Conference Reports

Thirty-three per cent of participants at the CIVICUS World Assembly, held 21-25 June in Glasgow, Scotland, chose ‘unaccountable leaders’ as the main problem facing the world today. But, as Mary Robinson stressed, CSOs must also …

Building effective grantmaking and support for indigenous communities requires a long-term partnership with donors. That was the main theme of this year’s 5th Annual International Funders for Indigenous Peoples (IFIP) ‘Linking Circles’ Conference in May, …

From 28 June to 1 July, over 400 participants from 60 countries – from government, business, the arts, foundations, the citizens’ sector and global NGOs –gathered in Sweden to explore and exchange new ideas for …

I had mistakenly assumed that an event that focused on the social investment industry would have very limited appeal to anyone from outside the industry, but the diversity of those attending illustrated just how wide …

As Global Philanthropy Forum (GPF) founder Jane Wales explained at the start of the Forum, held in Washington DC in early April, GPF participants are people committed to solving big problems. The Forum therefore aimed …

At the start of April, I was one of four speakers from Britain who joined panellists from Harvard, Taiwan and Hong Kong and some 300 delegates at Hong Kong’s first social enterprise conference. The initiative …

What do people get out of giving, wondered participants at the Coutts Forum, held in Oxford, UK, in February? It should be fun, it should be passionate, it should be interesting and it should provide …

This year’s Skoll Forum in Oxford at the end of March was about building social capital markets and using the full range of financial mechanisms, from grants to commercial instruments, to support social change. According …

Despite the high expectations of staff hired to raise money, there is a limited understanding of fundraising and the barriers that fundraising professionals face in the Latin American philanthropic environment. This was the theme addressed …

Holding the 57th Annual Conference of the Council on Foundations in Pittsburgh seemed particularly appropriate. For one thing, Pittsburgh is the home of Heinz (57 varieties) family philanthropy. For another, both Pittsburgh and the Council …