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RenovaBR

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Challenge

Brazil has thousands of political leaders operating at municipal, state, and federal levels. These leaders play a crucial role by committing to address a wide range of social demands. Recognizing the importance of these leaders as catalysts for social change and their vital role in advancing citizen’s fundamental rights, RenovaBR emerged. Currently, the organization is the main political training program in Brazil and is internationally recognized as a reference in the sector.

Since its establishment in 2017, RenovaBR has been committed to understanding precisely and objectively the impact that the organization has on its direct beneficiaries: individuals who go through the political training process. In 2022, to enhance the search for results, RenovaBR chose to collaborate with IDIS in conducting an impact assessment.

Solution

IDIS supported RenovaBR in conducting a Social Return on Investment (SROI), an evaluation protocol that compares the value of resources invested in a project or program with the social value generated for society.

The first step was to create a Theory of Change, a tool that describes how a program’s activities seek to achieve short and medium-term results and the organization’s long-term strategic goal. For this stage, the IDIS team analyzed organization documents and conducted interviews with key stakeholders.

With the Theory of Change firmly established and shared with RenovaBR, IDIS proceeded to define and measure evaluative variables, both qualitative and quantitative. The qualitative approach, which underpinned evaluative variables, was conducted through in-depth interviews and focus groups involving the organization’s beneficiaries. Among the perceived changes, highlights include increased civic awareness, strengthening of ethical values, self-awareness development, a more critical perspective and improvement in professional relationships.

In the quantitative stage, the goal was to measure the magnitude of changes experienced by the beneficiaries. To achieve this purpose, beneficiaries participated in a questionnaire designed to understand the attribution of changes to RenovaBR, as well as to assess the perception of social value without linking to these transformations.

Finally, as the final deliverable, IDIS produced a report with all the findings from the evaluation.

Results

The evaluation confirmed a positive Social Return on Investment for RenovaBR. The organization generates substantial impacts for its direct beneficiaries, those who participate in the program to be agents of positive change in Brazilian politics. These benefits exceed the investment made by three times. In other words, for every R$1 invested in the organization, R$3,10 in social benefits are generated.

Based on the identification of impacts and their intensity, IDIS could also suggest some approaches to maximize social impact. Some of the recommendations included investing more in alumni who have accumulated experience in both the content of the training and the practical experience of being a politician and greater monitoring of the organization during and after election campaigns.

SDG

  

About the Organization

Founded in 2017, RenovaBR is characterized as a school aiming to train new political leaders in Brazil, developing technical and socio-emotional skills through courses covering public policies, political communication, campaign organization, governance, and governability.

Since its foundation, three training cycles have been conducted, two focused on the general elections of 2018 and 2022, respectively, and one focused on the municipal elections of 2020. In addition to the initial political training, RenovaBR also offers ongoing training for alumni elected as parliamentarians or members of the executive branch. Between 2018 and 2022, 13 continued education courses were offered, totaling approximately 400 hours.

According to the organization’s data, over two thousand political leaders have been trained, coming from diverse political backgrounds, and at least 30% of them currently hold leadership positions in the Brazilian public administration.

ELAS+

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Challenge

Women hold only 38% of all leadership positions in Brazil, earning on average 22% less than men, and representing only 35% of CEO positions, according to data from IBGE and Grant Thornton. This is just one facet of gender inequality in the country. The issue becomes even more complex when considering variables such as the field of work and the intersection with additional factors like being part of the LGBTQIAP+ community, age, race and so on.

To empower women and transform this scenario, ELAS+ was founded in 2020.

To enhance its financial sustainability, the creation of an endowment came to mind. As the model is still quite new to Brazilian organizations, there was few knowledge about it among ELAS+ leadership and board members.

Solution

ELAS+ had the support of IDIS to empower its key leaders with knowledge about endowments. This encompassed concepts, best practices, legislation, and practical guidance on planning, implementation, resource mobilization, and efficient management of the mechanism.

Additionally, it was developed a long and short-term investment strategies, aiming to mitigate risks and increase profitability, including resource allocation and investment options. This joint effort aimed not only to address gender inequality but also to strengthen the financial sustainability of organizations engaged in the cause.

“We consider the training very positive for two main reasons: the excellent didactics and patience of the trainer, and the variety of formats in the material used, including tables, graphs, statistics, and examples in the third sector. This material provided to ELAS+ allows any team member, Board, or Assembly member to review or see the materials presented, even if they did not participate in the training on the day. We are confident that we will be able to apply the knowledge acquired when we start managing our Philanthropic Endowment Fund.”
Madalena Guilhon, Vice-President of the Deliberative Board of  ELAS+ Fund

SDG

  

About the Organization

ELAS+ Giving to Transform is a social and environmental justice fund, feminist and anti-racist, that has been investing in the strengthening of organizations and groups led by cisgender women, trans women, and other transgender identities since 2000. It was the first fund to exclusively invest in promoting the empowerment of women, transgender individuals, and non-binary people, recognizing the multiplicity and uniqueness of this universe. These organizations drive and sustain the economy and social relationships in their localities, understanding and actively generating positive social impact in communities, cities, and states, contributing to the collective transformation of society.

GPA Institute

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Challenge

Impact assessment has become a common practice to measure the effects of socio-environmental initiatives, including those driven by business institutes. With the aim of further enhancing the reach and effectiveness of its actions, the GPA Institute joined forces with IDIS to develop a Monitoring and Evaluation Plan.

This tool not only qualifies the results but also empowers the members of the Institute to monitor the performance of projects, fostering an evaluative culture within the team and promoting continuous improvement of their social actions for various causes.

Solution

IDIS collaborated with the GPA Institute in developing an M&E Plan for the ‘Hands on the Dough’ and ‘Prosper Program’ projects, both belonging to the organization’s work front. The goal of these projects is to empower individuals, helping them discover talents and pursue vocations through professional training programs and financial assistance. Initially, a diagnostic analysis of the Institute was conducted, focusing on both selected programs.

Following that, 10 workshops were conducted with the Institute’s team and some representatives from the Human Resources department of GPA, addressing theoretical and practical aspects related to the practice of monitoring and evaluation in social projects. The sessions covered topics such as Theory of Change, results chain, indicators, qualitative research, quantitative research and evaluative methods. For each of the workshops, a practical exercise was carried out, enabling the participative construction of the Monitoring and Evaluation Plan components for the two selected programs.

