Dalia Association, Palestine
The Dalia Association was formally registered in 2009, following several years of consultations by members of the Palestinian community concerned about the massive influx of external aid that followed the Oslo Agreement and the dependency that it threatened to create. Dalia works to raise awareness around the value of local resources and the abundance of resources available in Palestinian communities, as well as in the Palestinian diaspora. Dalia works to revive “Al Ouna”, the traditional practice of giving in Palestine, and articulates its existence as a community foundation as a direct response to the perceived failures of international development aid to the Palestinian territories.
Recently, Dalia has developed several new fundraising campaigns to encourage local giving. This has included, for example, Dukkan, a second-hand shop whose profits go directly back into Dalia’s community grantmaking programmes, and “Make a Difference with Food” whereby local restaurants donate their time, space and expertise and host evening fundraisers offering local food. Additionally, Dalia has released a “fun-raising” toolkit to encourage community members to organize their own fundraising initiatives and, in 2019, Dalia organized its first Giving Circle with support from The Funding Network. Dalia Association also practices and is an advocate for participatory grantmaking.
Since 2007, the GFCF has provided U.S. $140,000 in small grant support to the Dalia Association. Most recently, GFCF funding has helped Dalia invest in its communications systems, and Dalia is also a member of an action learning group of GFCF partners focused on measurement in community philanthropy.