At its two-yearly conference in March this year, GIFE released a new vision for social investment in Brazil and outlined some aspects of its new operation model. This followed a year-long process – involving its members, partner organizations and incoming board of directors – that saw a transition in the organization’s leadership and the start of a period of reflection on the changing context for social investment and the role GIFE should play in it.
There was a clear recognition in the conference that the capacity of social investment to generate transformations depended on the patterns of engagement with society. To that end, social investment should be seen more broadly in terms of its use of private resources for public benefit, and as a movement that includes a range of strategies for fulfilling its role.
According to this vision, a transformative social investment could have five main roles:
- promoting social, environmental and cultural causes
- strengthening civil society and public mechanisms of participation
- catalysing philanthropic resources
- enhancing companies’ social impact
- fostering businesses that focus on social impact
GIFE is developing a new model of operation (pictured) that mobilizes and develops knowledge from its network – not only its members, but a wider range of partners – to generate the conditions for improving the environment for social investment (external influence) and raising the bar for social investment practices (internal influence).
This model, seeking to strengthen both the work of foundations and its contribution to a more diverse and autonomous civil society in Brazil, will guide GIFE’s strategy for the next years.
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