Children’s Investment Fund Foundation

Mission

To demonstrably improve the lives of children living in poverty in developing countries by supporting sustainable strategies that will have an impact on their lives and their communities.

Activities

CIFF makes grants to programmes in four portfolio areas:

• Children Affected by HIV/AIDS – supporting programmes aimed at meeting the basic needs of children orphaned or at risk of being orphaned by HIV/AIDS, and those directly affected by the disease
• Emergency Humanitarian Assistance – CIFF allows for a portion of its giving to respond to immediate needs for support to children affected by natural disasters, violent conflicts and war. It specifically concentrates on providing access to education and ensuring comprehensive tracing and reunification of separated children
• Water, Sanitation and Hygiene – CIFF concentrates on standardising sanitation as integral to any efforts to address issues of water in communities, and establishing prototypes for successfully delivering hygiene education to pregnant women and new mothers
• Education – CIFF works with donor governments and within CIFF target countries to ensure an adequate funding stream to train, hire and deploy teachers to meet increased demands. It also focuses on establishing prototypes for securing well trained teachers in rural areas and on promoting programmes to enhance the quality of education in the classroom and community.

CIFF seeks out its grantees through extensive research and site visits, and operates in Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda and India. It provides the business expertise necessary to enable its grantees to do their jobs and to deliver projects with measurable impact. In addition to funding, CIFF works closely with its grantees to identify inherent programmatic and organisational risks, and to ensure that they have sufficient financial and organisational capacity to bring programmes to scale and to effect catalytic change.

For individual donors

One of CIFF’s aims is to support others interested in contributing to those in need in developing countries through any of its programmes. For donors wishing to make significant contributions, CIFF is also available to help identify discrete projects for support. Although CIFF encourages donating directly to an organisation with a mission, focus or particular appeal to the donor, CIFF is registered as both a UK and US charity and can accept donations for re-granting or co-investing on joint programmes.