The value of networks was a recurring theme at the fifth networking meeting of the Community Philanthropy Initiative (CPI), which brought together 91 participants from 23 different countries – the highest attendance ever. How do networks reach out beyond their own members? Can we actively work together? These questions arise for almost any network one can think of.

Networking and dialogue shouldn’t be the end, said Bernardino Casadei. As chair of the extraordinary session on ‘Promoters of Community Philanthropy’ that followed, his agenda was clearly to find something else to be the end. ‘Can we work together?’ he asked. ‘Are there key audiences with whom we all have to work and can we develop common strategies?’ Community foundations (CFs) need to be promoted at local, national and international level. Individual CFs do this at the local level, national networks work at the national level, and WINGS-CF performs the role at global level. Is there a role for CPI in approaching European-level associations? One speaker pointed out that this is already part of CPI’s mission.