Opinions

Today huge sums of money go to funding orphanages rather than supporting children in the community – in the belief that this is the best way to meet the needs of children facing disaster, disease …

Having been with Emirates Foundation from the beginning, I have witnessed both operating and grantmaking models. Initially we supported many civil society organizations with grants to build their capabilities. However, many had to discontinue their …

While there are plenty of celebrated examples of non-profits (usually new ones) using technology innovation exceedingly well (think of charity:water, Ushahidi, Donor’s Choose or GiveDirectly), foundations are not known as a hotbed of technological innovation. …

Philanthropy advice is a niche but growing service, increasingly offered by a wide variety of different and competing actors – independent advisers, family offices, banks, law firms, notary firms and wealth managers. Under these circumstances, …

In November, the city of Detroit emerged from the largest municipal bankruptcy in the history of the United States. A key part of the city’s deal with its creditors, generally termed ‘the Grand Bargain’, hinged …

There is a common assumption that innovation is usually found on the outside edges of an existing sector or industry and that startups and upstarts are the most reliable sources of new ideas. In that …

Foundations can offer much more than money. They can also mobilize expertise, experience, resources and convening power in the service of their mission. However, despite the increasing awareness of ‘funder plus’, perhaps there is another …

My 20 years’ experience working in international development and philanthropy, most recently as head of philanthropy advice at ABN AMRO Private Banking in the Netherlands, have led me to two conclusions: first, both wealth and …

The mantra for transformative change has become ubiquitous. After all, who would opt for treating symptoms, often derisively labelled as applying band-aids, rather than striving for a cure? While the clarion call of transformation also …

Despite the exponential growth of impact investing and the surrounding buzz, and the billions of new investments made every year (it’s expected that the UK alone will see £1.1 billion worth of new impact investments …