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2024-04-01-annual-report

Annual Report Global Fund for,: l April 2023 - 31 March 2024 Qué es el poder? rica (/

Contents

From the GFCF Chair 3
About our work 7
Community philanthropy and durable development 8
Our strategy 8
Our core objectives 9
Key outcomes in 2023/2024 10
1. Grants to community philanthropy organizations 11
2. Connectingthefeldandstrengthening
the evidence base for people-led development 18
3. Building a global movement to #ShiftThePower 21
Our fnances 27
Our legal and administrative information 31
Report of the Directors for the year ended
31 March 2024 34

Cover images captions (Clockwise starting from top left):

  1. Fundación Territorial Magenta, Colombia

  2. Zhytomyr Community Foundation, Ukraine

  3. Emcees at the #ShiftThePower Global Summit

  4. GFCF partners meet at the Tewa Centre in Kathmandu

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023 - 31 March 2024

2

From the GFCF Chair

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

3

From the GFCF Chair

“What will it take to build a global civil society and funding system that is based on new ways of deciding and doing, that harnesses and mobilizes solidarity, money and other resources in ways that centre equity, justice and flourishing lives for all?”

This was the central question at the heart of the #ShiftThePower Global Summit, which was held in Bogotá in December 2023 and brought together some 730 participants from all over the world. For the GFCF, the Summit was our main undertaking for the year. Four years had passed since our last global convening (the Pathways to Power Symposium in London) and a global gathering of movement members and allies felt long overdue.

A key goal of the Summit was to reignite and strengthen the human connections and flows of solidarity across the #ShiftThePower movement, while acknowledging too the growing sense of isolation and exhaustion among many of those on the frontlines of social change. Our second goal was to create space for some radical reimagining. As momentum and obligations continue to grow around the localization agenda, there has been a tendency towards instrumental fixes and tweaks, all within the existing aid paradigm. What if we could start from a different place, which was not about increasing flows of money but rather a world in which humanity – and the planet on which we live – could flourish?

For some time now, we at the GFCF have been using the language of “emergent” and “dominant systems” – and the broader framework of the Berkana Two-Loop model of systems change. Most of our work focuses on the emergent side of the system and the new and evolving kinds of development practices that seek to build, share and shift power. At the Summit, this meant a strong emphasis on the participation of those working at the grassroots level, or the “edges” of the current system, and we made just under 150 travel grants to ensure that this group made up the majority of meeting participants. At the same time, we welcomed those whose work locates them in the dominant side of the system and who are pushing for change from those spaces too.

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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In the design of the Summit itself, we worked with partners to create an experience that felt different from a regular conference, something that was warm and joyful, but which did not shy away from challenging or difficult conversations. In the words of one participant:

“It wasn’t a conference; it was more akin to an ‘unconference.’ Hoping to emulate what the movement is aiming to do, the Summit went against the ‘rules’ of a conference, it did away with structure and formalities and opted, instead, for space to share and weave ideas, for challenge as well as agreement, for conversation, for healing and for much needed joy.”

The Summit was the visible highlight on a longer “road to Bogotá”, which started in May 2023, and which included numerous in-person and online weaving activities hosted by a range of different partners and allies (and which you can read more about on page 22). The purpose of the weaving was to include as many people as possible in conversations that had reimagination and transformation at their heart, and to help create a sense of momentum and possibility. We also made a range of grants to partners to conduct their own #ShiftThePower processes.

Meanwhile, through our regular grantmaking, we continued to support partners around the world in their work to foster community philanthropy as a strategy for strengthening local agency, voice and power.

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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Over the coming year, we will continue to delve into many of the issues surfaced in Bogotá, and to build from the energy that was so clearly palpable. We will do this by supporting our community philanthropy partners and working with #ShiftThePower allies around various activities and initiatives leading from the Summit. The past year has seen a growing and pervasive sense of insecurity the world over, with a surge in violent conflicts, rising authoritarianism and repression. Within our network we have seen the critical role played by trusted community philanthropy partners organizing community voice and power, often in the most challenging of situations. Among the many voices we have heard this year have been those of Palestinians and Ukrainians from the frontlines of violent conflict, of Colombians seeking to maintain and deepen a fragile peace, and of colleagues in the United States organizing for justice.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to GFCF donors, community philanthropy partners, board and staff, along with many others in the wider #ShiftThePower movement, with whom we have collaborated with over the last year. A special thanks should be given to the donors who quietly supported the Summit in an ego-free way. It is amazing what can be achieved if we don’t focus on who gets the credit, but rather on what can be achieved if movement generosity defines our work.

Princes-Benefactors Ostrozky Foundation, Ukraine

Soheir Asaad, Rawa Creative Palestinian Communities Fund and Marta Ruiz, former Truth Commissioner in Colombia on stage at the #ShiftThePower Global Summit

Ian Bird

Chair, GFCF

Fundación Territorial Magenta, Colombia

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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About our work

Harmony Platform, China

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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About our work

We believe in people-led development. That means shifting power to the community level. It’s not only the right thing to do, but it’s also the most effective way to ensure results that will last, and are owned and shaped by the people they are meant to reach. We believe that it is time for people, institutions and networks – wherever they are, big or small – who care about inclusion, dignity and justice, to work together for a world in which top-down meets bottom-up.

Community philanthropy and durable development

Fondo Acción Solidaria A.C. (FASOL), Mexico

With an emphasis on local assets, local decision-making and a long-term view, community philanthropy is a strategy to achieve durable development. We use the word “durable” because it suggests the ability of something to be strong, robust and adaptable enough to withstand pressure. Civil society organizations and non-profits that rely solely on external funding are often not durable; their work can be overly shaped by the priorities of their donors rather than those of local communities and, if they have not invested in building a local support base, they are often vulnerable to sudden changes or reductions in aid and philanthropic flows.

For us, durable development means resilient systems which are made up of diverse civil society and grassroots networks as well as strong organizations that are rooted in their constituencies and whose legitimacy rests on their ability to mobilize local participation, including local giving.

Sentrong Pagpapalakas Negritong ng Kultura at Kalikasan (SPNKK), Philippines

Our strategy

The GFCF is a grassroots grantmaker working to promote and support institutions of community philanthropy around the world. Our long-term goal is to embed the practice and paradigm of community philanthropy as a cornerstone of a new architecture for effective, locally-owned and locally-driven development that shifts power and voice to the community level.