Results

Based on the previous steps, IDIS developed a comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation Plan, highlighting strengths and offering suggestions for program improvement. Additionally, a Guide to Tools and Best Practices was created to facilitate the Institute GPA member’s process when implementing the plan.

Its implementation will allow the organization to monitor results in the next project cycle, extending this capability to the development of Monitoring and Evaluation plans for other areas of operation. This promotes independence and cultivates a lasting evaluative culture.

“The work carried out by IDIS was of utmost importance for us to closely examine the projects of the GPA Institute. Identifying the real impact of our projects has always been one of the greatest challenges; we know they are excellent and transformative, but we had no way to measure. After this journey with IDIS, we developed together the necessary tools to address our greatest challenges, which is measuring the social impact of the projects we carry out,” said Patricia Santana, Coordinator of Social Projects at the GPA Institute.

 

SDG

   

About the Organization

The GPA Institute is a non-profit organization established in 1998 to lead the social initiatives of GPA. Its purpose is to provide development opportunities for those seeking growth aligned with their life purposes, playing a transformative role in society.

Currently, the GPA Institute operates in three main areas: the first, “Food,” aims to reduce the impacts of hunger and combat food waste; the second area, “Work,” seeks to empower individuals by supporting them in discovering their talents through professional training initiatives and financial assistance. The third area, “Social Engagement,” deepens the relationship between employees, customers, suppliers, social organizations, and GPA, promoting collaborative action as agents of transformation.

RD – RaiaDrogasil

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‘RD – Gente, Saúde e Bem-Estar’, a leading company in the Brazilian drugstore market, was created in November 2011 through the merger of Raia S.A. and Drogasil S.A. The main guideline of its private social investment is to support projects related to the promotion of health and quality of life in the regions where it operates, making a positive impact on communities. With this focus, the company sought IDIS to support it in donation management initiatives to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Emergency Health Fund receives support from the “Every Care Counts” Movement

Amid the health crisis in the country, RD, which is closely linked to healthcare, created the “Every Care Counts” Movement. The company’s initiative made a donation of R$ 25 million to the Health Emergency Fund – Coronavirus Brazil, an initiative of IDIS, the ‘Movimento Bem Maior’ and BSocial to strengthen the Unified Health System (SUS). Started in May 2020, IDIS provided technical support for the management of the donation made by RD to FES, benefiting philanthropic hospitals in various Brazilian states.

IDIS aimed to address two major demands from the company. The first focused on ensuring the security of the donation process, while the second aimed to ensure that the donation was not just a one-time support for the beneficiary hospitals but could leave a lasting impact on the communities they serve. The result of this work was the support to 52 hospitals that serve SUS, through 51 civil society organizations, in 23 states of the country plus the Federal District, covering an area that reaches nearly 72 million people.

United for Vaccination Movement

Still focusing on supporting SUS amid the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, RD joined the “United for Vaccination” Movement, an initiative of the “Grupo Mulheres do Brasil” (Women of Brazil Group), chaired by businesswoman Luiza Helena Trajano. The movement brought together hundreds of companies and third-sector organizations to contribute to the enabling and acceleration of population access to the Covid-19 vaccine. Acting as a network, it had representatives in each federal unit and connected sponsor companies with municipalities interested in receiving donations of supplies needed for the vaccination process in Basic Health Units.

IDIS supported RD in managing the donation of materials and equipment equivalent to R$ 5 million to Municipal Health Secretariats to accelerate the vaccination against Covid-19. This support included analyzing and prioritizing requested donations, coordinating with municipalities, formalizing Donation Agreements, and monitoring the delivery of donations.

Chamex Institute

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The Chamex Institute, established in 2007 and supported by Sylvamo do Brasil (formerly known as the AIPI Institute until 2021), has already invested over R$14 million in the development of the communities it is a part of. Its purpose is to encourage, through education, the use of creativity as a source of transformative solutions for the world and society. In 2021, they established a partnership with IDIS to launch a call for proposals focused on supporting projects that promote education with citizenship.

Operating in a network and in collaboration with various stakeholders, the Chamex Institute seeks to go beyond traditional models, working in practice through four main fronts: (i) Supporting solutions to challenges in the educational system; (ii) Advocating for childhood as a period of creativity stimulation; (iii) Enabling a new future for youth in the creative economy; and (iv) Using creativity and innovation as the means to teach, learn, innovate, and educate.

With this in mind, in early 2021, the “Education with Citizenship Call for Proposals” selected five institutions to receive R$30,000 each to implement transformative initiatives. The goal was for them to carry out projects that stimulate the exercise of citizenship through education and promote a more transformative, proactive, and responsible role for social actors.

To bring this idea to life, IDIS took action guided by the guidelines of the Chamex Institute and planned all stages of the call, including the selection of the five initiatives, and managed the process from start to finish. This work included creating the regulations and application forms, validating candidates and analyzing projects, supporting the selection panel in choosing the winners, and monitoring the execution of the projects.

All the projects were carried out in 2021 and delivered excellent results. Over 42,000 people were directly benefited, and there was an increase of approximately 24% in the active participation of citizens and civil society organizations in the project’s implementation area.

Volkswagen Foundation

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Challenge

Sustainable communities, social mobility, and inclusion. Although they are different causes, they all share a common purpose: to move people and reduce distances. According to a report released in 2020 by the World Economic Forum, Brazil ranks 60th out of 82 countries in a mobility social index.

Recognizing its potential impact, the Volkswagen Group Foundation invests in social actions for various causes. To go further, they sought the support of IDIS to gain a deeper understanding of the effects of their initiatives and strengthen the internal evaluative culture of the organization.

Solution

In 2022, IDIS collaborated with FGVW in the initial creation of Theory of Change – a tool that defines short, medium, and long-term activities and objectives – and in the development of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Plans for projects supported by the organization. The method not only evaluates the impact of actions but also empowers the Foundation’s members to monitor other initiatives, promoting an evaluative culture within the team and the continuous improvement of their actions.

During this process, the importance of collaborating with FGVW implementing partners was recognized to empower them and enable specific improvement for each project.

With this perspective, in the first half of 2023, six theoretical workshops were held with these partners. In this way, the organization gained skills to implement the plan and the necessary flexibility to adjust it in the future according to the program’s evolution.

Results

Based on the previous phases, IDIS developed a comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation Plan, providing guidance to optimize the programs.

