Global Giving Matters Jan.-March 2006 Issue 25

8/9/2019 Global Giving Matters Jan.-March 2006 Issue 25

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Global Giving

MATTERS

Issue 25

JanuaryMarch 2006

2 Feature: Clinton Global Initiative Putting the private sector to wofor social change

5 Feature: Nike Foundation: Getting girls on the anti-poverty agenda

7 Global Giving Round-Up

Appeal issued to keep door from closing on Open Russia

Unilever and Oxfam assess corporation's impact on poverty in Indonesia

Global Fund's Investing in Women campaign raises $20 million

Philanthropy in China with encouraging social climate

AKDN and Catholic Church in Portugal expand aid to Asia & Africa

Gates jumpstarts $31 billion global TB effort with Davos pledge

Bono seeing Red over new campaign to fight HIV/AIDS

JPMorgan Chase joins US-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership

Youth job training partnerships launched in Gaza

LaSpada takes the helm at UK's Institute for Philanthropy

In memoriam: Anton Rupert, philanthropist in Southern Africa

11 Resources & Links

Kiva brings peer-to-peer microloans online

E-newsletter promotes global engagement by European foundations

Skoll World Forum March 29-31

Fast Company honors Social Capitalists who are changing the world

Alliance magazine: Philanthropy, 2025

12 Your Ideas Wanted

In This IssueThis issue looks at efforts by former

US President Bill Clinton to get

business leaders and leaders of

other global organizations to work

together for social change. By lever-

aging his broad connections with an

innovative meeting structure that

placed emphasis not just on talk

and networking but also on commit-

ments for action, in just a few days

the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)

garnered agreements to fund more

than 200 separate projects valued in

excess of $2 billion by a range of

business, foundations, NGOs and

international agencies. We also look

at one organization that participated

in the CGI's inaugural meeting the

Nike Foundation which is focusing

its energy and resources on

empowering girls as a means for

sustainable development in poor

communities around the world.

Research suggests that programs

directed to girls and women yield a

higher rate of return than virtually

any other investment in the devel-

oping world.

James M. Brasher III, Director

Global Philanthropists Circle

2006 Synergos/World Economic Forum

www.globalgivingmatters.org [email protected]

Synergos

Global Giving Matters presents best

practices and innovations in philanthropy andsocial investment around the world. It is an

initiative of The Synergos Institutes Global

Philanthropists Circle and the World

Economic Forum, under the direction of Adele

Simmons, Senior Advisor to the Forum, and

James M. Brasher III, Director, Global

Philanthropists Circle. Lynn Peebles is the

lead writer. Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors

provides support for its distribution.

If you would like to subscribe to this

newsletter, to unsubscribe, or to designate

someone else in your organization to receive

it in your stead, contact us at

[email protected].


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Global Giving MATTERS

JanuaryMarch 2006

When former US President Bill Clinton summoned world leaders to the inaugural

meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI www.clintonglobalinitiative.org) in New

York last September, the invitation came with one notable string attached.

Mindful that the event would be viewed by some as just another high-level global net-

working session, Clinton upped the ante by asking each participant to come ready to

make a specific pledge, in writing, for action on one of four agenda items: poverty, reli-

gious conflict, climate change and governance.

Timed to coincide with the opening of the UN General Assembly, the gathering con-

vened a global A-list crowd that one observer said resembled Clintons Palm Pilot

come to life current and former heads of state, business executives, key NGO repre-

sentatives, religious leaders, noted academicians, and celebrity activists.

Through a series of panels and roundtable discussions, participants examined the foursets of challenges framed by Clinton and brainstormed possible solutions. Meanwhile,

Clinton worked behind the scenes to persuade the assembled decision-makers to

commit themselves and their resources to his vision of mobilizing private sector sup-

port for global development.

One of the things that differentiates this conference from many other talking shops is

its absolute, bottom-line focus on results, said Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and

CEO of the global nonprofit venture fund, the Acumen Fund (www.acumenfund.org).

Novogratz, a CGI advisory board member and Synergos Senior Fellow, was a panelist

in a CGI session on pro-poor investment strategy, moderated by Paul Brest, president

of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Indeed, by the end of the three-day event, participants had sponsored and agreed to

fund more than 200 separate projects valued in excess of $2 billion. (See box on next

page for highlights of commitments announced at CGI.)