We work with individual community foundations and other local grantmakers and their networks around the world, with a particular focus on the Global South and Central and Eastern Europe. Through small grants, technical support and networking, we help these local institutions to strengthen and grow so that they can fulfil their potential as vehicles for local development and as part of the infrastructure for sustainable development, poverty alleviation and citizen participation.

ShiftThePower at the World Social Forum, image courtesy of Biraj Patnaik & Narayan Adhikari

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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Our core objectives

Zhytomyr Community Foundation, Ukraine

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024“Artivism” at the #ShiftThePower Global Summit

9

Key outcomes in 2023/2024

FemFund, Poland

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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1. Grants to community philanthropy organizations

Our main tool for strengthening our community philanthropy partners continues to be in the form of small grants. During the period covered by this Annual Report, we made 73 new grants to 63 community philanthropy organizations and 4 individuals across 30 countries. The total amount of grant funds disbursed was £1,419,803. This figure includes grant tranches paid in the period covered by this report, but for which grant agreements were arranged in previous financial years.

Our grants and learning programmes

Keystone Foundation, India

Institutional Development

These grants are tailored to the specific circumstances and requirements of our partners. They are aimed at helping to strengthen community philanthropy organizations’ abilities to serve and engage their communities around diverse local issues, to unlock new resources and assets at the local level as a way of building local ownership as well as financial resilience, and to strengthen trust among different parts of the community.

Princes-Benefactors Ostrozky Foundation, Ukraine

Ukraine Response

In response to the ongoing war in Ukraine, we made a number of grants to our community philanthropy partners there. Some of these grants supported the ongoing provision of humanitarian aid. Other grants had a more long-term focus, and saw GFCF partners providing various psycho-social supports to address the trauma of the conflict, or running programmes addressing local cohesion and the inclusion of internally displaced people.

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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Fellows at the #ShiftThePower Global Summit

#ShiftThePower Fellowships

In 2023 we announced the second cohort of #ShiftThePower Fellows. Grants were made to Fellows’ organizations – and, in some cases, to individuals directly – to cover the time they dedicated to participating in the Fellowship, and to support their travel to the #ShiftThePower Global Summit in Bogotá. See page 25 for more detail on Fellowship programme itself.

Participants at the #ShiftThePower Global Summit

#ShiftThePower Global Summit Weaving Activities

Through an open call over July and August, we invited those in the wider #ShiftThePower network to submit ideas for weaving activities to be organized in the lead-up to the Summit in Bogotá (see page 21 for more on the Summit itself). Weaving activities aimed to connect allies prior to the Summit – both those who would be in Bogotá but also a wider pool of actors – and to “warm-up” conversations around #ShiftThePower. We made a number of grants to support various local, regional, national and international level weaving activities. This included research and mapping activities, as well as online and in-person events.

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Dalia Association, Palestine
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Emergency Response

Recent years have clearly shown the role local actors play in responding to crises. We have watched our partners around the world step up in response to COVID-19, wars, natural disasters, etc. We continue to use emergency support grants to support this local response. Over the period covered by this report we made two. One was to the Dalia Association, a long-term GFCF partner in Palestine to support their Gaza Fund. The second was to the Women’s Fund Armenia. This grant was made against the backdrop of the growing humanitarian crisis prompted by attacks from Azerbaijan.

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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Grant fund distribution

*Both charts on this page illustrate distribution in terms of total funds disbursed.

Grants distribution by programme

Institutional Development

Ukraine Response

Emergency Response

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2%
7.50%
9%
15%
66.50%
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Grants distribution by geography

South Asia Sub-Saharan Africa Europe and Central Asia Latin America and the Caribbean East Asia Pacific Middle East North Africa

----- Start of picture text -----
4% 1%
13%
40%
19%
23%
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GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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Grants map

Romania Ukraine India United Kingdom Sri Lanka Poland Nepal North Macedonia Bulgaria Palestine Armenia E E Senegal Georgia Haiti Burkina Faso Uganda Phillippines Mexico Colombia Nigeria Kenya Indonesia United States Brazil Zambia Tanzania Guatemala Argentina Zimbabwe Malawi Mozambique Argentina Movimiento Cívico GREEN Foundation Kilimani Project Foundation North Macedonia Senegal Community Foundation of the Florencia Roitstein Participante Institute for Development Queer & Allied Chamber of Akcija Zdruzhenska TrustAfrica City of Dubno, “Dobrobut” Corporación Tamsa El Regalo Education and Learning Commerce Africa Foundation for Community Armenia es la Vida Institute for Studies and Resources Oriented Palestine Sri Lanka Development x 2 Womens Fund Armenia Fondo Emerger Transformation Development Initiatives Dalia Association Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust Moloda Gromada Brazil FunBEA – Brazilian Environmental Education FundEnvironmental Education FundFund Fondo EmergerFundación Magenta Cultura, Deporte y DesarrolloFundación Territorial Paisano Keystone FoundationPeople’s Action for People in NeedSahaja Samrudha UHAI EASHRI Malawi Tilitonse Foundation Philippines Center for Disaster PreparednessGlobalGiving Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust Tanzania Tanzania Association of Micro Finance Institutions Princes-Benefactors Ostrozky FoundationRidnya Community Foundation Fundo Agbara Global Nation Samarthan – Centre for Mexico Sentrong Pagpapalakas Thubutu Africa Initiatives Voznesensk Community Foundation Instituto Comunitario da TerritoriA Development Support Chicas Biless Negritong ng Kultura at Baixada MaranhenseMariane Maier Nunes Georgia Solidarity FoundationVRUTTI Fortalecimiento y Capacitación – FOCA Kalikasan (SPNKK)Sentrong Pagpapalakas Uganda Akina Mama Wa Afrika Zhytomyr Community Foundation Taso Foundation Watershed Support Services Lekil Lum Negritong ng Kultura at CivSource Africa United States Bulgaria Guatemala and Activities Network Kalikasan (SPNKK) CivSource Africa Movement Strategy Center Foundation Community Donation Fund Sliven Burkina Faso Kemonela´ – Consejo de tejedoras de Chi XOT Yuva Rural Association Indonesia Mozambique Fundo Tindzila Poland Magda Pocheć Taala Foundation Ukraine Zambia Restless Development Tégawendé Astrid Larissa Sondé Colombia Angela Maria Baez-SilvaCorporación Ser Ciudadano: Haiti Haiti Community Foundation India Chinthana FoundationFoundation for Social Indonesia for HumanityIndonesia for Humanity Kenya Action on Disability and Development International Nepal Accountability Lab NepalFreedom StudiosMitini Nepal Nigeria Romania Galati Community FoundationRomanian Federation of Community Foundations Boyarka Community FoundationCharitable Foundation Podilska HromadaCommunity Foundation of Kherson Zakhyst x 2 ZambiaZambian Governance Foundation Zimbabwe SIVIO Institute Transformation Kilimani Project Foundation Liberation Alliance Africa

The following map illustrates where our grant funding has been directed. The list below provides details of which organizations received funding, and under which of our grants programmes the funding was received. Grants with a * were arranged in a previous financial year, though additional grant tranches were released in the period covered by this report.

