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Special features
From not-for-profit to ‘social profit’
On 15 June 2004, an unusual crowd gathered on the trading floor of BOVESPA, the Brazilian Stock Exchange in São Paulo. For the first time in its history, the centre of the capital market was …
Ashoka set for take-off in Western Europe?
For over 20 years, Ashoka, the global citizen sector organization that pioneered the field of social entrepreneurship, worked almost exclusively in developing countries. First in India and Brazil, and then throughout Asia, Latin America, Africa …
The resource generation challenge: can accountability help?
A series of recently conducted studies have confirmed that the potential of philanthropy for social development is huge across the globe, yet in many countries very little of it currently comes to non-profit organizations (NPOs) …
Credibility Alliance: building trust for the voluntary sector
On 28 May, after prolonged consultations over a period of two years with voluntary organizations all across India, the Credibility Alliance (CA) came into existence. Its aim: to devise a self-regulatory mechanism that enhances the …
Letter to a new international funder
The Bernard van Leer Foundation (BvLF), which works in 35 countries and devotes 97 per cent of its funding to overseas grants,[1] has worked with a number of smaller Dutch foundations that have expressed an …
The view from the other side
Peter Laugharn’s advice to an imaginary first-time international grantmaker outlines a thoughtful approach to such grantmaking and the many and complex issues involved in it. But what’s it like to be on the other end …
African regional philanthropy: time to take off?
Why do people give to others? I believe there are two primary conditions that impel philanthropy: a moral concern to help and the opportunity to make a difference. The first of these has always been …
Private investments for the public good
The concept of making investments that produce both social and financial return is not new. Triodos Bank, Oikocredit and ShoreBank have been investing for social returns for more than two decades, and Profund, the first …
Using the marketplace: shopping for development?
‘Systemic problems are not solved by a few smart people … thinking really, really deep thoughts about really, really important things. They are solved when a vibrant and competitive marketplace first tests and then confirms …
Diaspora philanthropy: a potential to be realized
In recent years, diaspora philanthropy – largely motivated by feelings of cultural or religious identity, a sense of community, and often an acute appreciation of conditions within the home country – has increasingly come to …