The process not only encourages autonomy but also fosters an evaluative culture that persists over time within the organization.

“The partnership with IDIS is consolidating the monitoring and evaluation culture at the Volkswagen Group Foundation so that we can qualify our results and increase the impact on the lives of our beneficiaries. This supports our purpose of moving people through knowledge”, Vitor Hugo Neia, Superintendent of the Volkswagen Group Foundation.

 

About the organization

The corporate foundation has been operating since 1979, investing in social impact actions focusing on two priority causes: urban mobility and sustainable communities, and social mobility and inclusion of people with disabilities.

Additionally, they technically support some of the social investment activities of Volkswagen Group companies in Brazil.

PepsiCo

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Companies are powerful entities that can and should use their resources to improve society. Conscious of their potential as transformative agents, PepsiCo reached out to IDIS to support them in projects to develop and mature their Private Social Investment (PSI) initiatives. This process involves the voluntary and strategic allocation of private resources for the public good.

The first project consisted of a Social Investment Study linked to one of PepsiCo’s products. IDIS conducted a mapping of 53 organizations working on the company’s priority causes – Nutrition, hunger alleviation, family development, poverty alleviation, and children in general – in the Northeast region of Brazil, which could be supported by the company.

Following the mapping, a reflective analysis was conducted regarding the potential challenges, opportunities, and brand synergy with each of the priority causes. This process involved interviews with PepsiCo members, food security experts, and collaborators from different IDIS teams.

The cause alignment study is crucial for maximizing the impact of private social investment, as it encompasses the paths of PSI where the company can be most effective.

Cause Study: Hunger in Brazil

The second project, a partnership between IDIS and PepsiCo, focused on deepening PepsiCo’s understanding of the issue of food insecurity. The Cause Study developed by IDIS revealed some patterns: in Brazil, hunger is localized, gender-specific, influenced by race, and education level. Generally, food insecurity is more prevalent in households of family farmers, led by women, people of Black and mixed-race backgrounds, and individuals with education levels up to the 4th grade.

PepsiCo Brazil also started exploring international projects developed by the company itself that could be replicated in Brazil, such as She Feeds the World, which aims to improve food security and nutrition for poor rural families.

“PepsiCo, together with the PepsiCo Foundation, seeks to support lasting social transformation, especially focusing on populations in situations of social vulnerability. Addressing food insecurity is a top priority for the company, and with the help of IDIS, we seek opportunities to direct our resources toward actions with a positive impact,” said Livia Favaro, Corporate Citizenship Manager at PepsiCo Brazil.

 

Susteinable Development Goals (SDGs)

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo’s products are enjoyed more than one billion times a day in over 200 countries and territories around the world. In 2022, the company had over $86 billion in net revenue, driven by a portfolio featuring a wide variety of foods and beverages for various consumption occasions, including iconic brands that generate over $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales. With 70 years of presence in Brazil, PepsiCo owns brands such as PEPSI®, GATORADE®, QUAKER®, LAY’S®, DORITOS®, RUFFLES®, CHEETOS®, KERO COCO®, H2OH!®, TODDY®, and others.

Guided by the vision of being the global leader in convenient foods and beverages by winning with the PepsiCo Positive strategy (pep+), the company is driving end-to-end transformation, where concern for people and the planet is fundamental to creating value and growing while operating and inspiring positive change. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com.br and follow on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Catalyst 2030 – Challenge Fund

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Challenge

How to bring more clean and safe drinking water to more people? According to research conducted by the Trata Brasil Institute, nearly 35 million people in Brazil live without treated water. Faced with this threat to entire communities, the international movement ‘Catalyst 2030‘ proposed the first edition of the Catalyst 2030 Challenge Fund.

As one of the network’s premises is to accelerate the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through partnerships, to participate, the initiative necessarily had to be a collaborative project, meaning it involved more than one organization and proposed scalable solutions to improve access to clean and safe drinking water for all, addressing SDG 6. The winning project would receive financial support from the movement to put the idea into practice.

The Challenge was supported by Ambev Ama, PLKC Advogados, and Simbi.

Solution

We supported Catalyst 2030 in structuring, promoting, and selecting the projects submitted in the call for proposals.

The first step was to define the characteristics of the call, create the necessary set of documents, and devise effective strategies for promoting the call and the selection process. Every detail contributed to ensuring transparency and the quality of the call, as well as reaching the right organizations that could propose projects in line with what was being sought.

With the call ready, it was time to receive applications. IDIS closely monitored this process, conducted the initial screening of applications, and continued to invite identified organizations as potential participants.

After a careful analysis of the received proposals, it was time to select the winning projects. The judging panel, composed of experts in the field of water, Renata Ruggiero from the Iguá Institute and Guilherme Castagna from Fluxus Ecological Design, had the important task of evaluating the finalist proposals based on predefined criteria, seeking to identify those with the greatest potential for impact.

Results

With a specific focus, the call received 24 applications, involving a total of 89 institutions, including NGOs, companies, universities, and individuals from all regions of Brazil. Among them, five collaborative projects targeted indigenous peoples, while two were aimed at quilombola communities.

The selected proposal was “Access to Clean Water for the Munduruku People,” jointly presented by the organizations Associação das Mulheres Munduruku Wakoborun, Projeto Saúde e Alegria, Water is Life, DSEI Rio Tapajós, and Associação Indígena Pariri.

Its objective is to distribute filters to the Munduruku indigenous people in the state of Pará, in order to make river, stream, well, and rainwater suitable for consumption by this population.

The budget for the project’s execution is estimated at R$200,000, and completion is scheduled for the end of 2023.

About the Organisation

Catalyst 2030 is a global network, composed of more than 100 social entrepreneurs in Brazil, who are working together to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs.

The Catalyst 2030 Fund is an initiative of Catalyst 2030 Brazil aimed at identifying existing initiatives and solutions and fostering collaboration among social organizations in the country to achieve the SDGs.

SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)

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Suzano

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Suzano is the world’s largest producer of pulp, one of the largest paper producers in Latin America, and a reference in the development of sustainable and innovative solutions of renewable origin. In Brazil, it operates directly in 9 states and in more than 200 municipalities, many in regions of great social vulnerability. In addition, the company works to be competitive and a leader in sustainability and in transforming its value chain and society.

The company finances and executes strategic socio-environmental projects in various regions where it operates, including urban, rural, and traditional populations collaboratively with communities, especially in areas of environmental conservation and income generation, both strongly aligned with the company’s business and purpose.