Key Florencia Roitstein Institutional Development Armenia Womens Fund Armenia Ukraine Response Brazil #ShiftThePower Fellowship #ShiftThePower FunBEA – Brazilian Environmental Education FundEnvironmental Education FundFund Global Summit Fundo Agbara

E Emergency Response

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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Grants in the spotlight

Institutional Development

Indonesia for Humanity: Building movement energy and autonomy through measurement and learning

With two GFCF grants, including one made in the period covered by this Annual Report, Indonesia for Humanity (IKa) has been developing its own unique approach to evaluation and learning which they describe as: “An alternative to the lifeless model that over-simplifies our work.” Ika’s eagerness to test new approaches stemmed from its dissatisfaction with the available monitoring and evaluation systems, which they saw as extractive and reductive in terms of capturing complex work. These systems also served to reinforce unhelpful hierarchical relationships between “donors” and “grantees.” IKa was therefore intent on creating a new approach that put its network of partners at the very heart of the learning process. Rather than simply evaluating individual grants or programmes, IKa was also clear that its approach to evaluation should assess how effective the work of its network – advocating for well-being for all within the framework of democracy, rights and environmental sustainability – had been over two decades.

The result is Pemaknaan . Based around the root word makna (meaning), Pemaknaan is a participatory way to find the deeper meaning or impact of an initiative through dialogue that builds understanding and encourages constructive observations. IKa also created an entirely new word, Pemakna , which they understand to mean the person who carries out the giving of meaning. The use of Indonesian grammar and vocabulary was an intentional way to root the process in the local context.

What Pemakna seek to measure is the transformative capacity of IKa’s partners and their initiatives. As commented by Kamala Chandrakirana, an IKa Executive Board Member: “Transformative capacity means having the intention, strategy and capacity to take preliminary or intermediary steps to achieve transformative change.” This is an important clarifier given that IKa provides relatively small funding support to grassroots organizations. But, altogether, their goal of social transformation is enormous and long-term. So it was important for IKa to identify an approach to measurement which recognizes that small amounts of resources can serve to contribute to long-term change.

Pemakna include seasoned activists and thinkers who are active in their communities, and who bring to the Pemaknaan process deep knowledge and experiences around working towards social change. The strength of the approach lies in the subjectivity of the Pemakna who bring specific understandings of complex realities. This is in opposition to more traditional evaluation approaches that demand objectivity.

For IKa, Pemaknaan is not only a strategy for preserving their integrity and authenticity through language and process, but it also affirms and regenerates its movements’ collective energy and autonomy. IKa’s experience in developing new ways to measure what matters is important learning for many in the GFCF’s network who aim to both engage meaningfully with their networks, and to understand how small, short-term grants can contribute to lasting movement or system-wide change.

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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Ukraine Response

Boyarka Community Foundation: Finding light in darkness by supporting psychological rehabilitation in wartime

“We have already forgotten what illuminated streets are. It is scary and sad to walk home after work in complete, terrible, impenetrable darkness, where there is also no light…the darkness has entered our lives and weighs on us with an indescribable burden.”

These words were penned in December 2022 by Maria Kyrylenko, Deputy Chair of the Boyarka Community Foundation, in a letter to foreign supporters of the foundation. The letter provides a vivid and moving account of the realities of working in wartime. It describes the missiles and drones that fly over Boyarka, which is located 20km from Kyiv. It details the every-day challenges of working and living in a place where the power supply is unpredictable. It speaks about the anxiety, stress and fear of Boyarka residents, who worry about their own safety, and the fates of soldiers on the frontlines of the war.

To support its community through the difficult times, in 2023 the Boyarka Community Foundation launched the “Phoenix” programme. The GFCF supported this with a grant in February 2023, though grant activities were carried out over the period covered by this Annual Report. Phoenix focused on the psychological rehabilitation of people living in Boyarka – both longer-term residents and internally displaced people (IDPs). This involved the organization of regular rehabilitation courses run by psychologists and social workers.

The courses combined direct one-on-one and group therapy sessions with “softer” activities such as creative workshops, art therapy, nature excursions, etc. Phoenix also had a cultural component: to boost community morale, the foundation organized a series of cultural and educational events. These were significant for many in Boyarka who view culture, identity and belonging as a source of social well-being.

In parallel, the Boyarka Community Foundation launched a small grants programme focusing on psychological recovery. It encouraged different local groups to come together to develop proposals, and invited community members to participate in the selection and evaluation of grants. This was to ensure that efforts around rehabilitation and recovery were driven by community members and their priorities. 14 local initiatives were funded, including tailored support programmes for the wives of fallen soldiers, horseback riding lessons for children from vulnerable families, a photo exhibition celebrating the community of Boyarka, etc. One grant recipient commented: “The contest gives you the opportunity to act on your own, and not wait for someone else to do it for you.” Despite the challenging economic situation in Ukraine, USD $1,700 (approximately £1,350) was raised from local individuals to support the grants programme. An additional USD $1,150 (approximately £910) was raised from Ukrainians abroad.

In March 2024, the GFCF made a follow-up grant to the foundation to continue this work. Their 2024 programme “Happy Days” will specifically address the mental health challenges facing children and adolescents in Boyarka. For, as Maria Kyrylenko concluded her December 2022 letter: “We are cheerful, energetic and work much harder than before the war. We cannot afford to be weak, because our job is to help others. We hold on because we know that there are many who have had a much harder time.”

