March 17, 2010
Global Philanthropy Forum
Accountability & Transparency Trends
Can private money and public markets help solve society’s most intractable social and health problems? The millennium has ushered in a new generation of philanthropists who understand innovation, risk-taking, and accountability, and who are already playing a crucial part in solving the biggest problems facing the world. This blend of the for-profit and non-profit model has been called the philanthrocapitalism movement.
Since 2002, the World Affairs Council has organized annually the Global Philanthropy Forum (GPF) aimed at exchanging new ideas on how to conduct this new type of philanthropy worldwide. Its participants, for the most of part, are members of private foundations of large corporations or enterprises dedicated to private philanthropy, such as google.org or the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The participants share concerns that range from improvements on medicine distribution, building hospitals and medical capacities to tackling climate change.
Forum members have developed what they call a strategic approach to philanthropy. This approach means that philanthropy ought to be concerned not just with giving, but also with developing capacities in the receiving country to sustain initiatives. That means responding to what the markets can tell us. Markets may be the single most effective listening device for understanding preference, need, and–most importantly–how and what products and services are valued by the poor. But there is also a general belief among the forum members that although markets provide for the most rational distribution of resources, they do not always account for an equitable distribution. Therefore, the burden of achieving a more equitable distribution of societal goods falls upon civil society itself and governmental authorities. Some discussions at GPF focus on public-private partnerships, where both sectors invest in efforts that are of interest to the society. Those partnerships help spur development in regions in need while ensuring that the domestic sector has a stake at the project.
The definition of philanthropy used by GPF members is intentionally broad, so as to encompass social, educational, medical and even environmental aspects. The overall goal is to promote an increase of societal well-being. They tend to adopt hybrid models of philanthropy, which focuses not just with transferring funds, but also on following through with the implementation of the projects. They are attempting to ensure that the programs will endure in the absence of international volunteers or aid workers. The members of the forum act on the concept that foreign-aid workers are a temporary feature in the receiving country and should help the locals to develop their own sustainable programs. One important innovation is the stress on spreading knowledge and know-how throughout the society, in both private and public sectors.
The focus on knowledge is furthered by the idea that inventive and innovative individuals are crucial when implementing programs and investing in developing countries. This leverage of knowledge is also taken into consideration when the members of the forum discuss the comparative advantages that each of the contributing agency’s provide. The interest of the participants is to make use of the best knowledge available to improve the living of the population in donation receiving countries.
Frederico Ferreira is a Spring researcher at the American Enterprise Institute
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