Seeking to expand this work and engage new partners, Suzano approached IDIS with the demand for a strategic analysis of its socio-environmental investment operation model through diagnosis and research of best practices (benchmarking).

The survey of the socio-environmental actions and operations of reference companies in Brazil and the literature on corporate social investment revealed good governance and management practices for socio-environmental investments. Along with the research, regulatory and internal elements of the company were also surveyed in order to build alternative scenarios for decision-making by Suzano in view of its commitments for 2030, such as the goal of lifting 200,000 people out of poverty and implementing 500,000 hectares in ecological corridors.

Arapyaú Institute

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The Arapyaú Institute is a private and nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening networks for promoting sustainability in the Legal Amazon and southern Bahia. Created in 2008 by entrepreneur Guilherme Leal – shareholder of Natura&co and socio-environmental impact investor – the Arapyaú Institute mobilizes civil society, philanthropy, academia, public and private sectors in the development of systemic and scalable solutions to challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss.

In 2022, the Institute hired IDIS to conduct research that would identify best practices in governance, succession, and financial sustainability among family foundations and institutes, with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of these topics, which are highly relevant to strengthening civil society organizations.

The research addressed aspects such as the preservation and continuity of philanthropic legacies of families and individuals, founder participation in decisions and strategic direction of family organizations, risks and opportunities of succession processes in the third sector, search for diversity and plurality in leadership bodies, among others.

Among the various findings of the research, philanthropic endowments were shown to be important instruments for reducing the dependence on resources from founders or maintainers in family organizations and diversifying the sources of income of these institutions, contributing to their financial sustainability.

Another highlight of the research was an important trend in the field of international family philanthropy: the creation of organizations with a limited time horizon, established with a specific date for closure and the purpose of providing a significant volume of resources for urgent social causes, such as climate change. Still little disseminated in Brazil, these organizations seek high impact and social transformation in the short and medium term, valuing partnership and collaboration.

“The governance of institutes and foundations is a central theme that must be discussed with quality time and grounding. IDIS plays an important role in supporting the sector with relevant content and experience. IDIS’ work helped to inform Arapyaú’s discussions by bringing practical examples and an impartial view to the process,” comments Thais Ferraz, institutional director of the Arapyaú Institute.

Plan International

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Operating in over 70 countries, Plan International promotes children’s rights and gender equality for girls. In Brazil since 1997, the organization practices monitoring and evaluating the impact of its projects, programs, advocacy, and social mobilization actions. With an internal team focused exclusively on research and indicator control, they received support from IDIS for training on the SROI protocol, which allows for the monetization of the impacts generated by an intervention.

“Showing the impact of projects accurately and reliably is a practice that favors the recognition of our projects not only by our donors but also by other partners and communities where the initiatives are implemented” comments Cynthia Betti, executive director of the organization.

Gerdau

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Gerdau is a Brazilian multinational with more than 120 years of existence and which is going through a process of cultural transformation in several sectors. One of them concerns its corporate sustainability and ESG strategy, in which the Gerdau Institute Committees play a fundamental role in the local implementation of private social investment actions, corporate volunteering and community relations.

Thinking of contributing to this process of transformation of the Committees, Gerdau contracted IDIS for the mission of conceiving and carrying out a Workshop tailored for the members of these Committees, guaranteeing an alignment of good practices and theoretical knowledge in their areas of activity. And, along with the training, also bring elements and insights for an even more efficient allocation of the company’s resources and efforts in its quest for greater local social impact.

The Workshop was held face-to-face for a whole day for a group of 23 people from the Committees at the headquarters of INTELI, a technology college recently created in the city of São Paulo and which has Gerdau as one of its main supporters.

With the activity, the members of the Gerdau Institute Committees were trained to understand the main concepts of sustainability, ESG, Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainable Development Goals, Private Social Investment, volunteering and relationship with the community. All this, in addition to realizing how Gerdau’s sustainability strategy connects with the Gerdau Institute Committees.

“The content, dynamics and exchanges were very important because we often don’t have time just to learn more about this Corporate Social Responsibility process. But, after this training, I had several insights that my mission at Gerdau is this”, reported a Gerdau employee who participated in the Workshop.

Lundin Foundation

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With the aim of promoting sustainable development by investing in people, the Lundin Foundation is the sustainability and community development support for the Lundin Group of Companies, with HQ in Vancouver, Canada; in Brazil Lundin operates in Goiás. Since 2019, the local mining operation has promoted the Rural Development Program, which contributes to production, productivity, and income generation for the local community farms. To understand the impacts generated by the program, the Lundin Foundation has reached out to IDIS. The final report has included recommendations for the evolution of the project.

Amigos do Bem

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Social impact of Amigos do Bem in the northeast of Brazil reaches R$ 2.1 billion

According to an evaluation study carried out by IDIS, Amigos do Bem Social Return on Investment (SROI) is that R$1 donated to the project turns into R$6.45 at the end.

The Brazilian CSO Amigos do Bem has been working for 29 years to combat poverty and abandonment in the Northeastern hinterland, the most populous semi-arid region in the world. The organization regularly serves 150,000 people from 300 towns with projecs focused on education, generation of labor and income, as well as access to water, housing and health.

In 2020, the organization sought IDIS to support them in measuring the impact of their work. By using the Social Return on Investment (SROI) protocol, it was demonstrated that each R$ 1 donated to the project turns into R$ 6.45 of social benefits for the population of the Brazilian Northeastern hinterland.

Still according to the IDIS study, the investments made by Amigos do Bem between 2012 and 2021 generated and will generate social impacts in the order of R$ 2.1 billion – equivalent to USD 400 million. The greatest impact, according to the study, can be observed on generation of labor and income (38.4%) and education (35.7%), reinforcing the Sustainable Social Development Model created by the institution.

Positive and high Social Return

According to the analysis, the social return on investment of Amigos do Bem is positive and high, leading to concrete transformations for its beneficiaries and volunteers. In addition, strengthening socio-emotional skills contributes to the dissemination of impacts over the years, such as the growth of volunteer work in the region; growth of initiatives in water and housing, as well as in health and distribution of basic food baskets, providing more dignity to the life of residents of the semi-arid region, enhancing the impacts on education, work and change of mentality. Finally, it was made clear that there is great potential for replicating the service model in other locations, taking advantage of the expertise developed by Amigos do Bem, its governance, staff and volunteers.