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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#ShiftThePower Global Summit Weaving Activities

Fundación Territorial Paisano: Weaving global conversations with local realities

The slogan of Fundación Territorial Paisano – the first self-described community foundation in Colombia, based in Bogotá – is: “We work together to build the city we dream of.” In pursuit of this, Paisano sees one of its main roles as creating spaces for dialogue between the grassroots actors in its network and other like-minded individuals and organizations. On the Saturday prior to the #ShiftThePower Global Summit in Bogotá Paisano organized such a space, with a GFCF grant that supported pre-Summit weaving activities.

“Bogotá Inmersiva” was a day-long event that brought together different parts of Paisano’s network: social organizations, collectives, businesses, artists, some Summit attendees and in other cases, simply interested neighbours. The event aimed to introduce the concept of #ShiftThePower and to give Paisano’s network a taste of some of the global conversations that the city would be hosting later that week during the Summit. The various activities held over the course of the day represented the diversity of people who attended, and purposely aimed to bring together people from different walks of life. There were debates and discussions, local crafts on display and for purchase, art installations and cultural performances.

One debate focused on the differences between donating to charitable causes and investing in social issues – specifically what motivates individuals to give in either regard. The consensus was the need to move away from “forms of help that ignore the capacities of the receiver” towards “forms of cooperation in which we recognize the value of the other, highlight the importance of having common purposes as members of a community, and establish horizontal relationships where traditional power logics are blurred.”

Bogotá Inmersiva was designed as a space that could strengthen the “weave” between the grassroots organizations and collectives in Paisano’s network. These organizations often compete for the resources available to support their work, though one of Paisano’s main objectives is to encourage collaboration instead. A number of exchanges and meetings emerged from Bogotá Inmersiva. For Paisano, the value in this is that by working together the collective becomes all the more powerful. When united and working collaboratively – recognizing the assets that individual actors contribute to the pot – these organizations may begin to view themselves not only as recipients of resources but also as generators of them.

Cultural performances over the course of the day were intended to highlight the enormous talents in the diverse city of Bogotá, to celebrate the potential of the cities inhabitants and to raise collective self-esteem. In addition to adding to the atmosphere of the event, with these performances Paisano aimed to deliver the message: “We are a wonderful mix of cultures, accents, customs, gastronomy and festivities. We dance to the sound they play, because with each person who arrived we learned a new rhythm.” Beyond simply warming up #ShiftThePower conversations in advance of the Summit, Bogotá Inmersiva was a powerful reminder of how important it is to be connected with the place one calls home.

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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2. Connecting the field and strengthening the evidence base for people-led development

If the community philanthropy field is to be better recognized, appreciated and supported there is still much work to do to demonstrate its value and relevance to a range of different stakeholders. Over the year, we continued to connect the field through online sessions and in-person gatherings – many of these formed part of the larger “road to Bogotá.” With GFCF funding, several of our partners also published research reports which we helped to disseminate.

Connecting the field

On the road to Bogotá, over 2023 we deepened our efforts to connect our network philanthropy partners and wider #ShiftThePower community through in-person and online convenings. Weaving activities are described in more detail on page 22 of this report, though some highlights include:

Grappling with the present, looking ahead to the future (Bucharest, Romania)

In May we co-hosted a regional dialogue on #ShiftThePower with the Bucharest Community Foundation, Federation of Romanian Community Foundations, and National Network of Local Philanthropy Development in Ukraine. The meeting was held against the wider backdrop of the ongoing war in Ukraine, the rise and strength of populism in the region and climate disruptions increasingly affecting communities. It provided the opportunity to consider the role of local and international actors in this context and addressed the need to shift power and money closer to communities. As one participant remarked, “We need funders to be more open to risk-taking and to provide ongoing agile support for emergent strategies. Playing it safe is precisely what doesn’t bring about desired change. If we want deep transformation to be delivered, we have to embrace that it will be a constant learning process for all of us.”

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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Community philanthropy and #ShiftThePower (Kathmandu, Nepal)

The Tewa Centre hosted this convening, which brought together participants of the GlobalGiving-funded Assets-Agency-Trust programme in the Philippines, GFCF community philanthropy partners, and other allies from the networks of the NEAR Network and Peace Direct. This was a deliberate effort to bring together people from different parts of the civil society eco-system, working on community philanthropy, gender, climate, community development, indigenous rights, disaster preparedness and relief, localization and peacebuilding (or a mixture of several of these) to explore the idea of the “system we want.” One participant later commented, “What we learned is that our experience in the Philippines is not unique...the assessment of who has ‘capacity’ has been weaponized and used as a means to justify the slow relinquishment of power by INGOs and their hollow promises of localization. We require more individuals actively engaged in community work and fewer confined to their desks, endlessly reporting to donors.”

Measuring what matters (online and in Bogotá, Colombia)

As consensus grows that current measurement and evaluation approaches are too often unfit for purpose, we have continued to keep discussions around measurement and learning active in the wider GFCF community. This began with the publishing of the Measuring what matters report in 2020, and over 2023 we hosted two sets of webinars (in May and September) exploring pioneering measurement methods from GFCF partners around the world. The September webinar also featured the views of several academics exploring alternative approaches to measurement, in an effort to bridge scholarship and practice. One bucket in Bogotá (see page 23 for more information on these) – “Measurement is political” – aimed to tie these discussions together, and to pave a collective way forward.

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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Growing the evidence base

Over 2022 we made several research grants to partners in our network under the broad framing of the “good society” or “the civil society we want.” Three reports were published during the period covered by this Annual Report, which we helped to disseminate to wider audiences. These included:

Communities trust towards civil society organizations

Published by Comunalia in Mexico, this paper studies what motivates, or deters, “normal” people from trusting civil society organizations. The aim is to strengthen the relationships between community foundations and other social organizations in Mexico, with the communities that they aim to serve. The report is also available in Spanish.

Resourcing social movements: How do we shift the power?

While COVID-19 upended the world and deepened existing inequalities, it also opened up new pathways of support between funders and their partners. New practices, away from the prevalent systems of grantmaking, were introduced. The aim of this research from the Solidarity Foundation in India is to explore the alternative and creative ways of collaborating that are emerging. The primary question it poses is: What does non-project support look like, and what possibilities does it open up?

