‘Every year billions of dollars are spent in aid to help the poor, the vulnerable, the excluded. But how much really changes?’ This animated film by the Global Fund for Community Foundations talks about ‘new paths’, alternative ways of doing things, i.e. the growing community philanthropy movement that challenges traditional development approaches (that often undermine the agency of…
Rawa, a philanthropic fund rooted in participatory community decision-making, has been launched in Palestine to promote community development and the mobilisation of local resources. Following an exploration period, supported by Rockefeller Brothers Fund, The Open Society Foundations, The Middle East Children’s Alliance, Global Fund for Community Foundations, Al-Maamal Foundation and the Ford Foundation, Rawa will support initiatives…
Recent books by Barry Knight and by Alan Marsh and colleagues have shown that efforts to end poverty in low-income neighbourhoods in the UK have failed to make much progress. Darren McGarvey, or Rapper Loki, in his book Poverty Safari criticises the well-meaning but fundamentally misguided behaviour of the poverty industry which behaves ‘much like an imperial power’ and is not tuned into what…
While mainstream development practices are failing and problems of poverty, conflict and inequality endure, what alternatives are there that work? In this article on IDR Anshu Gupta talks about the importance of leveraging local agency in social change processes. By Anshu Gupta There’s a recent image that will remain etched in our collective memory for…
While philanthropy in India (and elsewhere) is focusing on efficiency such as due diligence paperwork, what tools are needed to make NGOs more effective and impactful? In this article on IDR, Nimesh Sumati of Caring Friends, India talks of the importance of trust, understanding the vision and context of the founders of grassroots organisations and…
The Ford Foundation office for southern Africa co-hosted a roundtable discussion with the Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace (PSJP) on: “What alternative models of development and philanthropy do we need to build local agency and power?” The discussion was aimed at unpacking and debating some of the limitations that mainstream development aid and philanthropy…
I read Nora Murad’s provocative response to Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace’s (PSJP’s) report on philanthropy in the Arab world during the month of Ramadan, a time when Muslims the world over make their most significant charitable contributions. Television ads in Egypt are crowded with emotional appeals to help rural children’s hospitals, food banks…
A foundation leader once approached me proposing that we invite Bill Gates to launch the Giving Pledge in Brazil. I told him that the Pledge implied the donation of the majority of a person’s or couple’s wealth, and that I thought that there would be few if any wealthy Brazilians that would be up for…
The article published on this blog yesterday highlighted the lack of grantmaking as a key challenge for the Brazilian philanthropy sector – and for the development of civil society in the country. One positive development in this regard is the emergence of the Philanthropy Network for Social Justice as a strategic actor in the grantmaking…
Brazilian philanthropy is maturing, expanding visibly and becoming more diversified – as indicated by two recent studies: a report on Philanthropy in Brazil, produced by Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace (PSJP) and presented in Brazil in June 2018; and a book, Filantropia de Justiça Social sociedade civil e movimentos sociais no Brasil (Philanthropy of…