Grantmakers without borders - Gw/oB helps to foster global grantmaking across the US

Working closely with Grantmakers Without Borders, a group of donors has launched an effort to bring New England global funders together on a regular basis for networking and peer-to-peer learning. The aim is to build stronger connections among New England-based international donors and to improve grantmaking practice.

Well-attended launch events this autumn covered topics such as Anatomy of a Global Donor, Creating a Global Giving Mission Statement, and Working with International Intermediaries. Plans are under way to continue this work with a series of monthly gatherings and other learning and networking events. Click here to read ...

It’s all about effectiveness …

This issue of Alliance raises the question why foundations are so often failing to respond to emerging global crises. Many foundations would argue that their greatest value lies in their long-term view and that their role is to address ongoing social inequalities over time. So the question is not about foundations dropping everything they do in light of global crises such as the HIV/AIDS pandemic or climate change but about making sure that their work reflects new and emerging global realities. And this is a question of effectiveness. Click here to read ...

Money Well Spent: A strategic plan for smart philanthropy - Paul Brest and Hal Harvey

It's good to give a little something back. If you plan or care about a social investment, Paul Brest and Hal Harvey's book can advise you on how to develop a strategy to ensure that your money is ‘well spent’. It addresses potential and practising donors eager to know how to improve the effect of their philanthropic activities. And, with its clear view on how to strategically approach a philanthropic mission and an abundance of insights and examples from the experience of two philanthropy professionals, it does so successfully. Click here to read ...

Website for internationally minded Canadian non-profit organizations and philanthropists

Canadian attorney Mark Blumberg has created a website to help Canadian individuals and non-profits that work, or hope to work, in international development, relief or education to understand the legal, ethical and practical issues they may face. It also provides information for international organizations considering operating or fundraising in Canada. The site includes detailed articles and blog postings on topics such as how to set up a charitable organization, creating a planned giving programme, Canadian tax law, and the scale and scope of international giving by Canadians. The site also lists Canadian non-profits operating in other countries.

For more information
www.globalphilanthropy.ca Click here to read ...

Report points to need for donors consciously to adopt innovation

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Low overheads don’t always mean an efficient non-profit

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Proactive vs responsive philanthropy

Each foundation is faced with the question of how its agenda will be set – and reset. This article looks at both responsive and proactive styles, and their extreme versions of ‘reactive’ and ‘directive’ grantmaking. The article also argues that in the end the relevant question is not so much whether funder or funded partner is setting the agenda but rather whether they can set up a strong, generative partnership in the context of agendas that are much larger than either funder or partner.

Responsive grantmaking Click here to read ...

A new architecture needed

Who sets the agenda – funder or grantee? That’s the question posed by this edition of Alliance. To put the matter in the business vocabulary more familiar to philanthrocapitalists: how should (financial) resources be allocated to citizen sector organizations? Click here to read ...

Strangers in the night

For the past two years I have been assisting the Global Fund for Community Foundations to consider whether it should establish itself as a free-standing entity. One of the more interesting aspects of this involvement has been the dialogue between the Global Fund and the World Bank’s Community Driven Development Initiative, the major supporter of the Global Fund. While the World Bank, to its credit, has deemed it worthwhile to test the utility of community foundations as a vehicle for community-driven development, that is by no means a common occurrence. Click here to read ...

USD50,000 grant from Packard for GuideStar India

GuideStar International (GSI) has received a $50,000 grant from the Packard Foundation’s Organizational Effectiveness and Philanthropy Programme for the GuideStar India project, jointly set up by GSI and Murray Culshaw Consulting (MCC) (Bangalore). The grant will enable the hiring of three full-time staff to pursue the development of the GuideStar India database and website over the next two years. Click here to read ...