Grantmakers interested in funding projects across international borders have a new ‘one-stop shop’ for links to information, organizations and resources that can aid their efforts. The Council on Foundations’ newly redesigned and augmented US International Grantmaking (USIG) website (www.usig.org) features a wide range of links to organizations and information pertinent to some of the legal, administrative, operational and accounting issues facing donors who wish to fund in other countries.

While the website is primarily a tool for US grantmakers, it includes information that may be useful to any grantmaker that funds internationally. For instance, the new site contains a series of 30 ‘Country Notes’, which contain detailed summaries of the not-for-profit legal and regulatory environment in specific countries as well as links to English translations (where possible) of each country’s not-for-profit laws. Additionally, it has links to a number of intermediary grantmaking organizations active in specific geographic or issue areas, as well as a section devoted to educational resources for those new to international grantmaking.

USIG is a longstanding project of the Council’s International Programs Department in cooperation with the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL). Its goals are to educate and inform grantmakers and grantseekers about the legal and practical issues related to international grantmaking, provide links to relevant resources, and share best practices in the field.

The project’s larger scope and expanded website resulted from a series of discussions, surveys and meetings of international grantmakers held over the past year by the Council on Foundations in an effort to determine which issues are of greatest concern. Redesign of the website and expansion beyond the original USIG focus on legal issues for private foundations emerged from this process as high priorities. The USIG website is a work in progress and any suggestions for additional links and resources are welcome.

Please send your comments on the USIG website to Stephen Dau at daus@cof.org

This column was written by Stephen Dau, Communications Coordinator, International Programs, Council on Foundations.