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Summer 2007
Resources & Links
Activities, Web sites and other cutting-edge information for global givers
Google.org enters the blogosphere
Google.org, the philanthropic arm of online search engine Google has entered the blogosphere with the launch in July of the "Official Google.org Blog" at blog.google.org. The blog seeks input from Google.org team members and other Googlers about what they're working on, and from Google.org grantees and partners on ideas and insights they wish to share. Among the first to weigh in on the blog was 2007 Sundance award winner Irene Taylor Brodsky, whose Vermilion Films has received support from google.org for a documentary that tells the story of "public health heroes on the front lines of polio vaccination and eradication." The film seeks to mobilize donors and health workers to bring the campaign over the finish line. Throughout the project, Brodsky will post stories from the field.
Global grantmaking guidelines drafted
The Washington, DC-based Council on Foundations and the Brussels-based European Foundation Centre have created a tool designed to help the growing sector of global philanthropy increase its accountability and effectiveness toward both donors and beneficiaries. The two organizations have drafted the Principles of Accountability for International Philanthropy, a set of voluntary guidelines for organizations and individuals involved in cross-border grantmaking. The recommendations are the result of a joint working group that was commissioned in 2005 and composed of members from the two nonprofit membership associations. The group was charged with gathering a set of best practices affecting accountability to mission, grantees, partners and intended beneficiaries. The document identifies seven principles of accountability -- integrity, understanding, respect, responsiveness, fairness, collaboration and effectiveness. The guidelines are available on the Council of Foundations website www.cof.org. (Philanthropy Journal, June 8, 2007)
New publication Finance & Philanthropy
The Institute for Philanthropy (www.instituteforphilanthropy.org.uk), in cooperation with Wealth Bulletin (www.wealth-bulletin.com), is creating new monthly publication, Finance & Philanthropy. This monthly publication will monitor the latest trends in the wealth management sector with a focus on the intersection of confluence of the worlds of finance and philanthropy. The publication's goals include encouraging dialogue between the corporate and philanthropic sectors and improving philanthropy by businesspeople. F&P will be made available on subscription. The first issue will contain opinion pieces from and interviews with Peter Lampl of the Sutton Trust, Maximilian Martin, the head of global philanthropy at UBS, and Simon Tucker, head of Launchpad at the Young Foundation.
Shining a light on women who empower women
The largest women's fund in the world, the Global Fund for Women, has teamed up with photojournalist Paola Gianturco on a new book, Women Who Light the Dark. The book, which documents the many ways women are improving the world, tells the stories of social entrepreneurs from 15 countries, including Global Fund grantees. Kavita Ramdas, President and CEO of the Global Fund, wrote the book's foreword. Gianturco is donating all royalties from the book to support the Global Fund for Women's international grantmaking. Over the past 20 years, the Global Fund has supported local organizations in 164 countries, all run by women working effectively to advance women's rights (see related story in Global Giving Matters May-July 2006). In September 2007, Gianturco will launch a national book tour to share some of the stories of the women featured in her book. Lectures and book signings will be held in Seattle, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles. For further information, visit www.globalfundforwomen.org.
Alliance weighs in on challenges in global philanthropy
The June issue of Alliance (www.alliancemagazine.org) takes up the theme of the role of foundations in international development. Guest editors Peter Laugharn, Executive Director of the Bernard van Leer Foundation, and Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of CIVICUS, each offer funders six things to think about if they want their funding to be more effective. Agnès Binagwaho, head of the Rwandan national AIDS program, insists that foundations must align their activities with national efforts, while Peter Piot of UNAIDS stresses their role as "thought leaders." Luc Tayart de Borms argues that donors' exclusive reliance on civil society to achieve their goals may do more harm than good, while Andrés Thompson looks at the dilemmas facing foundation programs that develop human capital but leave people jobless. Also in the June issue of Alliance, Nnimmo Bassey questions the value of the new Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, while Jo Andrews reflects on "Great Philanthropic Mistakes."
Meanwhile, Alliance Online (www.alliancemagazine.org/online) features an interview with Pier MarioVello, who left his job as CEO of a supermarket chain in northern Italy 15 months ago to take up the job of Secretary-General of the Cariplo Foundation, one of the largest of Italy's banking foundations with assets of $11.3 billion. Vello discussed the challenges of making such a shift; from management style to measurement practices.
Vanity Fair shines a spotlight on Africa
Vanity Fair devotes its July 2007 issue to Africa. Guest-edited by rock star and antipoverty activist Bono, the magazine highlights some of the drivers of change across the continent today. Bill Clinton shares stories of his partnership with Nelson Mandela in the fight against HIV/AIDS; Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a key player in the anti-apartheid effort in South Africa, explains why the fight for equality must go global; and author and journalist Binyagvanga Wainaina charts the strength of the emerging entrepreneurial spirit in Kenya. Vanity Fair also examines the fruits of Jeffrey Sachs' bold new Millennium Villages experiments in Kenya and Uganda, and profiles 71 Africans who are working for a brighter future for their homeland.
 Creative Commons Attribution license; reuse is encouraged with credit to Synergos.
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