After the 7.8 Earthquake of 25th April, 2015 and a few significant others which followed, all of us had to go into relief work. Although this was a new on the job learning for many of us, we used our common sense and a sense of urgency recognizing how most the affected people had suffered…
Nepal is reeling from the immediate effects of the earthquake that hit the country on 25th April 2015. As the immediate emergency response gets underway and in the reconstruction that follows, it will be crucial for local needs and voices to be taken into consideration and that grassroots groups are part of efforts to rebuild,…
‘A Life Lived on the Edge: An Account of the First Ten Years of the Foundation of Social Transformation’ is a new resource produced the Global Fund for Community Foundations. It tells the story of a community foundation in the North-east of India, of the conditions that necessitated its birth, its vision, its struggles, how…
A new phenomenon is unfolding in Brazilain civil society – a new breed of indegenous grassroots grant makers is emerging that supports the movemnet for human rights and social justice in the country. Ten of these foundations are united in the Network of Independent Funds for Social Justice (NIFSJ)- Brazil or Rede de Fundos Independentes…
It was inspiring to listen to Professor Benjamin Barbar. With reference to his book “If Mayors Ruled the World: Dysfunctional Nations, Rising Cities”, he spoke convincingly why the shift is happening from Nation-States to cities, towns, and metros. In relation to this, since the launch of the book in 2013, the Global Parliament of Mayors (GPM) has…
Trust Africa and IssueLab, a service of the US‐based Foundation Center have launched an online database, which consolidates literature on African giving. It currently comprises of almost 800 documents and includes resources in English, French, Arabic and Portuguese, covering multiple countries and ranging from formal philanthropic literature to writings on local systems of solidarity. The…
The closing date for nominations for the Third Olga Alexeeva Memorial Prize has been extended to 30 April 2015. The Prize of £5,000 is for an individual who has demonstrated remarkable leadership, creativity and results in developing philanthropy for progressive social change in an emerging market country or countries. The prize will be for the…
Should philanthropists and foundations fund artists directly to create the art they want to make? Should they fund theatres and galleries to make art more available to more people? Should they fund only work that explicitly promotes social change? Or should they fund the arts ‘in their own right’ – whatever that means? These are…
The Society We Want, a report based on research commissioned by the Webb Memorial Trust by leading pollster YouGov on attitudes to poverty in the UK has shown the qualities that people most treasured were social ones such as fairness, security, safety, freedom, compassion and tolerance. Economic indicators mattered far less. Click here to download the report.…
In recent years, dozens of countries that previously permitted foreign funding have adopted new laws in order to block cross-border funds, often with the excuse of protecting security, economic interests or public morality, or preserving sovereignty. Funders are invited to take part in a one-and-a-half day Workshop on Shrinking Space for Civil Society on 11-12th…