Reports from Alliance magazine

The Philanthropy UK Newsletter is grateful to Alliance magazine for its permission to reproduce the following summaries of its event reports. The full reports can be accessed at www.alliancemagazine.org

European Foundation Centre Annual Conference

1-3 June 2007, Madrid, Spain
Theme: The new challenges for global philanthropy

By Caroline Hartnell

Addressing the closing plenary of the EFC conference in Madrid in early June, Barry Gaberman spoke of ‘a buzz in the hallways’. The conference, New Challenges for Global Philanthropy, had put the critical issues of our time on the agenda, he said. Also important was EFC members’ agreement to an increase in fees, thereby committing themselves to supporting the organization adequately in the future.

Gaberman spoke of how foundations in the US and Europe can learn from each other in a number of areas. Supporting public policy and funding of research are two areas where Europe currently leads the way, though US foundations have gone much further in terms of diversity and trying to reflect society and the constituencies they serve. Two areas he felt would become increasingly important are impact, which he called ‘the new mantra’, and showing how assets held in endowments contribute to public benefit.

Global issues were prominent throughout the conference. In the opening plenary, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres forcefully described the plight of the world’s growing number of migrants, and urged foundations to fund advocacy and research as well as supporting people already affected. Pedro Alonso, of Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, urged European foundations to play a part in supporting medical research in order to help close ‘the 10/90 Gap’ – whereby only 10 per cent of the global biomedical research budget is spent on the diseases that cause 90 per cent of the global economic and social burden. At the plenary on climate change, Uday Khemka of the Nand and Jeet Khemka Foundation urged foundations to recognize that climate change will affect everything they do.

In the closing plenary, Rui Vilar of the Gulbenkian Foundation stressed the need for existing issues to be reframed in a global context. ‘Europe is a rich area,’ he said, ‘and needs to assume responsibility for supporting development in poor countries.’

The conference ended movingly with the award of the 2007 Raymond Georis Prize to Ray Murphy, who died earlier this year.

Caroline Hartnell is Editor of Alliance magazine.

Grantmakers Without Borders Annual Conference

8-9 June, New York, USA
Theme: Just Giving

By Yumi Sera

The Grantmakers Without Borders (Gw/oB) annual conference drew over 200 funders, individual donors and civil society activists to New York in June. Two hot topics for discussion were microcredit and the Gates and Rockefeller Foundations’ new Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

In the opening plenary, Gates and Rockefeller representatives argued that the development of more productive and resilient varieties of major food crops in Africa, together with soil improvement, better water management and training for local agricultural scientists, would produce larger and more reliable harvests. But opponents pointed out the possible negative impact of AGRA’s corporate connections, and the fact that the proposal doesn’t take into account the lessons learned from the original Green Revolution, such as the deepening divide between rich and poor farmers, the eventual degrading of agro-ecosystems, and the loss of agro-biodiversity.

As to microcredit, panellists provided both sides of the story – of women being forced into the sex trade to help pay back loans, or credit being used simply to solve cash-flow problems, as well as the empowering effects of microfinance. The point was made that more longitudinal data and analysis are required to assess the effects of microcredit on gender equality and sustainability.

The breakout workshops addressed emerging trends in philanthropy. Issues covered included human rights, climate change and HIV/AIDS. The Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) presented research showing that there is less money available for women’s rights now than five years ago.

More practical sessions included topics such as exit strategies, working with intermediary organizations, and evaluation. The exit strategies session suggested that it is crucial for the sustainability of organizations that the relationship between funder and grantee should be based on trust and accountability. One concern that emerged repeatedly was how US grantmakers are increasingly struggling with the need to comply with government regulations and guidelines.

Yumi Sera is an international development consultant specializing in grantmaking and capacity-building.