“We have seen an increase in the interest of social organizations and investors in evaluating the impact of their projects, after all, this is a powerful tool to identify the social benefits of investment, in addition to presenting ways to improve actions. The positive results of Amigos do Bem point to the level of maturity of the organization and demonstrate its potential for expansion into other areas”, highlights Felipe Insunza Groba, project manager at IDIS

The analysis confirmed the social institution’s achievements despite the adverse scenario of the pandemic: the number of people regularly served by Amigos do Bem doubled from 75 thousand to 150 thousand; 450,000 food baskets were distributed; 4 local hospitals were structured; digital squares were created for social and digital inclusion, in addition to the installation of a “Container do Bem”, with the aim of promoting entrepreneurship. In education, a great victory: after a task force carried out by Amigos do Bem, the school in Inajá, in Pernambuco, reached  an 8.0 leval in a national evaluation, being above the average of private schools from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

“For almost three decades we have been operating in the northeastern hinterland, which faces centuries of poverty. Even today, millions of people live in mud houses, without water, food or any other resource. With the help of employees and 10,600 volunteers, we are effectively transforming the lives of thousands of people, providing basic resources for life and building a different future through education and work. Together we are leaving a legacy of transformation for thousands of families who live in one of the poorest regions of the country” comments Alcione Albanesi, president and founder of Amigos do Bem.

In addition to the achievements, the social institution reinforced ESG initiatives and announced investments in the preservation of the environment, such as the use of solar energy in the hinterland, reforestation, pollination of plantations and reuse of raw material from Brazil nuts.

The case was highlighted in reports by Valor Econômico and Jornal da Band, two important media vehicles in Brazil.

Numbers of Amigos do Bem:

1 – 150 thousand people served every month;
2 – 300 villages served in the countrysides of Alagoas, Pernambuco and Ceará;
3 – 10 thousand children and young people attended at tour Transformation Centers;
4 – 1.8 million meals served per year for children at the Transformation Centers;
5 – 1.5 thousand jobs created (Growing, Cashew Nut Processing Factory, Sewing and Handicraft Workshops, Sweets and Honey Factory and Educators and administrative posts);
6 – 10,600 volunteers who dedicate more than 372 thousand hours per year;
7 – 35,000 m2 of buildings built (service centers, among others);
8 – 123 cisterns to bring water to the population;
9 – 60 drilled artesian wells;
10 – 543 houses built;
11 – More than 187,000 medical and dental consultations on 2021;
12 – More than 500 college scholarships;
13 – 1.2 billion liters of water distributed per year;
14 – 30% of Amigos do Bem’s income comes from income generation.

About Amigos do Bem

Since 1993, Amigos do Bem has been working to transform lives in the northeastern hinterland, the poorest region in Brazil. Every month, more than 150,000 people, who live in 300 villages in extreme poverty, are assisted with education, work and income, water, housing and health projects. Founded by Alcione Albanesi, Amigos do Bem is now considered one of the largest social projects in the country, having created a Sustainable Social Development Model and several social impact initiatives with the participation of almost 11,000 active volunteers.

Petrobras

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Challenge

Brazil faces significant challenges in the socio-environmental landscape. According to the Luz Report until July 2021, the country had not shown satisfactory progress in any of the 169 targets of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the UN’s 2030 Agenda established in 2015. Given the potential impact, it is crucial for the business sector to commit to improving its positive impact on communities and the environment and to communicate its socio-environmental initiatives. This will contribute to a more sustainable and equitable Brazil.

In this context, Petrobras has launched the Social and Environmental Program, whose main objective is to promote partnerships, strengthen ties, and generate mutual benefits. This program offers an opportunity to respect the social, environmental, territorial, and cultural rights of local communities, producing positive outcomes in socio-environmental issues that are relevant both to the company’s business and to society.

To reinforce its commitment to evaluating the projects supported by the Social and Environmental Program (SEP), the company has partnered with IDIS to conduct impact assessments. These assessments aim to report the social investments’ results to stakeholders, identify elements that can enhance the positive social and environmental impacts of the projects, and align the SEP’s social investment portfolio more effectively with the company’s strategy.

Solution

To meet the demand, IDIS explored various methodologies for assessing socio-environmental impact. Considering the specificities of the program’s project portfolio, the availability of information, and the feasibility of the proposed approaches, IDIS adopted two types of assessment: the SROI (Social Return on Investment) protocol and Cost-Benefit Analysis (ACB). Additionally, some elements of the SROI protocol were incorporated to make it more suitable for projects with an environmental focus.

Both approaches involve quantifying the impacts generated by each project and calculating the return for both society and the environment.

Results

Over a period of three years, with the support of IDIS, the company has already assessed or is in the process of assessing 33 projects in its portfolio. Among these, four projects were completed in 2023. During this process, notable positive environmental impacts were identified, including the storage and sequestration of thousands of tons of CO² from the atmosphere, resulting from actions such as reforestation, conservation of endangered species, productive inclusion, and increased environmental awareness among diverse audiences.

Furthermore, significant social impacts were highlighted, such as increased self-esteem, improved academic performance, expanded cultural knowledge, and more promising future prospects for children and adolescents in vulnerable situations in various regions of the country. The evaluation process not only improved the dialogue between the funder, executing teams, and beneficiaries but also provided crucial insights for a more in-depth strategic reflection on the socio-environmental impacts generated by the projects supported by the SEP.

“Working with IDIS was a great experience and a significant learning opportunity. The people at IDIS are highly professional and demonstrate this characteristic at all times. However, this does not mean they are arrogant or consider themselves the ultimate authorities. On the contrary, the work is developed in partnership, and information flows easily throughout the project. Personally, I always felt very comfortable questioning and exchanging information with the entire team. The final work turned out as we desired, and the presentation was also very enlightening. I congratulate the entire team and wish them ongoing success,” commented Roberto Emery from Petrobras.

ODS

About the Organization

The Petrobras Social and Environmental Program aims to promote the development of partnerships, the strengthening of bonds, and the generation of mutual benefits, enabling respect for the social, environmental, territorial, and cultural rights of local communities and populations while producing positive outcomes in socio-environmental topics relevant to the company’s business and society. The program currently operates through four lines of action: education, sustainable economic development, ocean, and climate.

More recently, Petrobras, through its Social and Environmental Program, has been concentrating efforts on better managing its project portfolio and thus establishing a partnership with IDIS that began in 2019 and has since been evaluating the impact of a series of projects, providing training for Petrobras on socio-environmental impact assessment.