I had high hopes for the meeting, but the results have been even better than I imag-

ined, Clinton said in transmitting CGIs first progress report in February 2006. He has

agreed to continue sponsoring CGI annually for 10 years. The next meeting will be

held in New York on September 20-22, 2006.

While some pledges appeared to be a repackaging of efforts already underway, and

details on others remain hazy, the strong response suggested a growing demand for

new models of global cooperation and problem-solving.I think this is whats so great about this initiative we have to give opportunities for

people who want to do something to do it, people who may have different interests,

knowledge, and capacities, said Kemal Dervis, administrator of the United Nations

Development Programme (UNDP). We have to have a decentralized network of activi-

ties where people can really engage in development. . . and that will support the overall

official effort for more resources, better trade policies, and more cooperation. said

Dervis, who was a panelist in a CGI session on new approaches to aid, trade and debt

relief.

2

Feature: Clinton Global Initiative Putting theprivate sector to work for social change


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At each days plenary session, Clinton announced the latest commitments and called

sponsors up to the stage of the New York Hilton to accept their signed pledges. While

many of these efforts had been carefully orchestrated in advance, some emerged spon-

taneously out of the creative ferment of the event.

One such example was the partnership forged during the conference by Nike

Foundation (www.nikefoundation.org) president Maria Eitel, to create an action agenda

to champion the fate of girls in the developing world. The project was a collaborationbetween Nike Foundation, the UN Foundation,

the Washington, DC-based International Center

for Research on Women (ICRW), and C.K.

Prahalad, University of Michigan professor, cor-

porate strategist and author of The Fortune at

the Bottom of the Pyramid.

The pledge arose as a natural outgrowth of the

Nike Foundations work to empower girls as a

means for sustainable development in poor

communities around the world. (For an updateon the work of the foundation, see related

article in this issue.) For Eitel, the conference

presented an opportunity to expand her foun-

dations work by raising awareness about the

role of girls in the social and economic life of

communities around the world.

I was inspired by CGI, which brought together

a huge group of influential people, said Eitel.

The question for Eitel was: How can we get

adolescent girls on their agenda? During one of

CGIs breakout sessions on poverty, Eitel hap-

pened to be seated at a discussion table that

included Geeta Rao Gupta, president of ICRW,

and Prahalad.

Following presentations by a panel of speakers

including UNDPs Dervis, President Thabo

Mbeki of South Africa and World Bank presi-

dent Paul Wolfowitz, participants were asked to

come up with specific recommendations for

action.

I was sitting there thinking that the speakers

were moving and inspirational, recalls the

ICRWs Gupta, but while ninety percent of the

examples cited involved investments in women,

no one had mentioned the word women.

This was a critical omission, said Gupta, since

we know now that when you invest in poor

3

CGI bottom line: a focus on results

President Clintons call for pledges of action from the private sector to address

poverty, religious conflict, climate change and governance in developing countries

has yielded nearly 300 commitments valued at more than $2 billion.

Nonprofits represented the biggest source of funding (39% of the pledges, or

$970 million), followed by corporations (30%) and individuals (12%). The greatest

percentage of funds went to address poverty (39%) and climate change (36%).

Some of the commitments are fully funded, others are actively seeking funding

and are listed on the CGI website, www.clintonglobalinitiative.org.

Following are some highlights of the pledges made during the inaugural meeting

of the Clinton Global Initiative.

Mohammed Ibrahim, chairman of CelTel, which provides mobile communications

in 13 sub-Saharan African countries, pledged to establish a $100 million private

enterprise fund to support socially responsible African development. The

Sudanese native says profits will be reinvested to develop infrastructure in Africa

and create social dividends.

Elizabeth Funk, vice chair of Unitus, and Maria Otero, president of Accin

International, committed to working together to deliver microfinance services to15 million of Indias underprivileged people by 2015. Bangalores first microfi-

nance center was opened in October 2005.

Tom Hunter, knighted in 2005 for services to philanthropy and entrepreneurship

in Scotland, committed to invest $100 million over the next decade to create a

successful model for sustainable development in an as-yet unidentified country in

Africa. Hunter was a major supporter of the Band Aid and Make Poverty History

campaigns.

Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and CEO of the Acumen Fund, a global nonprofit

venture fund that serves people living on less than $4 a day, pledged to commit

up to $1 million during the conference to deliver clean water, health and housing

to the poor; that amount was matched dollar-for-dollar by Cisco Systems and theSapling Foundation at the CGI meeting.

Swiss Re, one of the worlds largest reinsurers, has pledged to facilitate emis-

sions reductions in greenhouse gases by developing a Greenhouse Gas Risk

Solutions unit and by offering structured products for emissions trading. The

Chicago Climate Exchange (CCE) has agreed to serve as a trader on the

exchange. CCE is a greenhouse gas emission reduction and trading pilot pro-

gram for emission reduction and offset projects in the US, Canada, and Mexico.


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women, you get a high rate of return. As the discussion went around the table,

Prahalad added that he would go a step further and say that economic development

cant occur without investment in women and girls. Recognizing that a new kind of

commitment was needed to get girls on the global development agenda, Eitel, Gupta

and Prahalad kept the conversation going after the session ended.

Eitel stepped in with a pledge of $1 million from the Nike Foundation to start a cam-

paign on the value of investing in adolescent girls in developing countries. Gupta,Prahalad and the UN Foundation signed on to support the partnership, with the UN

Foundation bringing another $250,000 to the table. Eitel then scrambled to get an agree-

ment prepared and signed to present to President Clinton before the end of the confer-

ence.

On the final day of the meeting, the new campaign made its debut as President Clinton

called Eitel, Gupta and Prahalad to the podium to acknowledge the partnerships

pledge.

We all know that in the developing world, an extra year of education, for example,

can lead to a permanent lifetime increase in earning capacity of 10 to 15 percent a year,

and that girls are the most likely to be left out of this, Clinton. So any kind of grass-

roots development program that results in more girls having a chance to get equal

access to schools and ultimately to the workplace will lead to a more sustainable

population and a more just society in addition to a more profitable and productive

one.

Each member of the partnership brings something valuable: Nikes communications

savvy and brand recognition worldwide; the UN Foundations access to global leaders;

Prahalads management and marketing expertise; and ICRWs data and technical skills.

Eitel said the partners are fleshing out details of the campaign and seeking support

from additional sponsors.

Meanwhile, Clinton faces the challenge of making sure that the commitments made at

the meeting are fulfilled and the promised projects move forward. For this, CGI has

hired a staff of 10 to monitor the projects, and will rely primarily on four former offi-

cials from Clintons administration who helped organize the conference.

To ensure that the partnerships forged last September move forward, CGI staff are

keeping in touch with project sponsors to monitor progress and provide support.

Letters have gone out to the Nike Foundation and other sponsors of CGI commitments

to inquire about the need for assistance, and all pledge sponsors have been asked to

submit a report for next years CGI meeting.

I go to a lot of conferences, and I expected good networking, but little else to come out

of it, said ICRWs Gupta, whose expectations were exceeded by the end of the three-

day CGI meeting. I ended up being very impressed by the format and the way the

event was organized. By design, CGI gave the projects and partnerships that were

launched greater visibility, and a broader network of support.

Every single thing weve done that is a success is because of the quality of our part-

ners, said Gupta. Im a great believer in partnership, and thats what the CGI is all

about .

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The successful effort of the Nike Foundation (www.nikefoundation.org) to get girls on

the agenda at the inaugural meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative is a natural out-

growth of the new direction announced by the foundation in 2005.

The organizations work focuses on the more than 500 million girls aged 10-19 in the

developing world today, who bear the burden of domestic responsibility, early sexual

activity and pregnancy, marital violence, and cultural norms that prevent access to

resources, education and social and economic opportunity.

Research by the World Bank and other sources suggests that programs directed to girls

and women yield a higher rate of return than virtually any other investment in the

developing world better maternal and child health, increased school enrollments, and

economic growth and productivity that ripples out to entire communities.

Our focus is on programs and advocacy efforts that are directly linked to two of the

UN Millennium Development Goals, poverty alleviation and gender equality, said

Maria Eitel, president of the Nike Foundation. By inspiring and mobilizing support for

girls empowerment and well-being worldwide, we can not only help change the lives

of individual girls, but also help to transform entire communities.

