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August-September 2005
Global Giving Round-Up
Overviews of best-practices around the world and links to learn more about them
Mexicans donate generously to Asian tsunami relief
More than 700,000 Mexicans gave nearly $4 million in private donations for victims of the Asian tsunami, the largest financial contribution made by civil society in any developing country not directly impacted by the disaster. The Mexican appeal for tsunami relief, the Alliance for Asia: Rebuilding Homes, was a joint initiative of 37 Mexican civil society organizations, foundations, companies, financial institutions and communications groups. Money raised from the appeal is earmarked for a $25 million project of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for construction of homes in Indonesia. The project is expected to aid 10,000 families in 40 communities in the province of Aceh. José Ignacio Avalos, a Global Philanthropist Circle member and spokesman for Alliance for Asia, called the results, "very promising -- we believe that as a country, we are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of offering a helping hand to those who need it." Avalos is president and founder of Gente Nueva, a Mexico-based organization that works across sectors to generate economic opportunities for the poor. (UNDP Release, March 18, 2005)
Philanthropist restoring war-damaged national park in Mozambique
Greg Carr, former chairman of Prodigy Internet and founder of Africa Online, is giving his Manhattan pied-à-terre, valued at $18 million, to his family foundation and plans to direct the proceeds to help fund restoration of a national park in Mozambique. The gift follows a $36 million pledge, to be paid over 30 years, that Carr, 45, made in 2004 to Mozambique's Ministry of Tourism in response to a request from Mozambique's ambassador to the UN to invest in the country. The proceeds from the apartment sale will benefit the one-million acre Gorongosa National Park, a biodiversity hotspot in southern Africa. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Carr Foundation (www.carrfoundation.org) is working in partnership with the Government of Mozambique to preserve and restore the park, which was damaged by three decades of civil war. The project aims to develop community-based ecotourism in the park to assist local residents with employment and improvements in social services such as schools, clinics and improved water supply. Carr, a human rights advocate and philanthropist, is founder of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and is active in anti-bias efforts in his home state of Idaho. (Wall Street Journal Online, June 17, 2005; Carr Foundation website)
Unitus opens India microfinance center
Unitus (www.unitus.com) a nonprofit organization that helps alleviate poverty by accelerating the growth of microfinance institutions (MFI) worldwide, has announced the launch of the Unitus Indian Microfinance Center in Bangalore. In addition to supporting the organization's six partners in India, the center will provide services for future Indian MFI partners and serve as a resource for broader microfinance industry collaboration. Unitus, founded and chaired by Global Philanthropist Circle member Mike Murray, seeks to bring microfinance services to more than 10 million of India's working poor by 2015. It acts as a social venture capital investor for the microfinance industry, identifying high-potential MFIs in developing countries and assisting their growth through capital investments and capacity building consulting. In addition to India, Unitus has MFI partners in Mexico and Kenya. (Unitus Newsletter, July 2005)
Sainsbury announces plans for "giving while living"
David Sainsbury -- Lord Sainsbury of Turville -- who amassed great wealth in Britain as head of the Sainsbury's supermarket chain before joining the government as Minister of Science, announced in May that he intends to give away at least £1 billion ($1.8 billion) during his lifetime and has directed his Gatsby Charitable Foundation (www.gatsby.org.uk) to spend both its income and capital before he dies. The foundation holds an estimated five percent share of the grocery chain, J Sainsbury PLC, which Sainsbury chaired until he entered government in 1998. The foundation's trustees include Global Philanthropist Circle member Christopher Stone, who also manages the Family Office of Lord Sainsbury. With his action, Lord Sainsbury, at the age of 64, joins the growing ranks of wealthy individuals who have decided to play an active role in ensuring that their philanthropic dollars are well spent while they are alive. The Gatsby Charitable Foundation has already invested more than $720 million in its 35 years in operation, with another $180 million committed to ongoing programs in developing countries and the UK. (Sunday Times Online, May 22, 2005; The Economist, May 28, 2005)
Indigenous artists give share of profits to alleviate hunger in Niger
Novica (www.novica.com) an online bazaar for indigenous artisans from around the world, has announced that it will donate a portion of its August sales in West Africa to UNICEF's emergency fund to alleviate hunger in Niger. Novica is one of a number of "ethical enterprises" in the portfolio of Foursome Investments (www.foursome.net) a London-based socially responsible investment group founded and directed by Global Philanthropist Circle member Kurt Engelhorn. The fair trade Internet marketplace permits shoppers to buy a range of quality handicrafts direct from artists, eliminating the middleman so that producers and consumers get a better deal. Niger, the second poorest country in the world, is facing a hunger crisis aggravated by severe drought and an invasion of locusts during the past year. An estimated 3.3 million people, including 800,000 children under age five, are currently threatened with starvation. Novica notes that donations may also be made directly to the UNICEF appeal through the agency's website www.unicef.org.
Building civil society in Kazakhstan
Writing from Almaty, Kazakhstan in June, Center for Safe Energy (CSE -- www.centerforsafeenergy.org) co-directors Francis Macy and Enid Schreibman issued one of their periodic updates to friends of CSE on the center's ongoing efforts to strengthen local capacity, particularly among women, to deal with environmental, social and economic problems in the communities of the former Soviet Union. Fresh from a meeting of the local philanthropy circle, they described the exhilarating experience of listening to stories told from the heart, about the simple but effective ways in which community members are plugging the gaping holes in the former Soviet safety net. CSE is fortunate to have as a local partner Kaisha Atakhanova, a winner of the 2005 Goldman Environmental Prize for her public lobbying campaign to block the import and storage of radioactive waste in Kazakhstan. Atakhanova founded and directs the Karaganda Ecological Center, which promotes grassroots democracy building and environmental protection. She is working with CSE on its newest project called Democracy in Action, which aims to increase the role of women and nonprofit organizations in creating local public programs for vulnerable population groups.