Who pays the piper? A synthesis of decolonizing aid conversations

This report is a synthesis of six conversations organized by CivSource Africa in Uganda. These discussions brought together local NGOs and INGOs to interrogate the current aid system. The general consensus was that the system as it currently operates acts as an impediment to realizing significant social change. Using this report as a starting point, CivSource will continue to encourage critical conversations about transforming donor-civil society relations and decolonizing aid.

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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3. Building a global movement to #ShiftThePower

#ShiftThePower Global Summit

The Summit, held in Bogotá, Colombia, from 5th – 7th December 2023 was the highlight of our year and the culmination of months and years of alliance building and collaboration with partners from around the world.

Seven years had passed since the Global Summit on Community Philanthropy in Johannesburg where the hashtag #ShiftThePower emerged as a rallying cry for change. Despite subsequent commitments made by the international humanitarian, philanthropic, and development system to localize aid and ensure that a greater share of funding goes directly to local actors, progress continues to be painfully slow. This is despite local actors showing their relevance and prowess in response to cascading and intersecting crises: a rapidly deteriorating climate, the lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and outbreaks of conflict and violence, to name just a few.

Image courtesy of the Comuá Network

The goal of the Summit therefore was to bring together change makers and trailblazers from around the world and from across different parts of the international development, philanthropy and civil society systems to explore the key question: What will it take to build a global civil society and funding system that is based on new ways of deciding and doing, that harnesses and mobilizes solidarity, money and other resources in ways that centre equity, justice and flourishing lives for all? With 730 participants representing 77 countries and close to 500 organizations, the Summit far exceeded expectations in terms of the number and diversity of participants.

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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Weaving activities on the road to Bogotá

From the outset, we saw the Summit not just as a stand-alone event, but rather as one stop on a longer journey towards building the system we want. A series of in-person and online weaving activities that took place over 2023 “on the road to Bogotá,” and which were initiated and hosted together with a range of different partners and allies, reinforced the idea of a joint endeavour, open to anyone and everyone. Weaving activities also provided a way to ensure broader participation, particularly for those who were not able to make it to Colombia. For those who would be in Bogotá, the various weaving activities allowed participants to make new connections prior to the event and to begin to “warm up” discussions in advance.

As the GFCF, we were keen to abide by the principle that #ShiftThePower is – and must be – owned and shaped by many. An open call for ideas – both for weaving activities and Summit themes – was issued in July. We made nine grants to support various local, regional, national and international level weaving activities. Some were held online and some in-person, while others focused on research or mapping activities.

The GFCF supported, participated in, and help to organize 34 weaving conversations between March and November. In total, these brought together more than 1,750 participants. The focus of many of the weaving conversations was on shining a spotlight on new ways of deciding and doing that are happening on the emergent side of the system, often beyond the gaze and reach of larger actors. Some of the topics covered by weaving conversations included: dignity in development, measuring what matters, connecting climate justice and community philanthropy, #ShiftThePower and its relevance in Francophone Africa, disrupting colonial legacies of philanthropy, a world free of LGBTIQ+ violence, decolonizing international cooperation, and the legitimacy of civil society.

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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Our time in Bogotá

Much of the agenda for the Summit emerged from the weaving activities, specifically in the form of nine break-out (or “bucket”) sessions. We identified nine cross-cutting themes that were a consistent focus across weaving activities. These touched on:

“Bucket” sessions were designed by different groups of participants (a “weaving” exercise in itself) tasked with the sole mandate of making them interactive and creative. Plenary sessions featured speakers. The one keynote address was delivered by Marta Ruiz, a journalist and former Truth Commissioner in Colombia, who explored the connections between justice, peace building and #ShiftThePower.

A Poster Session provided participants with the opportunity to share exciting examples of practice and research that are contributing to larger efforts to shift power, both at the community level and within the philanthropy and international development sectors more broadly. The 43 posters together painted a picture of multiple concrete examples of alternative approaches and creative experiments.

Finally, in acknowledgement of the many challenges facing those on the front lines of social change, the Summit sought to provide a space for comfort, compassion and joy. A variety of community building activities (including coffee tasting, artivism workshops, salsa dancing) were included in the programme, as well as quieter, safe spaces for those wanting to rest or reflect on current global realities, trauma and lost.

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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Feedback on the Summit

Feedback was solicited through a survey to participants two months after the Summit, once the euphoric buzz of the event itself was just a memory. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Some representative comments from the survey include:

“The people on stage were themselves and spoke their (own) truth rather than promoting the agenda/programme of the initiative they represent. It was extremely refreshing”

“I never expected to meet so many people and organizations that work with the same intentions “ and methodologies, believing in the power of community. The feeling of discovering we have the same values without knowing each other is magnificent...You made us dream and start believing that we have the power to be the agents for collective change.”

“I found such a wonderfully strong group of people. Strong in number, in intellect, in ideas, in emotions, in experience, in potential.”

“It was a very inspiring, different and – for a donor organization – humbling experience.”

“It was a powerful experience to learn about how much incredible community work is going on outside of traditional bi-lateral/multi-lateral government or other donor funded ‘development’ activity. This movement is not waiting for change but moving forward while at the same time demanding change.”

“I was thrilled to find it grounded in humanity, healing and respect. It centred the need for healing of self as the first step toward healing community and institutions.”

“A hugely inspiring few days – sometimes sobering, but always with the right mix of honesty and recognition that while it can be tough, we can do this.”

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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#ShiftThePower Fellowship

The second cohort of #ShiftThePower Fellows launched in September, bringing together 20 changemakers from 13 countries. Fellows were selected from a pool of over 1,400 applicants, signalling a growing interest in global network-weaving opportunities. The purpose of the Fellowship is to strengthen the connection between peers around the world, to collectively explore ideas of systems change in international philanthropy and development aid, and to grow representation of the movement. Fellows are particularly encouraged to consider their own position in the system, and the areas in which they feel they can make a difference. Though the Fellowship is predominately designed to be an online initiative, in 2023 the #ShiftThePower Global Summit also provided the chance for the Fellows to meet in-person. In the lead-up to the Summit, several Fellows hosted or participated in weaving conversations, and three Fellows organized a bucket session, “What’s the point of the revolution if we can’t dance? Sustaining ourselves, nurturing our movements and regenerating our activism.”

