Bridging philanthropy and development forum: day one

Day one of the forum on Bridging Philanthropy and Development in Africa and Asia saw a small group of new philanthropists and development actors with a diverse range of experiences come together to explore the factors influencing opportunities and risks in their potential collaboration. From the outset it was acknowledged that there is often mistrust and a lack of common understanding between these two groups, which the group here in Bellagio is keen to overcome so they can move forward together.

Community outcomes

The panel discussion on bridging philanthropy and development highlighted that the best resource for philanthropists seeking market information to improve community outcomes are people working on the ground with the end beneficiaries. In the experience of a former investment banker who set up a hospice for children with HIV in Indonesia, the information she gained from nurses working in rural communities proved more useful for facilitating needs-based development work than any statistics UN agencies were able to provide.

Lessons learned from collaboration

We shared stories of collaboration between philanthropists and development actors in small groups before reflecting on lessons learned and key factors for success, identified as:

• Community connections
• Demand-driven work
• Community-led and owned initiatives
• Clear communication of expectations from both sides.

Desire for sharing knowledge and experience to help the development of future philanthropy

Reflecting on their experiences, philanthropists were keen to share mistakes made and lessons learnt to benefit new philanthropists entering the field. Indeed, they expressed a desire for a central resource centre to help both philanthropists and NGOs understand the ‘how to’. They don’t want to reinvent the wheel, and would rather spend their time learning how to invest in a better way than making mistakes. They feel that what’s missing are the resources to help new philanthropists be more strategic.

Some philanthropists felt that, should NGOs they are supporting not live up to their initial expectations or under-perform, they would not simply walk away from the relationship they had entered into but rather work together to support them in working towards the agreed outcomes. However, this requires flexibility on both sides.

From project funding to institution-building

Both philanthropists and development actors agreed on the benefits of moving away from project funding and towards institution-building for sustainably addressing long-term issues. Institution-building requires a systems thinking approach with which philanthropists from the private sector may identify more readily than NGO practitioners accustomed to working on a project basis. The need for the concept rather than the entity to be institutionalised was identified, with reference made to Douglas North’s book explaining institutions as a collection of norms developed around a concept. However the challenges of institution-building, such as the need for on-going financial support and a diverse donor base, were recognised.

Who sets the development agenda?

It emerged that many philanthropists present today had not heard of the Millennium Development Goals, nor did they care about an international development agenda they feel they played no part in creating. Rather, individual philanthropists set theirown investment agenda based on their own passions. The philanthropists expressed that they are keen on sustained giving for long-term impact.

Social innovation systems

A social entrepreneur, who founded the Iko toilet project in Kenya, shared his experiences of developing a model for a social innovation system. We then looked at the scaling up of such a model, highlighting the associated significant financial, economic and political implications. The need for sustainability, scale and social impact of social innovation systems was emphasised, and the question raised of whether a loan gives a social entrepreneur more legitimacy than a grant.

Looking forward to day two

On day two of the forum we’re looking forward to a comprehensive exploration of perceived risk for philanthropists and drawing together actions to address the gaps to better bridge philanthropy and development in Africa and Asia. We hope to identify some concrete actions to take forward beyond this forum.

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