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Industry News

Organization Offers Philanthropy Guidance

Geneva Global
Geneva Global is the world's leading international philanthropic advisor, and seeks to promote sustainable development by inspiring and enabling passionate and purposeful investment in the most effective life-changing initiatives throughout the world. Over the last eight years, the organization has guided clients to invest in 1,400 life-changing projects across 110 countries. Geneva Global provides expert guidance for international giving, connecting benefactors and beneficiaries for their mutual benefit. The organization works with individuals, families, corporations, financial service providers, government agencies, and foundations, offering customized services to meet their investment goals. Geneva Global's website also offers an archive of articles about philanthropy.

Report on Vulnerable Countries Released

Brookings Institute: Index of State Weakness in the Developing World
The Brookings Institute, a public policy organization that conducts high-quality independent research, has released an “Index of State Weakness in the Developing World,” which was designed to provide policymakers and researchers with a credible tool for analyzing and understanding the world's most vulnerable countries. The Index ranks and assesses 141 developing nations according to their relative performance in four critical spheres: economic, political, security, and social welfare. The Index may be downloaded for free from the Institute's website.

Database Provides Objective Information about the Earth and the Environment

Encyclopedia of Earth
The Encyclopedia of Earth is an electronic reference about the Earth, its natural environments, and their interaction with society. The Encyclopedia is a free, fully searchable collection of articles written by scholars, professionals, educators, and experts who collaborate and review each other's work. The articles are written in non-technical language and may be useful to students, educators, scholars, professionals, as well as the general public. The goal of the Encyclopedia of Earth is to be the largest reliable information resource about the environment, and it seeks to maintain a strong level of objectivity.

Conferences and Trainings

Conference Offers Fundraising Education and Training

28th International Fundraising Congress
The International Fundraising Congress-- sponsored by the Resource Alliance, a United Kingdom-based charity that seeks to build the fundraising capabilities of the nonprofit sector worldwide--is the world's leading education and training conference on fundraising. The event regularly attracts around 900 participants from over 55 countries, and is renowned for its outstanding training and networking opportunities. The congress offers sessions covering topics such as new media, communications, direct marketing, legacies, high-level giving, management and leadership, and more. The event gathers CEOs, directors, and fundraising and marketing managers of charities, health bodies, and arts organizations; representatives from trusts, foundations, and charity networks interested in learning more about the fundraising sector; and representatives of commercial organizations operating in the charity fundraising sector. Early bird registration is open through May 1, 2008. The congress will be held October 14-17, 2008, in Noordwijkerhout, the Netherlands.

Conference Examines Ecotourism in Canada and the U.S.

Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference 2008
The Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference 2008--sponsored by the International Ecotourism Society, which promotes responsible travel to natural areas in order to conserve the environment and improve the well--being of local people-gathers experts, industry leaders, and community stakeholders from across the United States and Canada. Participants will gain knowledge of the latest trends in ecotourism and sustainable tourism, learn practical skills, and participate in networking and knowledge sharing. Issues that will be explored include climate change, sustainable business practices, wildlife conservation, community partnerships, and innovative technologies for greening the tourism industry. The conference takes place October 27-29, 2008, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Social Marketing Topics Explored at Conference

2008 International Nonprofit and Social Marketing Conference
The 2008 International Nonprofit and Social Marketing Conference is sponsored by the Centre for Health Initiatives at Australia's University of Wollongong. The conference theme is “Partnerships, Proof, and Practice.” Topics that will be covered include arts marketing, ethical and corporate social responsibility, environmental marketing, indigenous issues, marketing and public policy, political marketing, public health and healthcare, public sector marketing and e-government, social marketing, social entrepreneurship, sponsorship and fundraising, and voluntary sector marketing. Early bird registration is open through May 12, 2008. Competitive papers must be submitted by April 28, 2008. The conference will be held July 14-16, 2008, in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.

Funding Opportunities

Innovative Global Health Research Supported

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: Grand Challenges Explorations
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation--which seeks to reduce inequities around the world, and has a focus on global health--supports Grand Challenges Explorations, a $100 million initiative to help scientists across the globe pursue early-stage, innovative ideas for solving major health problems. Topics include exploring the basis for latency in tuberculosis, creating new ways to prevent or cure HIV infection, creating new ways to protect against infectious disease, and creating new drugs or delivery systems to limit the emergence of resistance. Initial grants will be US $100,000. Applicants must register by May 15, 2008; proposals are due by May 30, 2008. Once the first funding round is complete, the Foundation will announce subsequent funding rounds.

