The Promotion and Support of Global Philanthropy

Grantmaking Foundations

Several foundations provide funding to support the understanding and growth of global philanthropy. Some foundations focus on the development of philanthropy in other countries through foundation building, development of a philanthropic infrastructure, research, and leadership development. Other foundations support efforts to increase the impact of international grantmaking, including the development of new giving vehicles and educational opportunities for donors.

Charles Stewart Mott Foundation As part of its focus on strengthening the nonprofit sector, the Mott Foundation has provided extensive support to initiatives promoting the growth and development of philanthropy in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and South Africa. Strategies include encouraging and strengthening existing traditions of charitable activity; testing and building mechanisms for organized philanthropy at the local level (including community foundations and foundation-like organizations, United Ways, workplace-giving funds and women’s funds); supporting the development of associations and affinity groups of grantmakers; and encouraging public policy that supports the growth of foundations.

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation’s global philanthropy activities concentrate on stimulating philanthropy in other countries.Grantmaking supports the development of community and other indigenous foundations, research on country-specific philanthropy, and general efforts to promote philanthropy among citizens. While not directly involved in promoting global social investing among U.S. donors, Ford supports other organizations in their efforts to do so. For example, a recent grant provided 1.5 million dollars to Hispanics in Philanthropy to develop giving among Latino communities in the United States.

Hewlett Foundation The Hewlett Foundation is working to encourage and facilitate international philanthropy among U.S. donors, and particularly among emerging philanthropists in the Bay Area. The Foundation was a major supporter of the Global Philanthropy Forum 2002.

The Rockefeller Foundation For several years, the Rockefeller Foundation has been a catalyst for the development of philanthropy on a global basis. Several current initiatives directly encourage new donor involvement in global philanthropy while seeking to make the giving more strategic. Major programs to encourage new donors include The Philanthropy Workshop, and the new Philanthropic Leadership in the Americas program. The Rockefeller Foundation also incubated the now independent Acumen Fund. Another major initiative, The Next Generation Leadership program, seeks to encourage and train young, promising leaders in the field of philanthropy and civil society. Other foundation efforts encourage the growth of the philanthropic sector elsewhere in the world and support efforts to learn about new giving trends.

Soros Foundation Network The Soros Foundation Network has promoted the establishment of philanthropic institutions and the development of local philanthropy throughout Eastern and Central Europe, as well as in individual countries in other regions. Soros established his first foundation, the Open Society Fund, in 1979. Today, Soros funds a network of grantmaking and operating foundations in 30 countries. The foundations mainly funds programs in education, civil society, health, media and communications, human rights, economic reform, and some arts and culture, with education accounting for about half of all spending.

W.K. Kellogg Foundation. For many years, the Kellogg Foundation has actively promoted private philanthropy throughout Latin America. The Foundation’s strategy is to help develop the infrastructure and leadership that is needed to support and encourage greater levels of local private giving. From 1994 to 2000, the Foundation provided financial support and technical assistance to 50 organizations in 12 countries with the objective of developing a critical mass of people and organizations prepared to lead and support philanthropy and social responsibility in each country. Total investment was over $13 million. Program strategies included generation of new knowledge on existing philanthropies, improving the legal framework, increasing the visibility of the sector, institution building, and leadership development.

Other Foundations

A few foundations encourage philanthropy through the design and operation of their own programs.

Bertelsmann Foundation The Bertelsmann Foundation funds and operates several major initiatives to promote philanthropy, many with an emphasis on the community foundation concept.The Transatlantic Community Foundation Network encourages and nurtures the community foundation movement in Germany and Europe by strengthening communication and interaction with community foundation practitioners in the US and Canada. In addition, the Foundation has launched a website to provide comprehensive information about the community foundation concept as well as an interactive forum for the exchange of experience and information. The International Network for Strategic Philanthropy (INSP) provides a forum for dialogue and critical thinking on the role of philanthropy in contemporary societies. Operating as a decentralized think tank, INSP gathers, builds on and disseminates knowledge, resources, and tools to professionalize and improve the practice of philanthropy.

