Blog

Trends in International Philanthropy

Submitted by Pam Kahl

Steven Gunderson, President of the Council of Foundations and former WA-state congressman and Renee Acosta, CEO of Global Impact opened Day 2 of Global Washington. Steve highlighted the growth in global philanthropy, citing statistics such 300% increase in giving by Brazilians, $5.5 billion contributed in India in 2006 and the fact 800 new foundations have been established in China in the last five years. In addition to the financial statistics, Steve noted that overall philanthropy is taking a more central role in society. Younger generations are more focused on contributing to global issues than previous generations.

In the last five years the notion of philanthropy has evolved from competitive grant making to a focus on strategic investments – most recently with a focus on integrating with public and other private entities around common goals. As a result, many now look to philanthropy to lead innovation instead of the traditional drivers such as government and corporations. During the Q&A Steve made the key point that philanthropy and charity are not the same – charity is about passive periodic giving whereas philanthropy is about making strategic investments with multi-year commitments in mind.

Renee emphasized the importance of individual donors, noting that in the last three years individual donations represent 75% of Global Impact’s revenue. Global Impact stats also indicate that individual donors are more likely to give to a variety of organizations. Global Impact recognizes the importance of the giving sector acting as a knowledge-base to help donors make giving decisions. Renee closed by emphasizing the following:

No single tactic or giving challenge is as important as the quality of message and the ability to inspire and engage hearts and minds of donors.

Panelists:
Steve Gunderson, President Council on Foundations
Renee Acosta, CEO Global Impact
Moderator: Bill Clapp

Lessons Learned from Successful Private/Public Partnerships

Submitted by Nina Carduner

Karen D. Turner, director at the Office of Development Partners for USAID, discussed how USAID pioneered the concept of public private partnerships in 2001. Yet, moving to partner with businesses has presented a challenge for USAID because often, the drivers for development are very different for private entities and there are many stakeholders to engage from social enterprises and diasporas to local and regional firms. USAID is here to facilitate partnerships. According to Turner, USAID has been successful in building public/private partnerships through internal education about how to meet the needs of the private sector and communicating with private sector about the internal workings of USAID. Both public and private enterprises need to understand the complexity of these partnerships and share with one another the best practices for making them transformational.

Rosemary Barker Aragon of Rotary International underscored the importance of understanding each partner’s area of expertise. For example, Rotary International is organized like a pyramid with the money at the top and many individuals on the ground at the local level in 200 countries. When entities approach Rotarians for partnership, they know they will excel at navigating effectiveness on the local level.

Christopher Elias of PATH discussed the ways in which PATH has successfully partnered with pharmaceutical companies around a common purpose. Uniting around a common purpose can add complexity to a partnership when the purpose relates to the core of a business’ product or service, yet this complexity also raises the level of engagement, which creates more leverage in the shared mission. Elias also credited “the rising awareness of global markets and systems for sustainable solutions” for the increasing the success rate of public/private partnerships. When public entities can recognize market changes, they can innovate and reinvent solutions that have prior success but are tailored to the differences between countries and regions.

NetHope’s Frank Schott gave praise to the expertise that private partnerships have have helped the non-profit achieve its mission to help facilitate the appropriate use of information and communication technologies in remote areas and during relief efforts. NetHope grew out of the resource pooling of seven non-profits. Pooling their resources enabled NetHope to attract private partnerships. He explained that, “while we use and appreciate [Microsoft and Cisco] products, the biggest contribution from them has been their expertise. Our supporters aren’t just donors, they are providing us with the technology, but more importantly, the expertise we need to leverage our programs and drive our mission.”

Global Development and the Future of Washington Jobs

Submitted by Nina Carduner

Rogers Weed gave the closing keynote for the first day of the Global Washington Conference. As the director of the Washington State Department of Commerce, he summarized the current status of Washington’s economy as well as the increasing importance of global development for growing and improving the state of jobs in Washington.

After losing 3 million jobs in a period of 6-9 months, Washington has been hard hit by the recession. While the state is now gaining in employment, it is doing so very slowly. In Washington, the highest unemployment rates exist in the NE and SW counties of the state. The governor has been forced to make deep budget cuts and the state budget is in crisis. A big chunk of this budget is protected by the state constitution, which is focused on K-12 education and this limits flexibility. Unfortunately, the latest election results have squashed efforts to create opportunities for new revenues with sale taxes.

Weed did offer some good news for the state. Global trends including prevalence of software, the clean energy transition, and also the increasing influence of Asia are set to disproportionately benefit Washington. Thanks to the abundance of international non-profits and the general growth of development organizations in the state of Washington, Weed explained the development sector will enable Washington to achieve its goals of increasing international exports, study abroad programs, and building a broader international agenda. Meeting these goals, Weed stressed, will be essential for improving and growing jobs for the state and improving our local economy.