Support Provided to Grassroots Organizations in Developing Countries

American Jewish World Service
The American Jewish World Service (AJWS) is dedicated to alleviating poverty, hunger, and disease among the people of the developing world. AJWS works on a non-sectarian basis with grassroots non-governmental organizations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean that are working to create a just and equitable world. Areas of interest include sustainable livelihoods and sustainable development, community health, education for all, community engagement in conflict and emergencies, and civic and political participation. AJWS places priority on programs addressing women and marginalized communities. The organization's funding strategies include grants, partnerships, capacity building, and advocacy. Grants range from US $3,000 to $30,000. There are no deadlines for letters of inquiry.

Women's Programs in Africa Supported

New Field Foundation
New Field Foundation contributes to the creation of a peaceful and equitable world by helping women and their families to overcome poverty, violence, and injustice in their communities. The Foundation's local program supports dynamic local groups that are organizing collectively to create thriving, equitable, and peaceful communities for rural African women and their families. Local grantmaking focuses on three areas: Mano River Union border region of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone; Casamance region of Senegal; and Northern Niger River Basin, particularly initiatives connecting Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. The regional program supports the creation of a more just, equitable, and peaceful world for rural African women. The Foundation funds programs that promote systemic changes in policies, laws, cultural norms, and the distribution of resources, with a focus on West Africa. The Foundation is limited in the number of new grants it makes each year to organizations it has not previously funded. The Foundation accepts preliminary inquiries throughout the year.

Foundation Supports Communities in British Columbia

Vancouver Foundation
The Vancouver Foundation seeks to create positive and lasting impacts in communities throughout British Columbia, Canada, through knowledge, networks, and philanthropy. Areas of interest include animal welfare; arts and culture; children, youth, and families; education; environment; health and social development; health and medical research; and youth philanthropy. The Foundation also offers several special granting programs, including programs focusing on addiction, family independence, and support for the disabled. There are no deadlines for letters of inquiry.

Human Rights Activities Supported

Norwegian Human Rights Fund
The Norwegian Human Rights Fund seeks to protect and promote human rights internationally. In addition to civil and political-oriented human rights projects, the Fund supports projects on economic, social, and cultural rights. Interests include enhancing the political influence of target groups (advocacy), strengthening the knowledge and capacity of target groups to act (empowerment), and improving organizational performance and implementation (capacity building). The Fund supports projects in low- and middle-income countries where the human rights situation is particularly difficult, either in general or for specific groups of the population. Priority countries include Peru, Colombia, Zimbabwe, Liberia, India, and Pakistan; limited support may be given to projects from other countries. Grants normally do not exceed US $13,000; the maximum grant is $20,000. Applications may be submitted throughout the year.

Program Supports Civic Engagement in Developing Countries

World Bank: Small Grants Program
The World Bank's Small Grants Program provides support in developing countries for activities that focus on civic engagement of marginalized populations and the poor. Activities may include, but are not limited to, workshops and seminars to enhance civic engagement skills or knowledge, appropriate communication campaigns to influence policymaking or public service delivery, and innovative networking efforts to build the capacity of the civic sector. Most grants range from US $3,000 to $7,000, with a maximum of $15,000. Guidelines and applications are available from participating World Bank country offices; funding decisions are made by June, annually.

Women's Groups Supported

Global Fund for Women
The Global Fund for Women is committed to a world of equality and social justice and supports women's groups that advance the human rights of women and girls. The Fund makes grants to seed, strengthen, and link women's rights groups based outside the United States who are working to address human rights issues, including ending gender-based violence and building peace, ensuring economic and environmental justice, advancing health and sexual and reproductive rights, expanding civic and political participation, increasing access to education, and fostering social change philanthropy. Types of support include general support grants, travel and event grants, and organizing meeting/event grants. Grants range from US $500 to $20,000. Applications are accepted throughout the year; grants are awarded quarterly.