The #ShiftThePower Treehouse

The Treehouse continues to grow as a platform to curate the thoughts and reflections of practitioners within the #ShiftThePower movement doing development differently. During the period covered by this report, the Treehouse published 45 articles, in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

Fellows at the #ShiftThePower Global SummitGiving for Change partners meet in Kisumu, Kenya

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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Giving for Change

The Giving for Change programme is a five-year, €24 million (approximately £20.5 million) programme which aims to foster local giving as an expression of voice, civic participation, solidarity and dissent. Funded under the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affair’s “Power of Voices” programme, Giving for Change is being implemented in Brazil, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Palestine and Uganda, and is led by a consortium of four organizations: the Africa Philanthropy Network, Kenya Community Development Foundation, GFCF and Wilde Ganzen. The working thesis of the programme is that lasting and transformative change can only happen if it is driven from the bottom-up as well as from the top-down.

The GFCF is the lead partner around global advocacy initiatives. Over the period covered by this Annual Report, we deepened our engagement with individual Giving for Change partners by providing advisory support for national initiatives. We also explored strategies for joint advocacy and influencing of INGOs and donors. This is both in terms of building awareness of community philanthropy as a power-building (not just a funding) strategy, as well as in calling for action around the localization agenda. In May we organized an online workshop for Giving for Change partners and the wider GFCF network aimed at strengthening collective advocacy and influencing capacities, particularly on the road to Bogotá.

The occasion of the #ShiftThePower Global Summit itself and the weaving activities leading up to it provided multiple opportunities for Giving for Change partners to elevate their work fostering community philanthropy as a strategy for claiming and protecting rights – and to connect these more concretely to larger discussions about shifting power and localization. Giving for Change partners hosted or contributed to several pre-Summit weaving conversations.

Giving for Change partners meet in Kisumu, Kenya

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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Our finances

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

Thubutu Africa Initiatives, Tanzania

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27

Consolidated statement of financial activities (incorporating income and expenditure account) for the year ended 31 March 2024

Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
Total funds		 Total funds
2024
2024
2024		 2023
Note £
£
£		 £
Income from:
Donations and legacies 3 2,131,858
2,131,858		 7,197,424
Investments 4 194,715
194,175		 482
Other 1,018
112,187
113,205		 2,306
Total income 195,733
2,244,045
2,439,778		 7,200,212
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities 5 539,462
2,575,208
3,114,670		 2,042,972
Total expenditure 539,462
2,575,208
3,114,670		 2,042,972
Net (expenditure)/income: (343,729)
(331,163)
(674,892)		 5,157,240
Transfers between funds 15
Net movement in funds (343,729)
(331,163)
(674,892)		 5,157,240
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward 4,280,643
1,936,537
6,217,180		 1,059,940
Net movement in funds (343,729)
(331,163)
(674,892)		 5,157,240
Total funds carried forward 15 3,936,914
1,605,374
5,542,288		 6,217,180

The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and losses recognized in the year.

All activities derived from continuing operations during the above two financial periods.

The notes on pages 18 to 32 of the full audited accounts form part of these financial statements. A copy of the audited accounts can be requested from the GFCF.

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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Consolidated balance sheet as at 31 March 2024

2024 2023
Note
£		 £
Fixed assets
Tangible assets 12
2,002		 3,211
2,002 3,211
Current assets
Debtors 13
857,485		 457,030
Cash at bank and in hand 4,896,362 5,787,423
5,753,847 6,244,453
Liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due
within oneyear		 14
(213,561)		 (30,484)
Net current assets 5,540,286 6,213,969
Total net assets 5,542,288 6,217,180
Funds
Restricted income funds 1,605,374 1,936,537
Unrestricted income funds 3,936,914 4,280,643
Total funds 15
5,542,288		 6,217,180

The notes on pages 18 to 32 of the full audited accounts form part of these financial statements. A copy of the audited accounts can be requested from the GFCF.

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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Income from donations and legacies

Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
Total funds		 Total funds
2024
2024
2024		 2023
£
£
£		 £
Grants 2,131,858
2,131,858		 7,197,424
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
Total funds		 Total funds
2024
2024
2024		 2024
£
£
£		 £
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation 399,494
399,494		 247,756
Choose Love 230,015
Davidson Trust 20,000
20,000		 20,000
Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs(Wilde Ganzen) 880,962
880,962		 428,494
European Union 6,868
6,868		 129,761
Ford Foundation 930,564
Foundation for a Just Society 254,074
Global Greengrants Fund 48,848
48,848
GlobalGiving 334,191
Conrad N. Hilton Foundation 332,428
332,428
Humanity United 59,792
59,792		 41,649
National Philanthropic Trust 4,257,493
Open Society Foundations 200,184
Porticus 87,130
Robert Bosch Stiftung 151,131
151,131
Rockefeller Brothers Fund 70,719
70,719		 36,113
Fund for Shared Insight 161,616
161,616
2,131,858
2,131,858		 7,197,424

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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Our legal and administrative information

Foundation Community Donation Fund Sliven, Bulgaria

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

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Our legal and administrative information

Our board

The GFCF was registered as an independent charity in Northern Ireland and South Africa in 2009 and 2010, respectively. It has two legally constituted boards. The founding board is legally constituted in the U.K. It was the founding organizational member of the South African board and a sub-set of U.K. board members constitute the South African board. Board members (Directors) are nominated for a three-year period, with the possibility of two renewals. Nominations are made and approved by current Directors.

The board is responsible for guiding the GFCF’s programmes and operations. Specifically, the Directors are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

The board is governed by the GFCF Governance Manual, which was adopted in May 2015 and was developed in compliance with its statutes of registration in Southern Africa and Northern Ireland:

A report of the Directors for the year ended 31 March 2024 is available on page 35 of this report.

The GFCF currently has an international board of individuals highly experienced in the fields of community philanthropy and social development. For the 2023/2024 period Directors included:

GFCF Board and staff with partners from the Bucharest Community Foundation

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Safeguarding policy

The GFCF strives to foster a working environment free of any kind of intimidation, aggression or violence, and which upholds the highest standards of operations. As such, and in response to various instances of abuse and malpractice from development actors that surfaced over 2017, in 2018 we published a Safeguarding Policy and updated our Whistle-Blower and Complaints Procedure, to reiterate our commitment to these ideals.