Community Foundation Silicon Valley CFSV is encouraging and facilitating increased levels of international giving among donors in its community area. In addition, CFSV has provided technical assistance to establish a community foundation for former Soviet Bloc countries.

King Baudouin Foundation The foundation is increasingly interested in stimulating global social investing among European donors. It normally seeks to be a catalyst by serving as a forum to bring experts together to address social problems and challenges and by increasing public awareness of critical global issues.

Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship In 1998, the President and Founder of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, set up the Foundation to raise awareness of the importance of social entrepreneurship for the public good. The Foundation is becoming the global reference point for excellence in social entrepreneurship and is working on providing standards for benchmarking activities that would distinguish social entrepreneurial leaders their organizations from other social-purpose entities. The Foundation leverages its close relationship with the World Economic Forum to sensitize businesses and political and other thought leaders about the nature and role of social entrepreneurs.

The United Nations Foundation >In 1997, businessman and philanthropist R.E. (Ted) Turner made an historic gift of $1 billion in support of the United Nations (UN) efforts on global issues. The Foundation’s mission is to support the goals and objectives of the United Nations with special emphasis on the UN’s work on behalf of economic, social, environmental, and humanitarian causes. The Foundation actively encourages other leaders from the worlds of business and philanthropy to commit additional resources to the United Nations and its causes.

Philanthropic and Grantmaker Support Groups

The largest philanthropic support groups – Council on Foundations and the European Foundation Centre – have programs to support international giving among their membership. In addition, a growing number of organizations support grantmakers and the general development of philanthropy within specific countries or regions. Some of the groups provide general purpose support to further the philanthropic sector, support that includes public education, legal reform initiatives, training and technical assistance, development of information systems, and research. Others are more limited, providing support specifically to grantmakers.

Council on Foundations The COF supports global philanthropy through written resources, technical assistance, and legislative and regulatory initiatives. Publications for international grantmakers include Beyond Our Borders: A Guide to Making Grants Outside the United States, Community Foundations Around the World: Building Effective Support Systems, Grantmaking for the Global Village, and International Dateline, a quarterly newsletter. COF also works with The Foundation Center to produce research studies such as International Grantmaking II: An Update on U.S. Foundation Trends. COF currently houses the secretariat for the Worldwide Initiative for Grantmaker Support (WINGS), a network of over 90 associations and support organizations serving grantmakers around the world. The Council’s U.S. International Grantmakers (USIG) project also has a web site with information about options and legal requirements for international grantmaking as well as notes on grantmaking in specific countries. Council conferences include speakers, educational sessions and networking opportunities for international grantmakers.

European Foundation Centre (EFC) Several EFC initiatives seek to promote cross border philanthropy as well as the growth of philanthropy within Eastern and Central European countries. The Community Philanthropy Initiative promotes the growth of community foundations and other local philanthropic support organizations in Europe through information, networking and research. Affinity groups, such as the Grantmakers East Group (Eastern Europe) and the Sub-Saharan Africa Interest Group, bring together funders with specific international interests and encourage new donor activity in these regions. The Civil Society Project seeks to build philanthropic infrastructure in Central and Eastern Europe, the Newly Independent States and the Baltic Republics through the development of indigenous information and support centers serving foundations and associations. EFC also publishes Social Economy And Law (SEAL), a journal promoting legal reform and the development of an enabling policy environment for philanthropy and nonprofits in Central and Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States.

There are over 45 regional and country philanthropic support groups. A sampling of organizations includes:

• Asia Pacific Philanthropy Consortium
• Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society (Thailand)
• Centre for the Advancement of Philanthropy (India)
• Grupo de Fundaciones (Argentina)
• Centro Mexicano para la Filantropia (CEMEFI)
• Puerto Rico Community Foundation
• Grupo de Institutos Fundacoes e Empresas (GIFE) (Brazil)
• Centro Colombiano de Responsabilidad Empresarial (CCRE) (Colombia)
• Institute for the Development of Social Investment (Brazil)
• South Africa Grantmakers Association
• Czech Donors Forum
• Slovak Donors Forum

Affinity Groups

Globally focused affinity groups provide a space for donors with shared international interests to exchange knowledge and experience and an opportunity for new donors to explore philanthropic investments in specific regions or on specific issues. Many affinity groups are coordinated by philanthropic support groups (e.g. The European Foundation Centre), and a few operate independently.

