Community philanthropy has its origins in long‑held practices of exchange, mutual aid, solidarity, and community development. ‘Local people helping each other by sharing resources for the common good’, is an inclusive and caring practice that is found in most, if not all, cultures and communities. Nevertheless, despite renewed attention to the concept of community philanthropy among both nonprofits and philanthropists, there is limited guidance for those who wish to apply or invest in community philanthropy approaches. This paper provides an overview of an extensive review of the available literature and seeks to clarify, for those that may be working in the field of development, what it means to practice community philanthropy. Author: Dana R.H. Doan Published by: GFCF Published: August 2019 Download: 'What Is...

Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace has recently published four studies on philanthropy – in India, Russia, the Arab region and Brazil. These studies have taken a broad view of philanthropy, encompassing everything from individual giving, to giving by private and corporate foundations, CSR, community philanthropy, social justice philanthropy, self-funded movements and impact investing. One area of further exploration, as detailed in this report, is individual giving by ordinary people. Seen as an area of great promise in India and Russia, it is at an earlier stage in Brazil. In the Arab region giving to the social sector is barely making headway, though traditional giving is very much alive. Author: Caroline Hartnell Published by: Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace Published: July 2019 Download: 'Individual...

Civil society organizations working on social change are under pressure worldwide. They are confronted with shrinking civic space to do their work, and face reduced access to foreign funding. Against this background, there is an increasingly louder call to strengthen southern ownership and to change power dynamics within development cooperation. This was reason for Wilde Ganzen and Vice Versa (the Dutch magazine on development cooperation) to publish a special issue on the topic of local resource mobilization as a strategy to shift power. This special edition of the magazine includes interviews with participants and partners of the Change the Game Academy, as well as organizations and experts working in the...

This paper looks at the idea of ‘leadership’ and forms part of Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace’s series on ‘defining key concepts’ in development and philanthropy. Although widely used, and viewed as an important ingredient in successful philanthropy and development, there is no common understanding of what people mean by the term ‘leadership’ or how its value is demonstrated in practice. This paper seeks to gain greater understanding of the concept within the field, and to make it concrete and practical for practitioners. The paper is a work in progress, a starting point for discussion, and additional contributions to develop the work further are invited. Authors: Barry Knight & Chandrika Sahai, edited by Caroline Hartnell Published...

This report summarizes key findings from an extensive scoping exercise undertaken by the GFCF, commissioned by Comic Relief, aimed at understanding the current landscape of strategies and approaches that put local people and local institutions in charge of their own development. The scoping excercise included a literature review, and key informant interviews. Authors: Jenny Hodgson, Barry Knight & Susan Wilkinson-Maposa Published by: GFCF Published: March 2019 Download: ‘New Horizons for Community-Led Development: Recommendations for Funders’ or in French 'Perspectives nouvelles en matière de prise en charge du développement par les collectivités locales: Recommandations aux bailleurs de fonds'

The GFCF Annual Report, covering the period 1 April 2017 - 31 March 2018, offers a snapshot of the organization’s activities for the financial year. The report is broken down by the GFCF’s three strategic priorities: supporting organizations that #ShiftThePower; connecting the field and growing the #ShiftThePower evidence base; and, building a global movement to #ShiftThePower. Published by: GFCF Published: January 2019 Download: ‘GFCF_AnnualReport_2017-18’

This paper looks at the idea of ‘dignity’ and forms part of Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace’s series on ‘defining key concepts’ in development and philanthropy. The 1948 Declaration of Human Rights enshrined dignity as the central goal of development, yet the term is not clearly defined, which makes it difficult to pursue and impossible to measure. Different people and organizations committed to the pursuit of dignity are likely to have different understandings of the term. The aim of this paper is to come up with a clearer definition of dignity and to begin to explore approaches to measuring it. We hope this will help people working in the field to improve...

How likely is it that a given organization will facilitate sustainable change? Untold millions of dollars are spent, and untold effort expended, in coordinated attempts to make life better for individuals and communities across the world. Iterative processes of review and reform, global initiatives and flavours of the month in philanthropic giving and development aid all testify that few organizations can claim that their efforts have resulted in truly durable development. The Holy Grail is still out there. This paper considers community philanthropy organizations: a varied range of civil society organizations whose recognition as a category is embryonic, yet which, it shall be argued, are structurally geared to support lasting...

This guide is for funders who wish to understand how they can contribute to unlocking philanthropy’s potential to build more resilient, sustainable and democratic societies. This is what the philanthropy support ecosystem, also called philanthropy infrastructure, is all about. It is about developing and harnessing private resources for social good, building civil society and democracy, and helping to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is central to the mission of all visionary funders who want to increase the impact and sustainability of their work, and #LiftUpPhilanthropy. Author: Benjamin Bellegy Published by: Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support (WINGS) Published: June 2018 Download: ‘Unlocking Philanthropy’s Potential’

The community philanthropy movement is growing rapidly all over the world. In Italy, the establishment of community foundations began in 1999, and there are now 37 registered Italian community foundations. Different in terms of origin, size, vision, methodology and operations, and deeply rooted in the fabric of a given community, Italian community foundations represent different forms of community philanthropy. But they are always platforms that provide a bridge between local institutions and third-sector organizations in order to deal, at the local level, with the complex, social, economic and cultural challenges that characterize today’s world. This guide examines the history of the movement in Italy, the legal and fiscal context in...

While slogans like “think globally, act locally” have been around for decades, so much decision making about philanthropy and development aid still happens by stakeholders outside of affected communities. This GrantCraft Leadership Series paper focuses on how funders around the globe are challenging this norm by sharing and shifting power into the hands of local leadership. It explores examples, advice, and the driving questions for donors interested in producing people-owned changes, without losing sight of their institutional interests. Donors interested in producing lasting results that are people-owned and led will find this particularly valuable. Authors: Jenny Hodgson & Anna Pond Published by: Foundation Center Published: April 2018 Download: 'How Community Philanthropy Shifts Power: What Donors...