As outlined in the policy, we as an organization strive to ensure that our working atmosphere is a safe and welcoming one, and one in which respect between all colleagues is fostered, regardless of gender expression, race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, state of health, or political leaning. This applies to all staff, board members, temporary personnel, consultants and others who carry out work on behalf of the GFCF. In terms of safeguarding, the GFCF treats seriously any allegations of exploitation or abuse. This may include but is not limited to: sexual exploitation and abuse; child exploitation and abuse; bullying and harassment; and, malpractice in the workplace.

For the period covered by this report, the GFCF complied with all requirements laid out in its Staff Manual and Whistle-Blower Policy. All staff reviewed these documents again in March 2024, as part of an annual practice and commitment to upholding the values laid out therein. No suspected or actual integrity violations were reported in the period covered by this Annual Report.

References and administrative details

Registered charity name: Global Fund for Community Foundations

Commonly used acronym: GFCF

Northern Ireland charity number: NIC101135

Company registration number: NI073343

Registered office: The Mount, 2 Woodstock Link, Belfast BT6 8DD, Northern Ireland, U.K. Operational address: 50 Oxford Road, Parktown, Johannesburg 2193, South Africa

Auditors: Ross Brooke Limited, Chartered Accountants, Statutory Auditors, Suite I Windrush Court, Abingdon Business Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 1SY, U.K.

Bankers: HSBC, 25 - 29 Royal Avenue, Belfast BT1 1FB, Northern Ireland, U.K.

Solicitors: Jennifer E. A. Ebbage, Edwards & Co Solicitors, 28 Hill Street, Belfast BT1 2LA, Northern Ireland, U.K.

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024Keystone Foundation, India

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Report of the Directors for the year ended 31 March 2024

GFCF Annual Report 1 April 2023–31 March 2024

Sentrong Pagpapalakas Negritong ng Kultura at Kalikasan (SPNKK), Philippines 34

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Report of the Directors for the year ended 31 March 2024

Structure, Governance and Management

The directors present their report and the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024.

The directors of Global Fund for Community Foundations (GFCF) – for the purposes of company law and who served during the year and up to the date of this report – are set out below:

ʜ Amitabh Behar

ʜ Robert Ian Bird (Chair)

ʜ Laura Garcia

ʜ Barbara Jane Klugman

ʜ Felecia Lucky

The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the Memorandum and Articles of Association, applicable Accounting Standards in the United Kingdom and the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice” SORP (FRS102).

The charity is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 29 July 2009 (company registration number NI073343), registered with the HM Revenue & Customs as a charity, No. XT18816 and registered with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland as a charity No. NIC101135.

The narrative below reflects a brief overview of the group and the work it does, the Board of directors have prepared a detailed Annual Report. This report is available upon request.

Appointment to the Board of Directors

The composition, appointment and dismissal of directors is guided by the GFCF’s two legal Statutes (U.K. and South Africa) and principles of good governance. The Board appoints directors. At every board meeting, GFCF directors are invited to recommend names of potential directors. The Nomination Committee (a sub-set of current directors) retains a record of this. Occasionally, and at the discretion of the directors, a global open call for applicants is also used as a method for board recruitment.

Eligibility criteria applied in the selection of new directors include demonstrated track record in the fields of community philanthropy, private philanthropy and / or international development aid, evidence of commitment to the GFCF’s core values, purpose and vision and relevant specific expertise (in finance, particular programme, policy and geographic priority areas etc.). Other considerations include ensuring the diversity of the board as a whole in terms of age, gender, race / ethnicity, lived experience etc.

Short-listed candidates are invited to speak with the Nomination Committee and Executive Director, at which time a decision will be made regarding whether to approach them to serve. The Nomination Committee will consult, in confidence, with other directors prior to meeting potential board members in order to have all voices taken into consideration during the process. Should a candidate be approached to serve as a director, this will be approved and formalized by serving directors, requiring a majority of two-thirds of directors agree with the appointment.

Each new director receives an orientation package as part of their induction. This comprises organizational statutes, governance manual, most recent strategic and operational Plans, latest annual report and audited financial statements and a selection of key publications that will orient the director to the organization’s approach to community philanthropy and its ways of working. All new directors are required to review and sign off on the Governance Manual, returning this to the Executive Director for record keeping.

The GFCF is registered in the UK and South Africa. The two legal entities are inextricably linked and operate as a group. A full set of consolidated accounts of the group is available.

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Responsibilities of the Board of Directors

The Board of Directors is responsible for approving the annual strategy. However, decisions regarding allocation of grants, operations and day-to-day allocation of resources lie with the GFCF management personnel. The Board of Directors delegates day-to-day management of the charity to the Executive Director, Jenny Hodgson. The Board of Directors meets twice annually to advise on high level strategy and to provide oversight in terms of grant making, governance and finances. Decisions concerning the pay and remuneration of the charity’s key management personnel are taken by the Executive Director and Board of Directors. In making these decisions, U.K. charitable sector benchmarks, as well as geographic location of staff, are taken into consideration. The directors are specifically responsible for preparing the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and UK Accounting Standards (UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the charity at the end of the financial year end and of the surplus or deficit for that year. In preparing these financial statements the directors are required to:

The directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with them reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In accordance with company law, as the company’s directors, we certify that so far as we are aware, there is no relevant audit information (information needed by the charity’s auditors in connection with preparing their report) of which the charity’s auditors are unaware, and the directors have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charity’s auditors are aware of that information.

Objectives and Activities

The GFCF is a grassroots grantmaker working to promote and support institutions of community philanthropy around the world. Our long-term goal is to embed the practice and paradigm of community philanthropy as a cornerstone of a new architecture for effective, locally-owned and locally-driven development that shifts power and voice to the community level.

The charity works with individual community foundations and other local grantmakers and their networks around the world, with a particular focus on the Global South and the emerging economies of Central and Eastern Europe. Through small grants, technical support and networking, the charity helps these local institutions to strengthen and grow so that they can fulfil their potential as vehicles for local development and as part of the infrastructure for sustainable development, poverty alleviation and citizen participation.

The three core objectives of the charity are listed in the table on the following page along with activities undertaken in line with each objective, and how success is assessed with regards to each.