Vale

Responder

Conhecimento Serra and Arari Stations

Conhecimento Serra, in the state of Espírito Santo, and Arari, in the state of Maranhão, have been maintained by the Vale Foundation since 2011. After school hours they offer educational sports activities, numeric and digital literacy, culture, in addition to health services, acting fully to contribute to the development of children and adolescents in the municipalities where they are present.

In the evaluation carried out by IDIS, the results revealed that the activities and experiences lived by the beneficiaries contributed positively to the educational and personal development, strengthening of interpersonal and collective relationships and expansion of health care. By also offering activities for the student’s families and the surrounding community, the Stations had an impact on the greater participation of parents and guardians in the lives of children and adolescents, and also on the perspectives of entering the job market, by offering professional training workshops.

Juazeiro corn production incentive

Developed in Pará, with the support of the mining company Vale, the Juazeiro corn production incentive project integrates rural producers participating in APRANE (acronym for Association of Small Producers of Nova Esperança Camping, in portuguese). Through the acquisition of production inputs, contracting technical assistance and machinery, rural producers had an increase in income, which is the main goal of the project. With the greater managerial and technical capacity, the quality of the product offered made the community recognized in other locations, contributing to make them feel more proud of the profession they exercise.

In addition to gathering evidence on the social impacts generated, the studies also pointed out opportunities for improvement and recommendations for projects to increase their transformation power.

Vila Conceição Education Circle

Supported by Vale, in a partnership with ACIB (acronym for Community Association Itaqui-Bacanga, in portuguese) and the Union of Residents of Vila Conceição, in the state of Maranhão, the project Vila Conceição Education Circle promotes educational development and the strengthening of community actions, generating autonomy and making the community an agent of change in the territory. The focus on community development and the strengthening of a local support network for children, adolescents and their families. In addition to providing direct assistance to boys and girls, parents and/or guardians of students, it promotes follow-up and alignment meetings, workshops with the participation of public bodies, in order to facilitate access to essential assistance and health services and external cultural activities.

After a study carried out by IDIS, it was verified that the project positively impacts the educational development, sociability, sense of collectivity and strengthening of parental bonds between children, adolescents and the mothers of the participants. The report also showed the impact on the Project’s social educators, with emphasis on pedagogical development. Through conducting the study, it was found that the project achieves the objective of promoting educational development and strengthening community actions, generating autonomy and making the community an agent of change in the territory.

Solea Institute

Responder

The Entrepreneur Reinaldo Rique and his family were supported by IDIS in the creation of a family philanthropic vehicle. The process consisted of three stages:

  • Construction of strategic and action planning;
  • Technical staff recruitment and training;
  • Preparation of Bylaws.

In the strategic planning, the focus of action of the future Institute was defined – cause, public and geography – and the pre-strategy of grantmaking (donation) was elaborated, with criteria for the selection and validation of projects. With the aim of bringing references, IDIS accompanied the philanthropist and two advisors from the Institute on technical visits to social organizations in São Paulo.

The project gave rise to the Solea Institute, a non-governmental organization that was formalized in early 2022 and focuses on strengthening education and reducing social inequalities nationwide.

“We had the valuable support of IDIS in our first steps. The zeal and expertise of the institution’s technical team during the creation process of the Solea Institute gave us the necessary security to get the project off the ground”, says Luiz André Soares, executive director of the organization.

HSi Investments

Responder

Between August 2020 and March 2021, IDIS carried out a consulting project to guide and build a Family Philanthropy Strategic Plan for the entrepreneur and philanthropist Helio Seibel, linked to companies such as Duratex, Leo Madeiras and Leroy Merlin. The project’s main objective was to understand its history of social investment, as well as its values, personal beliefs, preference of causes, among other aspects for the design of a strategy for its philanthropic action through HSi Investimentos.

With a long and expressive trajectory in Private Social Investment (ISP), Helio sought to structure his contributions to different organizations and projects in the light of a new strategic guideline, aligned with his vision of the world and social impact for Brazil.

The process was divided into stages, the first being a diagnosis and the second conducting workshops for strategic reflection on Family Philanthropy.

As a result, there was the construction of an ISP Strategic Map that identified:

  • Priority causes and sub-causes;
  • Acting region;
  • Target audience and;
  • Risk profile.

In addition, performance models were presented and criteria were defined for the selection and monitoring of donations and annual budget, as well as a suggestion for its allocation.

According to Alex Seibel, “the work of IDIS was very important to help structure HS philanthropy, and bring more professionalism, more organization, and greater clarity about the causes we will support”.

Mosaic Institute

Responder

The Mosaic Institute is the private social investment tool of Mosaic Fertilizers, working towards the mutual and sustainable development of the communities where the company operates.

In 2022, it launched the fourth edition of the The Public Notice for Water, an initiative that seeks to value and promote good practices in water resource management in 35 Brazilian municipalities, contributing to water availability and sanitation for all Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 of the UN’s 2030 Agenda.

Annually, The Public Notice for Water selects and funds projects conceived by higher education institutions or civil society organizations (CSOs) to restore springs and watershed areas, install water capture and reuse systems and wastewater treatment, disseminate social technologies for efficient water management and leverage research that promotes the rational use of this important natural resource.

Since 2019, over 5,900 people from 29 municipalities in nine Brazilian states have participated in capacity-building activities, environmental education, engagement, and awareness activities on sustainable water use throughout the editions. The last four editions have also ensured the restoration of at least 42 springs, the installation of over 110 water capture and/or sewage treatment systems, and the planting of over 10,800 trees.

In 2020, the Friends of the Earth Sorriso Association (MT) contributed to the restoration of 11 springs in the Lira River Watershed, working on soil conservation in an area of 3,250,000 square meters, training local technicians, and installing over 300 drains to accelerate groundwater recharge and increase river flow.

In this fourth edition, in line with Mosaic Fertilizers’ diversity and inclusion commitments, projects prioritizing not only sustainable water management but also ensuring the empowerment of socially or economically marginalized groups gained prominence. These groups include women, people with disabilities, black individuals, indigenous or non-white people and traditional communities.

At the end of the selection process, which involved sector experts and company leadership, 15 projects were chosen to be executed, with an investment of over R$ 600,000 from the Mosaic Institute.