The re-launch of the foundation, established in 1994, was the culmination of years of

learning begun while Eitel was head of corporate responsibility for parent company

Nike, Inc. With factories in more than 50 countries, Eitel had ample opportunity to

observe conditions affecting girls and women in the workplace and in the community.

After spending 7-1/2 years with the team at Nike, setting the CSR [corporate social

responsibility] agenda through some tumultuous years, I learned a lot of things, thehard way, and I wanted to apply this learning to the foundation, said Eitel.

The foundation was quite passive for a period of time. We didnt infuse it with signifi-

cant budget or leadership. I thought of it as a bit of a diamond in the rough and began

to think about fashioning it into something complementary but not similar to other

programs at Nike, Eitel said.

Eitel consulted widely with other philanthropic experts in an attempt to learn where

Nike could focus the foundation to make a unique effort. During this time, she said she

also became aware of the importance of the role of other stakeholders, of building

strong relationships with people outside of Nike.

What emerged is a revitalized Nike Foundation committed to the goals of poverty alle-viation and gender equality, which it considers inextricably linked. The foundation

takes a holistic approach, and will assist girls in multiple arenas including economic

opportunity; health and security; leadership, voice and rights; education; and social

mobility.

The foundation will act on two levels: through conducting programs on the ground

with community partners in developing countries and by working with global advo-

cacy partners to raise awareness of the value of investing in girls.

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Feature: Nike Foundation: Getting girls on theanti-poverty agenda


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Nike, Inc. has provided the foundation with about $20 million in cash and land dona-

tions for the work ahead. Going forward, the company will direct a portion its annual

giving target of three percent of pre-tax profits to the foundation.

Global partners include the World Bank, the Population Council, the International

Center for Research on Women (ICRW), the Program for Appropriate Technology in

Health and the UN Foundation. ICRW will help monitor and evaluate all of the founda-

tions projects, and will gather data to close the information gap on the value ofinvesting in girls.

The Nike Foundation is working with local and national nonprofit organizations in the

five countries it has selected for its initial focus: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Ethiopia

and Zambia. In the first round of grantmaking re-focusing on girls, in September 2005

the foundation announced 11 projects totaling more than $5 million.

These include initiatives to prevent early marriage in Ethiopia, keep girls in school in

Zambia, and to create rural learning centers in Bangladesh to provide a safe haven for

girls to socialize and obtain access to information on personal finance, careers, and

reproductive health. Ultimately, Eitel expects the work of the foundation and its part-

ners to yield lessons on the value of investing in girls that would be applicable to a

range of development settings.

What were trying to do is to engage in a dynamic way to change the paradigm-to

transform the way that girls are seen and taken advantage of in poverty, said Eitel.

She noted that the contributions of girls in the developing world are enormous but

largely undervalued.

The silent, unpaid labor of girls carrying water, collecting firewood, caring for sib-

lings or sick family members is the backbone of family and community, Eitel said.

She added that the sacrifices expected of girls, such as forgoing education, exact a high

cost on individuals as well as society.

We envision a world where girls are valued, have choices and are part of society, con-

tributing their enormous capabilities to income generation and progress in their family,

community and nation, said Eitel.

Over my lifetime, Im hoping to see some kind of catalytic change in the way people

value adolescent girls and invest in their well being. Our new foundation will be a

highly passionate and energetic participant in that journey.

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Appeal issued to keep door from closing on Open RussiaWith Open Russias founder, chairman and major donor languishing in a Siberian

penal colony, its program director Irina Yasina visited Washington in January to shore

up support for the nonprofit organization. Open Russia (www.openrussia.info) wasfounded in 2001 by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who became a billionaire as the head of

Yukos oil company. In a case widely criticized by human rights groups as politically

motivated, last October Khodorkovsky was sentenced to eight years in prison for tax

evasion and fraud. The foundation has spent about $60 million on projects ranging

from human rights and democracy-building to education and culture. Khodorkovsky

was able to mobilize $12 million for Open Russia for 2006, but prospects for 2007 are

unclear, in light of a new law cracking down on nonprofit groups in that country. The

Open Society Institute (www.soros.org), which served as a model for the foundation,

has offered assistance with awards of $750,000 to three programs supported by Open

Russia. In an interview with the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Yasina discussed the chal-

lenges facing Open Russia and other nonprofit groups operating in Russia. (Chronicleof Philanthropy, February 9, 2006)

