, policy engagement, financing models, operations capacity, and system design. These are different skills than those required for innovation.

Yet many INGOs expect the same teams that created the solution to also scale it, without building the internal functions or partnerships needed for scale. That’s like expecting a great chef to design a fast-food franchise chain: a different kind of excellence is required.

Without investing in dedicated capabilities for scale, even promising ideas plateau.

From: IDIA – Scaling Innovation 

Because funding is often short-term and restricted, many teams design projects based on what they can afford now. Not what the full solution would require to create systemic change. That keeps impact small by design.

What’s needed instead is a mindset shift: designing with the endgame in mind. What would it take to truly solve this problem at scale? Then, working backwards to test and build toward that vision, even if the full model can't be implemented immediately.

From: Nesta – Making It Big