Unleashing the true potential of philanthropy to transform lives and communities

Over the past couple of years, I have spent an inordinate amount of time in meetings and conferences about the role of philanthropy in _______ (fill the blank with ‘global development’, ‘SDGs’, ‘closing space’, ‘climate solutions’ etc.). Usually, the conversation focuses on big foundations, family offices, high-net-worth-individuals…big philanthropy.

So, reading this new GrantCraft paper, How Community Philanthropy Shifts Power: What Donors Can Do to Help Make That Happen, produced in partnership with the Global Alliance of Community Philanthropy and the GFCF was certainly refreshing and much aligned with what we do at Charities Aid Foundation (CAF). 

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Why community philanthropy enables people-powered, sustainable development from the ground up

Across the board, civil society groups are finding it increasingly difficult to organize in ways that pursue a radical transformation of the current social and economic structures, while also mobilizing the resources needed to keep on keeping on.

The current funding landscape makes it hard for most civil society groups to not only grow and thrive, but to even to exist. The tendency of donors to make fewer, larger grants and the increasingly onerous audit/risk requirements are making it particularly difficult for small, Southern and spontaneous formations to access financial resources - except as sub-grantees of bigger, often Northern, first recipients.

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