Unilever and Oxfam assess multinational corporations impact on poverty inIndonesiaDoes international business investment help or hinder the fight against poverty? That

was the question addressed in a collaborative study by Unilever and Oxfam that exam-

ined the socio-economic impact of the corporations operations in Indonesia over a two-

year period. Oxfam said its findings forced the organization to revise some of its

assumptions about big business, and made it more alert to differences in the way that

multinational companies operate. During the countrys financial crisis of 1997-8, for

example, Unilever chose to adapt and strengthen its business practices in Indonesiarather than withdrawing, unlike many other multinationals. According to Oxfam, the

study of Unilever yielded a variety of lessons for NGOs interested in the impact of big

business on poverty. The jointly funded report is available at www.oxfam.org.uk and

www.unilever.com.

Global Funds Investing in Women campaign raises $20 millionThe Global Fund for Women (www.globalfundforwomen.org), the largest foundation in

the world that focuses exclusively on advancing womens rights internationally, is cele-

brating the successful conclusion of its $20 million Investing in Women Campaign. The

campaign supports the $10 million Legacy Fund, an endowment of unprecedented sizeto address womens issues, and the $10 million Now or Never Fund, which permits

rapid response to urgent threats to womens rights around the world. The Global

Fund models how getting money to successful organizations working in communities

in Latin America, Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East wherever

womens rights are threatened maximizes the impact of a US-based philanthropy,

said Sakena Yacoobi, a Global Fund board member from Afghanistan. The campaign

drew donations from all over the world, ranging from $5 dollars to $3.8 million. Since

1987, the Global Fund has awarded over $44 million to nearly 3,000 groups in 162

7

Global Giving Roundup

Overviews of best

practices around

the world and

links to learn moreabout them

Links to websites with

more details are available

at the online edition of

Global Giving Matters at

www.globalgivingmatters.org


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JanuaryMarch 2006

countries working on issues such as such as the trafficking of women, risks facing

women in war zones, and threats to women from natural disasters. (Global Fund for

Women News Release, November 10, 2005)

Philanthropy in China with encouraging social climateAs China becomes richer but more divided, government officials are calling on the

countrys growing affluent class to give something back to the tens of millions ofChinese citizens still living on less than a dollar a day. With 2005 one of the worst years

in recent memory for natural disasters, in January 2006, Chinas vice minister of civil

affairs Li Liguo appealed for help from the private sector. He pledged that in return the

government would step up the introduction of incentives such as new tax breaks to

create a more encouraging social climate for private giving. In a recent report calling

for greater corporate generosity, the state-controlled China Daily noted that just 1% of

the countrys 10 million companies had given to charity in 2005. While private chari-

table organizations are gaining more acceptance in China, only 100 national-level

groups have been recognized in the past decade. Some private donors are stepping in

with their own good works, such as Huang Rulun, the founder of the Jinyuan property

and investment group, who was Chinas top giver in 2005, donating $34.8 million torelieve poverty and build schools. Rupert Hoogewerf, the British compiler of an annual

ranking of Chinas top philanthropists, the Hurun Report (www.hurun.net), noted that

philanthropy was still an immature industry in China, but predicted that the number

of wealthy donors like Mr. Huang would continue to grow. With many of Chinas new

super-rich self-made men who experienced poverty in their youth, they can

empathize with the have-nots, Hoogewerf said. (Guardian (UK), January 10, 2006)

AKDN and Catholic Church in Portugal expand aid to Asia & AfricaThe Roman Catholic Patriarchate of Lisbon andAga Khan Foundation Portugal have

agreed to expand their support for an urban community program to address problemsof social exclusion and poverty alleviation in the Portuguese-speaking countries of

Africa and Asia. The program aims to help improve the quality of life of marginalized

groups by building the capacity of communities to assess their own needs and to

manage their own social and economic development. The agreement follows eight

years of dialogue and cooperation between institutions of the Catholic Church and the

Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN www.akdn.org) in Portugal and

Mozambique. The protocol signed last December covers the extension of existing work

in Mozambique, Afghanistan, Pakistan and East Timor, and paves the way for future

cooperation in other places. AKDN, founded by theAga Khan, the spiritual leader of

the Ismaili Muslims, is a group of private, non-denominational development agencies

working to improve living conditions and opportunities, especially in sub-SaharanAfrica, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East. (AKDN News Release, December