Support Provided to Australian Communities

ANZ Staff Foundation
ANZ is one of the largest companies in Australia and New Zealand and a major international banking and financial services group. The ANZ Staff Foundation seeks to help meet the real and emerging needs of Australian communities. The Foundation funds small projects in the areas of skills and independence, including projects that give people the skills to manage their lives and provide them with independence; environment, including the conservation of resources and protection of the environment; local initiatives, including innovative projects from local community organizations; and organizational capacity building, especially in rural areas. Preference is given to projects that involve ANZ staff. Grants range up to AU $5,000. Application deadlines are January 15 and July 15, annually.

Fund Supports the Fight against Disease

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria
The Global Fund seeks to create a dramatic turnaround in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria by encouraging partnerships amongst all stakeholders within countries and across all sectors of society. The Fund supports universal access to services by all members of affected communities, and focuses on how the diseases differently affect key populations, in particular, how women and girls are affected compared to boys and men, and what actions are being taken or proposed to reduce these differences. The Fund works with a national multi-stakeholder body in each country known as a Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM), which includes the academic/educational sector; government; non-governmental, and community-based organizations; people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, or malaria; religious/faith-based organizations; multilateral and bilateral development partners; and the private sector. The Fund only accepts proposals from CCMs or Regional Coordinating Mechanisms; proposals from individual charities, agencies, or organizations must be submitted through the Coordinating Mechanism of their country. Applications for the Fund's eighth call for proposals are due by July 1, 2008.

Programs for Canadian Youth Supported

Carthy Foundation
The Carthy Foundation seeks to enhance the future prosperity of Canada by creating opportunities with and providing education for young people. Program areas consist of youth development, including developing positive outcomes for youth by building their academic, cognitive, vocational, physical, emotional, civic, social, and cultural competencies; youth problem prevention, including assisting vulnerable youth or modifying the attitudes and habits of those at high risk of developing problems; and the environment, including market-based mechanisms and urban ecology and ecological design. Preliminary inquiries are accepted throughout the year.

Support Provided for Health Projects in Latin America and the Caribbean

Pan American Health and Education Foundation
The Pan American Health and Education Foundation (PAHEF) works to combat disease, lengthen life, improve healthcare services, foster health research, and enhance the capacities of healthcare workers in Latin America and the Caribbean. PAHEF's grant program supports sustainable projects that are innovative, culturally sensitive, and foster partnerships with other stakeholders to improve health. Current themes include childhood obesity and nutrition and promoting healthy aging. Grants range from US $5,000 to $25,000. The application deadline is May 30, 2008.

Support Provided to Address the Needs and Talents of Adolescent Girls

Nike Foundation
The Nike Foundation seeks to address poverty by tapping into the powers of adolescent girls, who are often overlooked yet hold radical potential to create lasting change. Program interests consist of basic needs, including safety, health, and education; community, including community-based initiatives, programs addressing the perceptions of boys and men, and an emphasis on role models; financial opportunities, including microfinance, entrepreneurship, and access to start-up capital; and programs of widespread impact, including battling child malnutrition and transforming a women's network to improve connectivity. The Foundation issues RFPs to a targeted and researched list of organizations. While the Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals, it encourages organizations working in its areas of interest to share their stories of innovation and impact. The Foundation's investments are concentrated in Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Ethiopia, India, and Kenya, and it also funds programs in Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Guatemala, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

Craft-Based Associations Supported

Aid to Artisans: Small Grants Program
Aid to Artisans (ATA) seeks to foster artistic traditions, cultural vitality, improved livelihoods, and community well-being by supporting handcrafts as an important source of income, especially in rural areas and especially for women. The organization's support focuses on groups operating outside of the United States. ATA's Small Grants Program supports craft-based associations worldwide to help these groups purchase much needed equipment and materials to improve or increase their craft production. Only established artisan groups or cooperatives will be considered. Crafts must have an art element and be of cultural significance. ATA's requirements include a recommendation from organizations with which ATA has an affiliation, such as IFAT, OXFAM, U.S. Peace Corps volunteers, UN agencies, etc. Grants typically range from US $500 to $1,500. The application deadline is July 1, annually.

U.S. Federal Deadlines

Excerpts from GrantStation’s Listings of Federal Notices

USAID: RESPOND (Responding to the Need for Family Planning through Expanded Contraceptive Choices and Program Services)
Deadline: April 25 2008
This program seeks to increase the use of reproductive health and family planning services, with a focus on the informed and voluntary use of long-acting and permanent methods of contraception. The program seeks to advance global learning and to support the identification and application of evidence-based and state-of-the-art approaches.

