The story of 2020 will undoubtedly focus on COVID-19, and its related health, social and economic impacts around the world. But there’s a lesser told story too: the story of the countless local and national civil society organizations that, as international organizations repatriated expat staff, stepped up, filled gaps and lead community responses to the pandemic. Community philanthropy organizations were quick to adapt, rapidly mobilizing local resources and developing new fundraising strategies to meet urgent needs. In March 2021, the GFCF brought together three community philanthropy organizations – Bucharest Community Foundation, Tewa – the Nepal Women’s Fund and the Dalia...

Do we ever imagine the impact of a research project on the researchers themselves? Or do we just assume that researchers are “experts” who just do the work and then move on? The GFCF recently conducted follow-up interviews with five civil society leaders who were the principal field researchers in a project conducted in partnership with the GFCF and GlobalGiving, What does it mean to be community-led? Conversations with each of them revealed how their involvement in the six-month, six-country project, most of which took place under COVID-19 lockdown conditions, was both formative and transformative. The researchers – Artemisa Felix...