20, 2005)

Gates jumpstarts $31 billion global TB effort with Davos pledgeMicrosoft co-founder Bill Gates said his foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates

Foundation (www.gatesfoundation.org) would triple its funding to combat tuberculosis

over the next decade, to $900 million. The announcement came as government minis-

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ters and health experts at the World Economic Forums annual meeting at Davos said

an extra $31 billion would be needed on top of the $25 billion already planned. This is

a very tough disease. It its going to take all of us the private sector, the pharmaceu-

tical companies, philanthropies and governments in countries that have the disease, to

participate as well, Gates said at Davos. The extra funding would permit implementa-

tion of a plan by the Stop TB Partnership to treat 50 million people worldwide over the

next decade and prevent 14 million deaths from tuberculosis. The partnership is aninternational network of public and private groups working to end tuberculosis as a

public health problem by 2050. (Reuters, January 27, 2006)

Bono seeing Red over new campaign to fight HIV/AIDSAlso at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, rock star Bono unveiled a new

campaign to fight HIV and AIDS in Africa. Among the companies lining up to join

with Bono in the effort areAmerican Express, Converse, Gap, and Giorgio Armani. The

companies will sell a variety of products under a new brand called Red and dedicate

a portion of revenues to combat HIV and AIDS. Amex is creating a Red credit card to

be marketed first in the UK, in March 2006. Other Red products expected out in the

spring of 2006 include Converse sports shoes made with African mud-cloth; a new lineof Gap T-shirts; and wraparound Emporio Armani sunglasses bearing the Red logo.

AmexCo has agreed to donate 1% of Red card transactions, plus 1.25% of any spending

above 5,000 a year to the Red campaign. Money from Red sales will go to the Global

Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (www.theglobalfund.org) , a public-private

partnership that has committed $4.5 billion to combat those diseases since its creation

in 2002. The focus of Red donations will be for HIV/AIDS interventions for women and

children. (Financial Times, January 25, 2006)

JPMorgan Chase joins US-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership

JPMorgan Chase has joined the US-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership (BPP www.borderpartnership.org) with a social investment of $210,000 to improve the quality

of life in the border region. This marks the first contribution to the partnership from

the business sector. The BPP is a collaboration of international, national and regional

foundations and 22 community foundations dedicated to improving the quality of life

of low-income residents in the border region. The Synergos Institute serves as coordi-

nator for the. JPMorgan Chase joins ten other funders including the Ford Foundation,

the Houston Endowment and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation in strengthening

community foundations on both sides of the border. The global financial services firm

will work with BPP partners to improve financial literacy and build family assets in

border communities. One of our major goals is to help build assets and wealth cre-

ation in low and moderate income communities, said Kimberly Davis, President of theJPMorgan Chase Foundation. We are especially excited about this effort because it

supports a broad-based consortium partnering with Latin/Hispanic immigrant commu-

nities along the entire US-Mexico border region, an area where JPMorgan Chase has a

significant and growing presence.

Youth job training partnerships launched in GazaBuilding on the rapid growth of its partnerships in Egypt and Jordan, the Education for

Employment Foundation (EFE www.efefoundation.org) has recently launched new

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Activities, web-

sites and other

cutting-edge

information forglobal givers

Links to websites with

more details are available

at the online edition of

Global Giving Matters at

www.globalgivingmatters.org

Resources & Links

Kiva brings peer-to-peer microloans onlineA few clicks of the mouse can connect individuals wishing to help finance microenter-

prises in poor communities to microentrepreneurs in the developing world who can

use that financing. Kiva (www.kiva.org), a recently launched web-based nonprofit isenabling individuals to loan small sums of money through the PayPal service to needy

individuals without the need for an intermediary such as a bank or microfinance insti-

tution. Potential lenders can view profiles of microentrepreneurs and their plans

online, review a summary of their financing to date, and make a loan of as little as $25

online. In its first months of operation, the website facilitated enough microloans

through its Uganda partnerVillage Enterprise Fund to fund over 30 businesses in that

country. Kiva recently announced partnerships with the Shurush Initiative in the West

