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The Case for Community Philanthropy: How the practice builds local assets, capacity and trust – and why it matters

The Case for Community Philanthropy: How the Practice Builds Local Assets, Capacity, and Trust – and Why It Matters makes the case that increasing local ownership and local accountability leads to stronger communities and should be a main focus of development aid practitioners. The community philanthropy approach works at the grassroots level by looking at local assets – financial and otherwise – and by building capacity and trust for addressing community needs and priorities.

The case statement crystallizes an understanding gathered in recent years. In 2012, AKF USA and the Mott Foundation released a report, based on a series of collaborative consultations in North America, Africa and Asia, that explored how community philanthropy has worked around the world to help build local capacity.

The publication synthesizes trends (one form of community philanthropy organization – community foundations – grew by a remarkable 86 percent from 2000 to 2010), the rationale, and views from experts. It addresses the role that donors can play in a community-driven practice. “It’s a challenge for outside funders investing a lot of money to expect programs to be sustained,” notes Shannon Lawder of the C.S. Mott Foundation. “From our experience, the work does continue when you’ve supported community philanthropy. It works.”

In addition to the languages mentioned above, check out additional translations available below!

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Hamisi Masasa

Community Philanthropy analysed is as old as the old human communes which was later destroyed by the human development process. Colonialism and neo-colonialism play significant role in building dependency of the North – South. Huge surplus money are poured as aid to sweetened poverty but have no significant change in the lives of the people especially in Africa which suffered slave trade, depopulation, and disease. However the Community Philanthropy approach to development if nurtured well it can provide solution in the building of human capacity to own development process but with honesty of outside funds which shall have a time… Read more »