IDIS has been the technical partner for the implementation of The Public Notice for Water since its inception in 2019, responsible for managing the entire donation process, from planning to formalization of the donation, signing partnership agreements, disbursing donated funds and monitoring the winning projects.

In addition to this well-established partnership for The Public Notice for Water, in 2022, the Mosaic Institute also received technical support from IDIS in two other consulting projects, aimed at enhancing the company’s social investment initiatives and increasing their impact.

The first project involved a strategic reflection on the alignment between the programs of the Mosaic Institute, Mosaic Fertilizers’ ESG commitments, and the SDGs. As a result, new opportunities were identified to enhance the Mosaic Institute’s contribution to the company’s sustainability agenda and promote greater integration between the programs developed in its four platforms – Water, Education, Local Development, and Food.

The second project aimed to deepen the Mosaic Institute’s knowledge of corporate agriculture institutes and foundations in Brazil. The work involved mapping organizations active in the sector in the country and conducting a benchmarking survey, focusing on communication strategies and involving four selected organizations, to guide the Mosaic Institute in making decisions for future projects.

Rockefeller

Responder

IDIS established a partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation to generate inspiring knowledge for Brazilian private social investment. The partnership enabled the translation into Portuguese of texts by Bellagio Inatitive, which discussed the future of philanthropy, and other relevant content for Brazilian private social investment. The partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation also led to the emergence of redIS, the Social Investor Network, a platform for exchanging philanthropic knowledge.

Health Emergency Fund – Coronavirus Brasil

Created by IDIS, Movimento Bem Maior and BSocial, the Health Emergency Fund was one of the first initiatives that were launched motivated by the pandemic. It reached expressive numbers: it raised R$ 40,4 million in seven months of operation and has had 61 beneficiaries – 59 philanthropic hospitals, one research institute and one social organization –  contributing to the strengthening of the Brazilian public health system. Among the over 11 thousand donors, we see companies of different sizes and areas of expertise, in addition to families committed to philanthropy and civil society in general. The raised resources were converted to hospital equipment for ICU, and materials such as respirators, COVID-19 tests, masks, gloves, among others.

“This wave of solidarity definitively brought the strengthening of the collaboration culture in the country, and that of networking. The challenge of facing a global pandemic made the philanthropic national scene emerge with a never before seen or imagined velocity”, states the executive director for Movimento Bem Maior (Greater Good Movement), Carola Matarazzo.

This action is another example of how collaboration between civil society, companies and the government was important for facing the effects of the pandemic and the emergency challenges in such a scenario. The way the pandemic spread showed the importance of extending resources to states in a more vulnerable situation, such as Pernanbuco, Amazonas, Acre, Rio de Janeiro, Ceará, Minas Gerais, among others. In Manaus, where mortality was high, almost R$ 1 million were forwarded to two hospitals in the city. Various hospitals, known as Santa Casa da Misericórdia, all over the country also received resources to face the pandemic.

The creation of emergency funds was increased during the pandemic, and in 2021, a law was passed in the Senate and now transits the Chamber of Deputies. Considering that it will be more common from now on.

“Being a part of the Emergency Fund was an opportunity to act in a moment of need in our country, facing the pandemic, by offering a path for making donations reach philanthropic hospitals, taking resources to the frontlines of the battle against COVID. Transparency, union, strength and solidarity were the values that guided us,” says Maria Eugênia Duva Gullo, cofounder of BSocial.

RESULTS OF THE HEALTH EMERGENCY FUND

_R$ 40,4 million in mobilized resources (equivalent to about USD 8 million on that year)

_61 institutions from 25 states benefited

_3,7 million PPE distributed

_362 thousand COVID-19 tests

_3.621 hospital equipment acquired

Over 11 thousand donors, among companies of different sizes and areas of expertise, in addition to families committed to philanthropic actions and civil society in general.

 

Check out the Health Emergency Fund report and how to create an Emergency Fund (material in Portuguese):

ESG Index for Racial Equality

Social inequality and structural racism are historical problems in Brazil. In the last decades, and especially in the last few years, we have observed debates about how these topics influence the behavior of people and companies. The murder of George Floyd in the United States motivated demonstrations throughout the world, even during the coronavirus pandemic. The Black Lives Matter movement influenced companies, governments and civil society to position themselves against racism. In Brazil, where 56% of the population declares itself as being black, the topic gained the spotlight in the same period.

To address one of the main roots of social inequality in Brazil, Parceiros da Educação, represented by its president Jair Ribeiro, sought IDIS and the consultancy services for diversity and inclusion of Uzoma Diversidade, Educação e Cultura and Diversidade Corporativa (Uzoma Diversity, Education and Culture and Corporate Diversity) for the construction of the Pact for the Promotion of Racial Equity , a never before seen initiative to bring racial cause to the center of ESG discussions in Brazil. It gathered academics, civil society, consultancies and companies, and IDIS helped the Pact in the development of an algorithm for the diagnosis of racial equality in companies (IEER – ESG Index for Racial Equality). We also helped in strategic definitions and practices for the implementation of a new ESG Racial Protocol that will guide companies and investors who are interested and committed to the racial cause.

As a promotor of private social investment (ISP) in Brazil, IDIS also contributed with the mapping of guidelines so that companies can change the reality of the territories where they act through ISP in Racial Equity, promoting more social development and racial equality.

See the Pact’s flow:

Protocol and Governance

_The company makes demographic data available (calculation of IEER_N1)

_Voluntary adhesion to the Pact, with the adoption of the ESG Racial Protocol, which stablishes commitment to IERR_N1 goals of implementing affirmative actions and social investments.

_The company commits to adopting affirmative actions (calculation of IEER_N2)

_The company commits to invest in racial equity (calculation of IEER_N3)

_Certification and monitoring through independent and certifying organizations (assignment of Racial Equity Rating)

Among the people involved, there are black movement activists such as Hélio Santos, Cida Bento (CEERT), Selma Moreira (Baobá Fund), and Adriana Ferreira (Feira Preta), financial market representatives such as Gilberto Costa (JP Morgan) and Fabio Alperowitch (FAMA Investimentos), in addition to academics like Lucas Cavalcanti, Michael França, Sérgio Firpo and Thiago Amparo. The Pact was launched on July 8th, 2021 in an event with over 100 people attending and with the support of UN’s Global Compact.

In October 2021, the Pact for the Promotion of Racial Equity Association was formalized, responsible for the promotion of the Pact for the Promotion of Racial Equity and for managing and monitoring a new ESG Racial Protocol.