Grantmakers Without Borders A newly established funders’ network promoting international social change philanthropy. Members include trustees and staff of private and public foundations, individual donors, and donor-activists. Resources include peer-to-peer guidance on international grantmaking, opportunities to network with other international donors, and travel seminars to introduce donors to grassroots social change efforts and to investment opportunities and various ways to give globally.

The Council on Foundations posts a list of various geography-focused and issue-focused affinity groups.

International Associations and Networks

International Network for Strategic Philanthropy INSP is a joint project of several foundations whose goal is to improve the infrastructure of philanthropy. INSP convenes people from around the world who are active in the philanthropy sector in order to develop tools and resources that will assist foundation management in achieving the greatest impact in society.

World Economic Forum (WEF) The WEF and the Synergos Institute have formed a partnership to develop programs for the WEF annual and regional meetings of the WEF. In addition, they jointly produce Global Giving Matters, an electronic newsletter that includes feature-length articles on social investing success stories, and a digest of activities and resources related to global giving in developing countries.

Nonprofit Organizations

Asia Foundation In 2000, the Asia Foundation established Give2Asia as a means of significantly increasing giving to Asia. As a member of the Asia Pacific Philanthropy Consortium, the Asia Foundation promotes the development of strategic philanthropy within the region. The Foundation has also greatly contributed to the understanding of philanthropy through research and publications including the recently published Philanthropy and Law in Asia.

Charities Aid Foundation CAF is a non-governmental organization with the unique purpose of increasing the substance of philanthropy around the world. It aims to help donors make the most of their giving and nonprofit organizations make the most of their resources. CAF has recently tried to develop new services in order to provide donors in the UK and the US with opportunities to give directly to projects and NGOs in other countries such as India and Bulgaria. In the UK, CAF’s World People and Charity Card experiment enables donors to make online contributions to a selection of international NGOs. CAF attempts to encourage philanthropy and social investment in all countries in which they work, and tries to build on traditional philanthropic customs. In India, CAF is pioneering a payroll giving system enabling workers to donate directly from their pay. In Southern Africa, CAF works principally with corporate contributions. CAF Russia has pioneered the creation of community foundations in Russia and CAF’s Bulgarian partner has raised more the 100,000 pounds sterling from local sources. CAF is publishing a series of country reports that provide information on the nonprofit sector on a country basis including information on the philanthropic sector. In conjunction with Johns Hopkins University, CAF has published Cross-border Philanthropy: An exploratory study of international giving in the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, and Japan.

German Marshall Fund The GMF has long emphasized the need to create a vibrant and growing nongovernmental sector in Central and Eastern Europe. In recent years, that work has led to increased involvement in promoting philanthropy to and within the region. An ambitious new initiative, the Civil Society Trust Fund, will dramatically strengthen the philanthropic landscape in the region. A ten-year funding collaboration involving the C. S. Mott Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Open Society Institute and the GMF, the Trust will help to stabilize and develop the nonprofit sector in seven countries — Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovenia.

Global Philanthropy Forum (GPF) A project of the World Affairs Council of Northern California, the GPF aims to inform, enable and expand the community of donors committed to advancing international causes. It pursues its mission by convening annual conferences, regular networking and learning opportunities, and by hosting a web site. Its method is to introduce donors to one another, to trusted intermediaries, to foundation executives with tested strategies that can be shadowed, and to other agents of change. The GPF was launched in March 2002, with its Conference on Borderless Giving, which attracted over 340 people, the majority of whom represented family foundations. They were joined by foundation presidents, Nobel Laureates, and social entrepreneurs working to advance human security, environmental sustainability, social equity and improved quality of life. They shared best practices, lessons learned and innovative strategies for giving. The next conference is scheduled for June 2003.

