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.

16-17 May 2009, Rome

Against a backdrop of worldwide philanthropic growth, the increasingly global nature of urgent challenges, and the pressure for more efficient use of donor resources in the current economic downturn, the Council on Foundations, European Foundation Centre and Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support (WINGS) jointly convened 44 philanthropic leaders from around the world to explore how to work together more effectively for global change.

The meeting was structured around three broad topics, each of which was introduced through a background paper and lead remarks from one of the participants. Rayna Gavrilova, executive director of the Trust for Civil Society in Central & Eastern Europe, commented on a vision for the future and philanthropy’s role in achieving it. Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation, addressed legal barriers to cross-border philanthropy and how they might be reduced on a global basis. And Bhekinkosi Moyo, programme director for TrustAfrica, offered some strategies for strengthening global philanthropy and achieving global change.

Participants noted that the landscape of philanthropy is changing rapidly as old models are giving way to new approaches and partnerships better suited to addressing urgent global concerns like poverty, environmental destruction and infectious diseases. Yet, some wondered whether philanthropy, particularly at a time of global economic crisis, is really stepping up to the challenges and opportunities to develop innovative ideas and support change agents.

Questioning whether foundations can afford to continue with ‘business as usual’, some participants urged a new commitment to effective philanthropic collaboration both within and across borders. At the same time, it was recognised that structural barriers to cross-border philanthropy are hindering this goal, noting the trend towards more philanthropic protectionism at the national level even as the world becomes more interdependent.

Some participants felt that foundations need to become better at deploying their non-financial assets like knowledge, networks, convening power and influence. Others worried that organised philanthropy is attempting to solve global problems by itself rather than seeking solutions by and through affected communities. A paradigm shift is needed, it was argued, away from traditional grantor-grantee relationships based on ‘problem-solutions’ thinking to a more collaborative spirit of building communities and working together for systemic change.    

The group agreed that the host organisations should initiate follow-up work in three priority areas:

• creating a more favourable global environment for cross-border philanthropy;
• developing models or vehicles for pooling resources and increasing philanthropic collaboration;
• identifying key political opportunities and levers to engage with national and regional policymakers as well as multilateral organisations.

As a result, the Council on Foundations, EFC and WINGS are creating an ongoing global philanthropic leadership working group to coordinate task forces that will focus on each of the three areas.

For a report on the global philanthropic leadership meeting and the three background papers:

• www.cof.org/international
• www.efc.be/global
• www.wingsweb.org

By Kathy Bonnifield, McKnight Foundation

8-10 June 2009, Washington

While the core focus of Gw/oB’s previous conferences – creating more effective, strategic giving for social change – was still evident, this year’s conference also concentrated on the negative impact of the economy. Entitled ‘Global Giving Now: Meeting The Challenge, Seizing The Opportunity’, it took place between 8th and 10th June in Washington DC. At the same time, hope was expressed that the economic earthquake (along with the new US administration) has opened the door for positive change.

The conference’s 30 or more sessions fell into two main tracks. The first of these encompassed elements of grantmaking practice such as monitoring and evaluation, collaborative grantmaking and grantee collaborations. The second was concerned with social change and social justice issues, such as connecting grassroots groups to international policy and strategies to promote resource rights.

While sessions like these have featured at past Gw/oB conferences, it seemed that there was a new hunger to develop meaningful relationships and networks. This was partially accomplished through ‘speed networking’, where, in pairs, people spent six minutes describing their work to each other before moving on to another encounter. Since this occurred on the first day, it allowed people to later seek out those they had met briefly to talk more about how they might collaborate. There was also a ‘reciprocity web’, in which groups of about eight people sat at a round table. Each person would describe a problem or a challenge. The group would then brainstorm solutions. If an individual had a particular solution or resource, they would give their contact details to the person who needed assistance. Again, this session fed into individual discussions throughout the conference.

The economic crisis poses new challenges for all of us, but there are also opportunities. We can create new paths and seek innovative ways to accomplish our goals. My hope is that all advocates, activists, catalysts and partners – both those who attended the Gw/oB conference and those who didn’t – will look for these innovative ways and tell others about what works so we can learn from each other.

Kathy Bonnifield is international program administrator, East Africa & Southeast Asia, for the McKnight Foundation. Email KBonnifield@mcknight.org.