USAID: Enabling Quality, Access, and Transparency in Education for Senegal
Deadline: April 28, 2008
This program works in Senegal to increase access to basic education, especially for girls and vulnerable children; improve the quality of education in supported schools; and improve governance in the education system. The program emphasizes community participation in building and managing schools to reinforce the crucial role that parents and community leaders play in the success of their children's education.

USAID: Uganda Indoor Residual Spraying Malaria Activity
Deadline: April 30, 2008
This program provides support to conduct indoor residual spraying in Uganda in order to decrease malaria-related mortality.

National Endowment for the Humanities: Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan
Deadline: May 1, 2008
This program supports research on modern Japanese society and political economy, Japan's international relations, and U.S.-Japan relations. The program encourages innovative research that puts these subjects in wider regional and global contexts and is comparative and contemporary in nature. Research should contribute to scholarly knowledge or to the general public's understanding of issues of concern to Japan and the United States. Disciplines include anthropology, economics, geography, history, international relations, linguistics, political science, psychology, public administration, and sociology. The fellowships are designed for researchers with advanced language skills whose research will require use of data, sources, and documents in their original languages or whose research requires interviews on-site in direct one-on-one contact. Fellows may undertake their projects in Japan, the United States, or both, and may include work in other countries for comparative purposes. Awards usually result in articles, monographs, books, digital materials, archaeological site reports, translations, editions, or other scholarly tools.

USAID: Inter-Agency Annual Program Statement in Support of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in South Africa
Deadline: Concept Papers: May 5, 2008; Full Proposals: June 9, 2008
The goal of PEPFAR in South Africa is to expand access to HIV-related services to large numbers of South Africans. The program's objectives are to prevent HIV transmission by promoting safe and healthy sexual behavior in HIV-infected and uninfected individuals, reducing mother to child HIV transmission, addressing unsafe medical practices and blood safety, providing appropriate post-exposure services, and improving access to counseling and HIV testing; to provide quality comprehensive evidence-based HIV disease management services for South Africans through private or public sector providers; to improve the quality of life of HIV-infected individuals and their families through the prevention and relief of suffering, pain, and other physical, psycho-social, and spiritual problems associated with life-threatening illness; and to provide quality comprehensive and compassionate care for AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children to help assure they grow up to be healthy, educated, and socially well-adjusted adults. Additional important program objectives address U.S. government priorities of sustainability, capacity building, institutional strengthening, and improving equitable access in the public and private health sectors in South Africa.

USAID: Annual Program Statement: Conflict Mitigation and Reconciliation Programs and Activities (with Possible Multiple Awards)
Deadline: May 6 and August 12, 2008
This program supports conflict mitigation and reconciliation programs and activities that bring together individuals of different ethnic, religious, or political backgrounds from areas of civil conflict and violence in the following countries: Africa: Angola, Burundi, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana (restricted to Northern Ghana), Guinea, Kenya, Mali (restricted to Northern Mali: regions of Timbuktu, Gao, and Kidal), Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan (restricted to Blue Nile State, Southern Kordofan, and Abyei), and Uganda; Asia and the Near East: Bangladesh, East Timor, Israel, Morocco, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and West Bank/Gaza; Europe and Eurasia: Bosnia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, and Tajikistan; and Latin America and the Caribbean: Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.

Department of State: Ngwang Choepel Fellows Program
Deadline: May 9, 2008
This program provides support to train and assist Tibetans living in Tibetan communities in China by providing professional experience and exposure to American society and culture through internships, workshops, and other learning activities hosted by U.S. institutions. The experiences will also provide Americans the opportunity to learn about Tibetan culture and the social and economic challenges that Tibetans face today. Applicants may propose programming for Tibetans who travel to the United States or for Americans who travel to Tibet.

National Institutes of Health: International Research on Venue-Based Interventions for HIV/AIDS and Alcohol Use
R01 and R21
Deadline: Letters of Intent: April 9, 2008; Full Proposals: May 9, 2008
This program supports collaborative international research on alcohol abuse and HIV/AIDS, with a specific focus on research that examines the impact of environmental factors on concurrent drinking and high-risk sexual behavior.