Bank and Gaza, REDC Bulgaria, CRESP Senegal and Prisma Microfinance. The first

round of local microbusinesses posted to Kiva by the new partners are available for

review at Kivas website. (AlterNet, December 15, 2005; Kiva Update, February 9, 2006)

E-newsletter promotes global engagement by European foundationsEurope in the World (EITW), an online portal for European foundations interested in

global development, has launched a web-based news service. EITWs monthly News

Digest highlights information on and for foundations that are working internationally

or that want to get involved in international work. It provides updates on grants and

initiatives, opportunities to collaborate, good practice in funding global development

relevant reports and resources, and key events on the international donors calendar. To

subscribe, visit www.europeintheworld.info. (PhilanthropyUK Newsletter, December

2005)

Skoll World Forum March 29-31With the social sector approaching a tipping point, the 2006 Skoll World Forum on

Social Entrepreneurship (skollworldforum.sbs.ox.ac.uk), is aiming a spotlight on the

variety of financial mechanisms for social change. Through a series of speakers, semi-

nars, workshops and case studies, the Forum will explore topics such as mezzanine

finance, debt and equity-like offerings, leveraging of non-financial assets such as cul-

tural or social capital, and the potential for creating a social stock market and longer-

term investment funds that factor in social and environmental risks. The Forum will

focus on ways that social entrepreneurs, philanthropists and social investors, govern-

ments and multilateral agencies, the finance sector and business can add value to one

another. Speakers include former US Vice PresidentAl Gore and David Blood, ex-CEOof Goldman Sachs Asset Management; Mo Ibrahim, Chair of CelTel International, a fast-

growing mobile telecommunications company in sub-Saharan Africa; representatives

of tribal groups from southern India; Jan Piercy, advisor to ShoreBank Corporation

and ShoreCap International, and many more.


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Global Giving Matters aims to present information on best practices and innovations in

philanthropy and social investment around the world. We encourage you to send us:

Ideas about issues or people you would like to learn more about

Examples of your own philanthropy

Comments about this issue.

Write to us at [email protected].

Global Giving Matters does not present solicitations of support for particularinitiatives or organizations.

Your Ideas Wanted

The World Economic Forum91-93 route de la CapiteCH-1223 Cologny/GenevaSwitzerlandtel +41 (22) 869-1212fax +41 (22) 786-2744www.weforum.org

The Synergos Institute9 East 69th StreetNew York, NY 10021USAtel +1 (212) 517-4900fax +1 (212) 517-4815www.synergos.org

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisor437 Madison AvenueNew York, NY 10022-7001USAtel +1 (212) 812-4330fax + 1 (212) 812-4335www.rockpa.org

Fast Company honors Social Capitalists who are changing the worldThe January/February issue of Fast Company (www.fastcompany.com) presents winners

of the magazines 2006 Social Capitalist awards, 25 entrepreneurs who are using

business smarts to tackle social woes, and changing the world. A special online edi-

tion accompanying the January issue includes full profiles of the winners and finalists,

an explanation of the methodology used in the contest, and ways to donate. Several

among the top 25 are working globally, includingAccin International, GrameenFoundation USA, Heifer International, the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health

and Unitus. Unitus (www.unitus.com), founded and chaired by Mike Murray, a member

of the Global Philanthropists Circle, identifies the highest potential microfinance insti-

tutions in developing countries and helps speed their growth with investments and

consulting.

Alliance magazine: Philanthropy, 2025How might the world of philanthropy look in the year 2025? Find out in the December

2005 issue ofAlliance magazine (www.alliancemagazine.org), which explores the chal-

lenges and opportunities presented by new people, tools and pressures in the field.

Guest editors are Katherine Fulton and Gabriel Kasper of the Monitor Institute. The

issue examines the future of philanthropy in the US, India, the Philippines, Mexico,

Brazil, Central Europe, Russia and East Africa. It also features interviews with the new

heads of the Council of Foundations and the European Foundation Centre, Steve

Gunderson and Gerry Salole. Barbara Merz and Lincoln Chen weigh in on the growing

importance of remittances to Mexico from Mexicans living and working in the US. Also

the February edition of the onlineAlliance Extra features an interview with Bob Dunn,

the new president of Synergos.

Global Giving Matters Jan.-March 2006 Issue 25

Documents

Transcript of Global Giving Matters Jan.-March 2006 Issue 25