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What is Community Philanthropy?
“Integral to the creation of good governance is the establishment of indigenous non-governmental institutions, custom-made to solve local problems. And the success of those institutions requires both the mobilization of the populace to address its own needs and structures to ensure the self-sustainability of those institutions in terms of finances, human resources and succession of leadership.” – His Highness the Aga Khan, Royal Society for Asian Affairs, February 1992
Community philanthropy is the practice of communities mobilizing capital of various kinds – civic, social and intellectual – with the aim of improving people’s lives over the long term. In the places where the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) works, we have a long history of supporting this practice. This impulse grows from our shared values of helping the most vulnerable and our commitment to communities taking a lead role in achieving success.
Community organizations design their programs to find ways to strengthen civil society for the long term. AKDN works to build the local sustainability of civil society by strengthening organizational Assets, Capacity, and Trust, with a larger goal of improving the quality of life in the areas where we work.
Global Alliance for Community Philanthropy
AKDN has joined a group of partners including the Charles S. Mott Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, and the Global Fund for Community Foundations to create the Global Alliance for Community Philanthropy. AKDN’s decades of experience is informing the next phase of learning about community philanthropy, growing the practice globally, and shifting donor attitudes to empower local initiatives. The Alliance intends to move development assistance beyond a project focus towards long-term, sustainable action. The Alliance intends to help funders, practitioners and advocates better understand and promote community philanthropy for achieving lasting benefits. The Alliance will learn from ongoing and pilot projects that build assets, trust, and/or the capacity of local community philanthropic organizations.
Research and programming will support four primary goals:
- Greater sustainability of civil society through control of assets by local people;
- Greater ability of local actors to engage in decision-making processes;
- Enhanced community-level capacity of civil society organizations and leadership;
Greater accountability within communities and civil society in order to establish trust.The Global Fund for Community Foundations (GFCF) has been selected as the Secretariat of the Global Alliance for Community Philanthropy (GACP). GFCF is a South African organization which works to strengthen community foundations through grants, evaluations and organizational development support. In its role as Secretariat, GFCF will lead the Alliance’s research efforts, examining best practices in community philanthropy and its role in creating positive development outcomes. Learn more about GFCF and GACP here.
The Yetu Initiative
Yetu is a four-year partnership involving the Aga Khan Foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development that empowers Kenyan civil society organizations (CSOs) to help communities tackle challenges that they deem most pressing. “Yetu” means “ours” in Kiswahili, and this project aims to empower Kenyans to give voice to their concerns, and support solutions with their contributions.
History of the Alliance
In 2010 and 2011, the Aga Khan Foundation U.S.A. (AKF USA) and the C.S. Mott Foundation (Mott) arranged gatherings to discuss the current practices of community philanthropy in Africa and Asia, resulting in this report. In 2012 and 2013, AKF USA and Mott worked alongside additional donor partners, including the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the U.S. Agency for International Development, to form the multi-donor and multi-stakeholder Global Alliance for Community Philanthropy. The Alliance works to gather case studies and evaluations from around the world in order to better understand how these efforts affect development outcomes.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Related Content” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”6″ item=”5947″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1511991266451-7d0c0385-bfd6-0″ taxonomies=”152″][/vc_column][/vc_row]