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors RPA is a nonprofit public charity whose activities include operating a donor-advised fund, The Philanthropic Collaborative. This fund was set up in 1991 to facilitate international giving, funding collaboratives, and other special projects. Its international donor collaboratives currently include (1) a fund that supports economic development and cultural heritage preservation in Tibetan communities; (2) a fund that supports women-led nonprofit organizations operating in Afghanistan; (3) a fund that seeks to build nonprofit capacity and local donor support for the environment, livelihoods and healthy families in the Caribbean; (4) a program that supports local communities around the world using the Earth Charter to develop community values for sustainable growth and human rights.

Synergos Institute The Synergos Institute seeks effective ways to narrow the gap between rich and poor. Several initiatives focus on the development of effective local and international philanthropy. The Global Philanthropy Program seeks to strengthen the role of organized philanthropy and foundations in social development, and currently works with in-country partner organizations in Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. Through the Foundation Building Program, Synergos provides assistance to national grantmaking foundations, corporate foundations and community foundations that fund local efforts to fight poverty. Through a Senior Fellows Program, launched in 2000, Synergos matches seasoned leaders from well-established foundations around the world with grantmaking organizations in Africa, Asia and Latin America that request assistance in strengthening their initiatives. Finally, Synergos has established the Global Philanthropists Circle, a venue for individuals and families to learn about and invest in efforts to tackle poverty in individual countries. Synergos also undertakes research on global philanthropy, and recently published, Foundation Building Sourcebook: A Practitioner’s Guide Based upon Experience from Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

The Philanthropic Initiative TPI seeks to increase the impact of global philanthropy through research, educational programs, and development of donor resources as well as through work with individual clients. TPI’s Global Social Investing: A Preliminary Overview summarizes key actors, initiatives, and issues in global philanthropy. TPI has offered conferences and workshops on philanthropy in countries including the United Kingdom, Mexico and Brazil and to global groups such as the World Economic Forum.

Intermediary Organizations and Giving Mechanisms

Mechanisms for global social investing are growing, and several new “umbrella” organizations or intermediaries have been established specifically to channel funds to overseas NGOs. Prominent umbrella intermediaries include:

Topical or Issue Focus:
Global Fund for Women, The International Youth Foundation, The Global Greengrants Fund, The Global Fund for Children, and The Firelight Foundation.

The United States International Grantmaking Project (USIG) hosts a long list of intermediary organizations grouped by issue.

Geographic Focus:
Give2Asia, American India Foundation, Brazil Foundation, and the Charities Aid Foundation funds for America, Australia, Bulgaria, Europe, India, Southern Africa, the United Kingdom, and West Africa.

The United States International Grantmaking Project (USIG) provides an extensive list of intermediary organizations sorted by geographic focus.

Acumen Fund Operating like a venture capital fund, Acumen’s return on investment is social change rather than financial profit. Acumen Fund is pioneering a portfolio approach to philanthropy. Donors invest in issue-based portfolios and are linked with other investors, experts, and innovators through a website and an annual member conference. Acumen establishes transparent performance metrics for each investment, which enables investors to monitor progress and impact.

Development Space A recently launched for-profit venture, Development Space hopes to create an “e-based marketplace” to link social investors with social entrepreneurs and innovative projects around the world. Social entrepreneurs submit projects or ideas; promising initiatives are visited by a Development Space “authenticator” and business plans are posted on a site where both donors and service providers can review project requirements and offer resources.

Virtual Foundation VF is specifically designed to allow individuals to support and become actively involved with grassroots initiatives around the world. Working with a consortium of NGOs in Eastern Europe and Latin America, community projects in the fields of environment, health, and sustainable development are identified and evaluated locally. Approved projects are posted on a website and individuals, groups, foundations and other organizations can select specific projects to support. Project progress reports are posted on the Virtual Foundation website and donors are encouraged to communicate with members of the project they fund. While the initial organizational plan included only projects under $5000, recent requests by donors have prompted VF to explore matching donors with greater resources to larger scale projects.

Universities

A small number of universities have ongoing research programs looking at various elements of international philanthropy and philanthropy within selected countries. Such research does not promote philanthropy directly, but through a better understanding of the history, scope, structure, and practice of philanthropy, those that seek to promote philanthropy will surely have more success.