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----- Start of picture text -----
Objective Activities Undertaken Assessing Success Aims
----- End of picture text -----
To support the building of institutional
capacity among community foundations and
community philanthropy organizations at the
local level.		 ʜ Grantmaking programmes
ʜ Technical assistance
ʜ Peer exchanges		 ʜ Number of grants
ʜ Number of new partners
ʜ Connections between partners
ʜ Local resources mobilized
by partners		 Short-term:
ʜ Locally-owned and directed
community philanthropy
organizations, building assets,
capacities and trust in the areas
where theywork.
To strengthen the feld of community
philanthropy across the world, focusing
on deepening practice, fostering thought
leadership and enhancing the voice and
identity of the feld.		 ʜ Convenings of partners
ʜ Peer learnings activities
ʜ Research reports
ʜ GFCF website and E- Bulletin		 ʜ Number of convenings / number
and range of participants
ʜ Number of reports produced /
downloads from GFCF website
ʜ Number of blogs/ thought pieces
in E-Bulletin
ʜ Increase in subscriptions
to E-Bulletin
ʜ Increase in traffc to GFCF website		 Short-term:
ʜ Capacities, connections, networks,
practice, and visibility between
partners are strengthened.
ʜ Evidence base for community
philanthropy as an eco-system of
local actors responding to urgent
and changing community needs at
the local level is expanded.
To inform and infuence the relationship
between the community philanthropy feld
and policy makers, international development
agencies and the broader philanthropic
sector.		 ʜ Giving for Change programme
ʜ #ShiftThePower Treehouse
ʜ #ShiftThePower Fellowships
ʜ #ShiftThePower Manifesto
for Change
ʜ Building new relationships with
INGOs and funders
ʜ #ShiftThePower Global Summit		 ʜ Increase in traffc to
#ShiftThePower Treehouse
ʜ Number of new donors to GFCF
and partners
ʜ Number of new partnerships/ new
ways of working demonstrated with
INGOs and funders
ʜ Number of registrations to the
Summit, feedback from participants
and coverage of the event across
the wider sector.		 Long-term:
ʜ Profle of community philanthropy
amongst a broader range of
development actors as an
increasingly theorized and
documented development practice,
and a core element of broader
efforts aimed at building local
ownership and shifting
power - is increased.

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Plans for the Future

These objectives will continue to be advanced in the coming years by the charity. The Board of Directors holds formal meetings twice annually to review progress and strategy based on experiences and lessons learned. For the foreseeable future, no significant changes to strategy or resource allocation are foreseen.

Public Benefit

In setting our objectives and planning our activities for the year the directors have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland’s guidance on public benefit to ensure that the activities have helped to achieve the charity’s purposes and provide a benefit to the beneficiaries. The directors believe that all the work of the GFCF is for the public benefit, as defined in law.

Achievements and Performance for the year ended 31st March 2024

For the year ended 31st March 2024 the charity awarded small grants amounting to £1,419,803 to community philanthropy organisations and Fellows in 30 countries. The primary purpose of the grantmaking programme is to build the capacity of community philanthropy institutions around the world. By fostering local cultures of giving, harnessing both local and external resources and through the use of grants and other support mechanisms, community philanthropy institutions are able to become trusted and effective changemakers able to empower communities to address their own development needs. GFCF grants particularly emphasize efforts to reach and support those communities most marginalized, whether by poverty, prejudice, or other forms of exclusion. For the year ended 31st March 2024, GFCF grants supported institutional development of individual partners, #ShiftThePower Fellowships, #ShiftThePower Global Summit Weaving Activities on the Road to Bogota, Emergency Response and response efforts to the war in Ukraine.

A third programme of the charity’s work focused on continuing to raise the profile of the global community philanthropy field and the broader #ShiftThePower movement among policy makers, international development agencies and the broader philanthropic sector. In particular, the GFCF is a member of the Giving for Change consortium, a five-year, eight-country programme aimed at positioning community philanthropy, both nationally and globally, as a form of and force for freedom of expression and claiming of rights. GFCF convened the #ShiftThePower Global Summit in Bogota, Colombia in December 2023 with 730 participants from 77 countries attending.

Financial Review

Overview

GFCF ended the financial year in a strong position, one that will allow the organisation to move forward and focus on implementing a sustainable operating model in 2024/25. In total, the GFCF raised income of £2,439,778 in 2023/24, compared to the previous financial year of funds raised of £7,200,212 which included a once off unrestricted donation of £ 4,260,281 in November 2022. During the 2023/24 financial year the organisation had been able to mobilize additional funds towards the #ShiftThePower Global Summit, which allowed for travel grants for attendees. Over this period, the GFCF spent £3,114,670 on charitable activities, which is higher than expenditure of £2,042,972 in the previous year (2022/23). The hosting of the #ShiftThePower Global Summit accounts for the increase in expenditure for the 2024 financial year. A portion of funds from the once off donation received in the 2023 financial year were spent towards the costs of the #ShiftThePower Global Summit. Expenditure on raising funds of £62,411 is higher than the previous year expenditure of £43,647 (2022/23). The increase in fundraising expenditure is due to the increase in fundraising for the #ShiftThePower Global Summit event and grants. The total funds carried forward to the financial year 2024/25 is £5,542,288 compared to £6,217,180 carried forward to the financial year 2023/24.

A second programme relates to learning and sharing of good practice. The charity organized various online learning events, enabling practitioners in community philanthropy to exchange with and learn from colleagues working in different country contexts. Several reports and thought pieces were also produced, which aim to build the evidence-base for community philanthropy as a development practice.

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Principal Funding Sources

The GFCF’s income is derived from a variety of sources. These are largely in the form of grants from institutional donors (including trusts, foundations, multilateral and bilateral donors), and, occasionally, voluntary income for particular appeals and campaigns.

The principal funding sources for the year ended 31st March 2024 have been: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Davidson Trust, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs via Wilde Ganzen, European Union, Fondation Assistance Internationale, Foundation for a Just Society, Fund for Shared Insight, GlobalGiving, Global Greengrants Fund, Humanity United, Open Society Foundations, Porticus, Robert Bosch Stiftung and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

Reserves

For the year ending 31st March 2025 the directors will be developing and approving a GFCF reserve policy.

Risk Policy

For the year ending 31st March 2025 the directors will be finalising the development and approving a GFCF risk policy.

Auditors

UHY Ross Brooke, Chartered Accountants are deemed to be reappointed in accordance with Section 487(2) of the Companies Act 2006.

References and Administrative Details

Refer to page 1 of the full audited accounts, which can be requested from the GFCF..

The Report of the Directors was approved by order of the Board of Directors and signed on the board’s behalf by:

Ian Bird

Trustee

Date: 13th November 2024

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