Foundations rally support for common European citizenship project
Against a backdrop of France and Netherlands rejecting a common European constitution, the European Foundation Centre (www.efc.be) met for its 16th Annual General Assembly in June in Budapest, where the EFC's 500 foundation delegates called for a redoubling of efforts to strengthen the European Project. The project aims to rally foundations to increase their commitment to support citizen participation and raise awareness of the need to develop a common citizenship while embracing cultural plurality. The EFC has forged a partnership with the European Commission to mobilize support for the European Project. At a meeting with EFC members at the Commission's headquarters in Brussels in May, Commission President José Manuel Barroso stressed his interest in working with European foundations to advance the Millennium Development Goals and to design a regulatory framework to make it easier for foundations to work across national borders. In other EFC news, the Centre has appointed Dr. Gerard Salole as Chief Executive of EFC headquarters in Brussels. Salole, who was the Ford Foundation's representative for South Africa, replaces EFC's founding Chief Executive, John Richardson. (EFC Statement June 6, 2005; EFC News Release April 8, 2005)
Hewlett family philanthropy honored with 2005 Carnegie Medal
Global Philanthropist Circle member Eleanor Hewlett Gimon was one of six private donors from around the world honored with the 2005 Andrew Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy (www.carnegieinstitution.org/carnegiemedal2005). The award, announced August 11 on the anniversary of Carnegie's death, recognizes philanthropists and their families who have dedicated their private wealth to public good. The award ceremony will take place at the new home of Scotland's Parliament in Edinburgh on October 4, preceded by an international philanthropy symposium (www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk). Accepting the award on behalf of the Hewlett family, Eleanor Hewlett Gimon serves on the board of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation -- one of the largest private foundations in the US -- and the Family Foundation of North America. She is also active in the Flora Family Foundation, which she created with her siblings to encourage the next generation to become active in philanthropy. Other recipients of the 2005 Carnegie Medal include His Highness the Aga Khan; Susan Packard Orr, for the Packard family; Sir Tom Farmer, founder of the Scots firm Kwik-Fit; and Agnes Gund, chair of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Nominations sought for beefed-up Hilton Humanitarian Prize
The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation is seeking nominations for its 2006 Hilton Humanitarian Prize. To celebrate the award's 10th anniversary and to underscore the "tremendous humanitarian needs facing our globe," Hilton Foundation Chairman and CEO Steven Hilton announced in August that the prize had been increased from $1 million to $1.5 million. Now the world's largest prize, the annual award recognizes organizations that are significantly alleviating human suffering. The nomination period began in August and will close on November 7, 2005. Nomination instructions are available on the Hilton Foundation website www.hiltonfoundation.org. Previous winners of the Hilton Prize include Heifer International; International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims; SOS Children's Villages; St. Christopher's Hospice; Casa Alianza; AMREF/African Medical and Research Foundation; Doctors Without Borders; International Rescue Committee; and Operation Smile. The Hilton Foundation is named for the late hotel entrepreneur and aids the world's most disadvantaged and vulnerable. More than half of its grants fund international projects.
TIME and Gates Foundation team up for a focus on global health
TIME magazine will shine a spotlight on global health in November, with a global health summit linked to a special issue of the magazine focusing on current challenges and what can be done to improve basic health standards for hundreds of millions of people around the world. The TIME Global Health Summit (www.time.com/time/2005/globalhealth), to be held in New York City November 1-3, 2005, will be cosponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It aims to convene a broad cross-section of global society, including leaders in medicine, government, business, public policy, development and the arts. The same week, TIME's media partner, the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) will debut a six-part series on global health, Rx for Survival.
Partnership strengthens ties between private banking, microfinance
Global Philanthropist Circle member Youssef Dib, Global Head of Wealth Management Services at BNP Paribas Private Bank, reports that the bank has signed an agreement with PlaNet Finance designed to increase financial resources available to microfinance. In announcing the new microfinance partnership, BNP Paribas Bank Director François Debiesse noted that the new fund responds to a growing interest on the part of its clients in alternative investment products. "BNP Paribas is pleased to strengthen its role as a player in the development of microfinance and to meet the needs of its large clientele with regard to ethical and philanthropic investments," Debiesse said. The agreement marks the development of a microfinance investment fund that will be available to BNP Paribas Bank's international clients. The bank has directly invested $3.75 million [€3 million] in the fund and PlaNet Finance will serve as its advisor on microfinance issues. The French-based BNP Paribas Bank manages more than $125 billion [€100 billion] in assets worldwide. The bank expects that its initial investment will enable the funding of as many as 30,000 microenterprises in developing countries, with an average microcredit loan of $125 [€100]. PlaNet Finance (www.planetfinance.org) which supports microfinance institutions (MFIs) in more than 60 countries, will select the MFIs eligible for loans from the new fund.
25th International Fundraising Congress opens October 18
The Resource Alliance (www.resource-alliance.org) will hold its 25th International Fundraising Congress in the Netherlands from October 18-21, 2005. The most internationally diverse fundraising conference in the world, the event will feature more than 55 speakers and is expected to attract more than 750 participants. New in 2005, Resource Alliance and Charities Aid Foundation will launch the Innovation Awards to recognize best practices in local resource mobilization. For information about the conference, or to register, contact ifc@resource-alliance.org.
© 2005 The Synergos Institute/World Economic Forum
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