In addition to these university-based programs, several of the nonprofits mentioned elsewhere (including The Asia Foundation, Charities Aid Foundation, and The Synergos Institute) have produced research on specific issues or regions, and several national and regional philanthropic centers undertake research on more localized issues.

City University of New York. The Center for the Study of Philanthropy at CUNY was founded in 1986 to provide a forum for research, discussion, and public education on philanthropic trends. International and Comparative Philanthropy is one of four focus areas of work. In addition, CUNY conducts an International Fellows Program in philanthropy. The Center has published several working papers on international and regional philanthropy, and organized occasional conferences on global philanthropy.

Harvard University Several independent efforts at Harvard explore elements of global philanthropy.

• The Global Equity Initiative (GEI) seeks to map, monitor, and develop policy recommendations on global equity challenges. A major program component looks specifically at the role of philanthropy in addressing these challenges. The overarching mission of the philanthropy focus is to generate and disseminate information, analysis, and knowledge for promoting more effective philanthropy for global equity. The program will make such information widely available to donors, donor advisors, and other groups in order to promote more effective social investing. Initial research activities focus on a comparative country study series, diaspora philanthropy flows and impact, and philanthropic investments in education.
• The Hauser Center, within its broad mandate to expand understanding and accelerate critical thinking about nonprofit organizations and civil society, conducts research on NGOs and the role of philanthropy in supporting them.
• The Program on Philanthropy, Civil Society and Social Change in the Americas (PASCA), a joint initiative of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies and the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations, seeks to promote greater understanding of Latin America’s philanthropic and voluntary traditions and to assess the nature and impact of private philanthropy and nonprofit organizations.

The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University is dedicated to improving the understanding and practice of philanthropy through academic and research programs. In addition, the Center on Philanthropy publishes the Philanthropic Giving Index, which presents current trends and future expectations in American philanthropy, as well as the annual Giving USA yearbook, which estimates the total philanthropic gifts over the previous year.

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies coordinates an ambitions project designed to analyze the scale and structure of the nonprofit sector worldwide. The Comparative Nonprofit Sector project gathers, analyzes and publishes data on the basic dimensions and revenue base in individual countries and compares the findings cross-nationally. Philanthropic characteristics are looked at from the perspective of the nonprofit revenue base, and very little qualitative data is included. Nevertheless, the research is helpful in providing an overall understanding of the nonprofit sector in which philanthropy works. The study will eventually include 42 countries in Western Europe, Central Europe, Asia, Latin America, and North America.

Global Social Investing
Resource Materials

Cross-border Philanthropy: An exploratory study of international giving in the United Kingdom, United States, Germany and Japan. Available through the Charities Aid Foundation.

Foundation Building Sourcebook: A Practitioners Guide Based upon Experience from Africa, Asia and Latin America. The Synergos Institute.

Global Civil Society, Dimensions of the Nonprofit Sector, Lester Salamon, Helmut K. Anheier, Regina List, Stefan Toepler, S. Wojciech Sololowski, editors. The Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies, Baltimore, MD, 1999.

Global Civil Society Yearbook. Available through the London School of Economics Center for Civil Society.

Global Giving Matters. The Synergos Institute.

Global Social Investing: A Preliminary Overview, Paula Johnson. The Philanthropic Initiative.

International Grantmaking: A Report on US Foundation Trends, Loren Renz, Josefina Samson-Atienza, Trinh C. Tran, and Rikard R. Treiber. New York, NY: The Foundation Center, 1997.

International Grantmaking II: An Update on US Foundation Trends, Loren Renz, Loren, Josefina Samson-Atienza, and Steven Lawrence (contributor). New York, NY: The Foundation Center, 2000.

Handbook on NGO Law. International Center for Not-for-Profit Law.

Philanthropy and Law in Asia, Thomas Silk, editor. A publication of the Asia Pacific Philanthropy Consortium. Available at The Asia Foundation.

Revista, Harvard Review of Latin America. David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University. Spring 2002 (issue on giving and volunteering in Latin America).

Social Economy and Law. European Foundation Centre.

Voluntas – International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. The Johns Hopkins University's International Society for Third-Sector Research.