Department of State: Faith and Community: A Dialogue
Deadline: May 12, 2008
This program supports international exchange projects under the rubric “Faith and Community: A Dialogue.” The program provides support to develop and implement multi-phased exchanges that bring clerics, scholars of religion, educators, and community leaders/activists from countries with significant Muslim populations to the United States to interact with their counterparts as well as support for reciprocal visits by American clerics, scholars of religion, educators, and community leaders/activists representing the diversity of the American population. Focus regions and countries include Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen; Senegal, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Chad; and China; and Indonesia.

Department of State: Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Abroad Program
Deadline: May 15, 2008
This program supports exchange programs and relationship building between American high school students and those who have just graduated, and host communities in selected countries with significant Muslim populations. The program provides support to recruit and select American students and enroll them in secondary schools for an academic semester or year of study in a foreign country currently participating in the Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program, incorporating themes for enhancement activities that promote respect for diversity, civil society, and mutual understanding.

Department of State: Teacher Exchange Program
Deadline: May 23, 2008
This program seeks to improve mutual understanding among teachers, school administrators, and their schools and communities in the U.S. and abroad through professional development and exchange. Teacher exchanges support the internationalization and increased quality of schools and classrooms, increase the knowledge of students and communities about global issues and cultures, and improve knowledge of foreign languages. The program also encourages the professional development of teachers by broadening their familiarity with and increasing their understanding of approaches to their subjects and pedagogical methods.

USAID: Annual Program Statement: Governance: Democracy and Governance and Good Governance in Education
Deadline: Concept Papers: May 30, 2008
These programs support governance-related efforts in Egypt. The Democracy and Governance program seeks to promote and support credible political processes, strengthen democratic political parties, strengthen civil society, promote citizenship and tolerance, establish and ensure media freedom and freedom of information, support democratic local government and decentralization, strengthen the justice sector, promote and protect human rights, promote and support public accountability, and strengthen legislative bodies. The Good Governance in Education program seeks to facilitate collaborative efforts among civil society groups to establish public sector standards of transparency, explore current inefficiencies in the education sector and advocate for appropriate solutions, develop innovative solutions to disparities in education completion, support civic initiatives in furthering efforts of the Ministry of Education to identify the major points of resource leakage, encourage the development of civil society partnerships and independent think-tanks for the purposes of policy advocacy and service delivery related to education reform, conduct policy research analysis and advocacy on issues related to improving educational efficiency and reform, and provide greater citizen participation in the design and oversight of schools, including education reform advocacy groups.

USAID: Care Services for HIV-Infected Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Ethiopia
Deadline: Concept Papers: May 30 and August 29, 2008
This program supports orphan and vulnerable children (OVC) activities related to HIV prevention and care in high prevalence, underserved areas of Ethiopia. Program areas include provision of quality, comprehensive, multi-sector coordinated community care for HIV-affected or infected OVC; provision of technical assistance to local OVC programs to create or improve referral systems to and from health facilities, government services, and other community child services; and support for community data collection to monitor progress in OVC well-being and to inform activity implementation and modifications.

USAID: International Food Relief Partnership
Deadline: June 2, 2008
This program seeks to reduce food insecurity in development and emergency situations around the globe. The program provides support for the preparation and storage of shelf-stable pre-packaged food, and the delivery and distribution of those commodities in developing countries.

USAID: Annual Program Statement for Inclusion of People with Disabilities in Development Programming
Deadline: June 28 and December 31, 2008
This program operates in Ethiopia and seeks to include people with disabilities into development programming or to work with disabled peoples organizations for better understanding and inclusion. Programs and activities that could be adapted to better include people with disabilities could include, but are not limited to, programs in education, health, government, civil society building, rule of law, HIV/AIDS, and employment opportunities.

USAID: Support of the South African Department of Education
Deadline: Concept Papers: June 30, September 30, and December 30, 2008
This program seeks to mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS within the South African education sector and to strengthen the capacity of students, teachers, and education officials to deliver quality education and training. The program seeks to increase the number of schools and students that benefit from peer education programs, extend support to life orientation educators, support orphans and vulnerable children in target high schools and their feeder primary schools, support local universities working on HIV and AIDS with students on their campuses and support their feeder high schools, and offer technical assistance services to the Department of Education to strengthen its internal systems to address HIV and AIDS and other health issues.