TPI’s “The Thoughtful Funder’s Guide to Global Giving” Spotlights Best Practices and Opportunities Around SDG Issues of Water, Refugee Response, Women and Girls
Boston, MA (August 26, 2019) – A new research-driven resource is available free to funders who seek best practices with emphasis on catalyzing significant and sustainable global change. Developed by The Philanthropic Initiative (TPI), The Thoughtful Funder’s Guide to Global Giving delineates strategies common to successful funders across all issues and geographies, then spotlights the challenges and greatest opportunities for funders working or considering involvement in:
- increasing access to clean, safe water;
- addressing the global refugee response crisis; and
- improving conditions for women and girls.
“As increasingly tough questions arose about how philanthropy can address some of the world’s most pressing problems, we realized there was no in-depth, centralized research to offer funders as a landscape for shared progress and opportunities for collaboration,” said Maggi Alexander, TPI Partner and Director of its Center for Global Philanthropy. “With the support of the C.S. Mott Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, we compiled source materials and gathered insights and expertise from global change makers about the road ahead. The resulting Guide is something we feel can be a common starting point for fresh and far-reaching objectives with effective solutions.”
The methodology of the report was designed to provide special attention to frequently asked questions such as:
- How can we give effectively and responsibly in cultures and geographies not our own?
- How can our philanthropy or foundation make a meaningful difference on huge issues?
- What is the best entry point or strategy to tackle an issue?
- How are other funders approaching this issue and what are the opportunities to collaborate?
- What are the most effective ways to work with grantees as true partners?
- How can we leverage our philanthropic resources further to catalyze significant and sustainable change?
Following an analysis of the qualities of effective funders, and then challenges specific to each of the key issues, the report issues global calls to action for funders including the need to:
- develop greater awareness on where key issues overlap – for example, women’s safety around finding water, or girls’ safety during refugee crises; and
- identify local partners who can educate funders on what solutions are truly needed by impacted populations, and how to work within cultural parameters to achieve real results.
The Thoughtful Funder’s Guide to Global Giving is available for free download on TPI’s website. Partners at TPI and the Center for Global Philanthropy will also be presenting and discussing the Guide at events over the coming months. For details as events are scheduled, please visit TPI’s Twitter feed, or to discuss scheduling an event, please contact Maggi Alexander at malexander@tpi.org.
The Philanthropic Initiative (TPI) is a global philanthropic consulting practice that helps foundations, families, companies and individual donors develop and execute customized strategies to increase the impact of their giving and achieve philanthropy that is more strategic, effective, and fulfilling. For 30 years, TPI has served as consultant and thought partner to ambitious donors and funders who embrace innovative thinking in their efforts to find local, national, and global levers of change. TPI is committed to actively promoting and advancing strategic philanthropy by conducting cutting-edge research, publishing donor education resources, and training individuals, organizations, and advisors in best practices, and is a distinct operating unit of the Boston Foundation. In 2010, TPI established its Center for Global Philanthropy with a mission to promote and increase effective international philanthropy that strengthens local organizations and positively transforms lives and communities around the globe. For more information, visit tpi.org or check out our blog, Deep Social Impact. We’re also on LinkedIn and Twitter.
The C.S. Mott Foundation was founded in 1926 to inspire and empower individuals to work with their communities in ways that will help them achieve more than they could ever accomplish alone. In each of its program areas – Civil Society, Education, Environment and Flint Area – the Mott Foundation envisions a world in which each individual’s quality of life is connected to the well-being of the community, both locally and globally. To learn more, visit mott.org.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930, is guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive. WKKF works with communities throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes, to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life. To learn more, visit www.wkkf.org or follow WKKF on Twitter at @wk_kellogg_fdn.
Media Contact:
Sara D’Onofrio
The Philanthropic Initiative
617.338.5884
sdonofrio@tpi.org