Day the Racial Equity Promotion Pact Association was formalized, in October 2021.

Check out the website for the Pact for the Promotion of Racial Equity and how to join.

Gerando Falcões

Founded in 2011 by Edu Lyra, Lemaestro, Mayara Lyra and Amanda Boliarini, “Gerando Falcões” is a social development ecosystem that acts in network to accelerate the impact power of leaders in favelas all over Brazil. Their shared dream is to  turn poverty into a museum item. With focus on transforming initiatives, they aim to generating long-term results, delivering education, economic development and citizenship in slum territories.

Between 2020 and 2021, IDIS was responsible for the Impact Assesment of a program on Sports and Culture held with children and teenagers, as well as of the Professional Qualification Program with young adults, both carried out in São Paulo. The chosen methodology was SROI (Social Return on Investment), which in addition to guiding decision-making management, brings inputs for the communication with society and funders.

It was demonstrated that each R$1,00 invested on the initiatives, R$3,50 are generated in benefits for society, a positive and relevant outcome which was confirmed by aditional tests and sensibility analysis. We also identified that Gerando Falcões’ investment payback happens already on its second year.

Throughout the study – which involved not only quantitative analysis, but also interviews and focal groups – we observed the importance of “Gerando Falcões” way of acting. They focus on the development of a positive and empowering attitude with those they help.

Gerando Falcões characteristics, such as management, agility and commitment of the team also contributed for the results found on the evaluation. They also had an important role minimizing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In other words, the results reflect not only the quantity of activities that are offered, but also the quality and compliance to their audiences and territories.

The assessment also offered guidance and suggestions of possible ways for the organization to increase its impact and explore its potentials, might it be it through activities that are performed by Gerando Falcões in its units, or through the possibility of exporting the methodology to organizations that are accelerated by Gerando Falcões throughout Brazil.

Anglo American

Challenge

Brazil is a country full of complex and interconnected challenges spanning different sectors of society. In this scenario, business organizations can play an important role in mitigating these issues.

However, for this involvement to be as strategic as possible, a question arises: how to define a precise scope of action that can generate effective impacts on society, understanding local needs, without losing sight of the synergy with the company’s global private social investment initiatives?

With this challenge in mind, Anglo American approached IDIS. The company aimed to understand the key challenges faced by the country and based on this knowledge, identify the best opportunities to strategically direct their social investments.

Solution

As the local partner of Anglo American, IDIS proposed to the organization a journey to comprehend the Brazilian context of social development through research on the capacities of key actors for promoting this development. The research involved investigating various aspects, from the existing needs and gaps in the country to strategies, policies, interventions, and programs adopted to enhance these issues in the Brazilian context.

The first stage involved thorough research into reviews, studies, and existing literature on capacity building/capability development in Brazil. Understanding the Brazilian landscape, identifying trends, and pinpointing opportunities to guide the company’s next steps were crucial.

This stage revealed that many of the country’s development challenges stem from gaps in the management capacity of municipal governments, especially in their fiscal dimension. Larger municipalities, with support from federal government initiatives or civil society organizations, have been trying to improve their tax collection capabilities, but smaller municipalities lack the same margin for change.

Next, in the second stage, a benchmarking research was conducted. At this point, practices of “capacity building/capability development” programmes developed by companies comparable to Anglo American in Brazil were carefully analysed. The goal was to gather valuable references that could serve as a strategic guide for the company’s actions.

With all this knowledge and references in hand, it was time to look inward. In the third stage, an analysis of initiatives previously undertaken by the company itself in Brazil was conducted. This study represented a learning opportunity, allowing the identification of successes, challenges faced, and how to further enhance their practices of private social investment aimed at fostering the capacities of local actors for development promotion.

In the fourth stage, stakeholders and peer companies of Anglo American were actively sought. Through carefully conducted interviews, their perspectives were heard, allowing the identification of risks, gaps, and challenges of private social investment focused on capacity development in the public and civil society sectors. This approach provided a broader and more informed overview of the expectations and concerns of those involved, contributing to the enhancement of strategies and actions of the business foundation.

Results

After going through all these stages of research, interviews, and analysis, IDIS prepared a comprehensive report with all the findings. The mappings and insights obtained throughout the process were carefully documented and presented. The company was able to see the challenges as well as the opportunities for its actions in the country with even greater clarity, enabling the creation of a global strategic plan with a keen focus on local particularities.

About the organisation

Anglo American is a leading global mining company with a portfolio that spans diamonds, platinum, copper, iron ore, and steelmaking coal – with crop nutrients in development. The company has operations in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. Anglo American’s purpose is to “Re-imagine mining to improve people’s lives”.   The company’s sustainability strategy is driven by its Sustainable Mining Plan (SMP) which is built around three Global Sustainability Pillars designed to support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each pillar has three Stretch Goals. The SMP also includes Collaborative Regional Development (CRD), an innovative partnership model designed to catalyse independent, scalable, and sustainable economic development in regions around its operations, the objective being to improve lives by creating truly thriving communities that endure and prosper well beyond the life of the mine.

SDGs

Related Contents

Case – Lundin Foundation
Case – Mosaic Institute

Brazilian Philanthropy Forum

Active since 2012, the Brazilian Philanthropy Forum offers an exclusive space for the philanthropic community to gather, exchange experiences and learn with their peers. These actions strengthen philanthropic strategy for promotion of the development of Brazilian society. Every year, the event gather philanthropists, leaders and specialists, both national and international.

To map out and discuss philanthropy’s role for the development of Brazil, we´ve had as speakers leaders such as Edvaldo Vieira, Guilherme Leal, Jorge Gerdau Johannpeter, Jane Wales, Lester M. Salamon, Maílson da Nobrega, Neil Heslop, Peter Eigen, Rob Garris, Swanee Hunt, Viviane Senna, among others.

The Brazilian Philanthropy Forum is a joint initiative by IDIS and the Global Philanthropy Forum (GPF).

Learn more at: idis.org.br/forum/en

World Giving Index

World Giving Index (WGI) is a global research about solidarity. It reaches 135 countries in all continents and asks if the citizen does volunteer work, helps people on the streets or donates to civil society organizations. WGI is produced by CAF UK and IDIS publicizes its contents in Brazil, providing reflection about the topic and increasing its impact, which in turn generates knowledge about solidary attitudes in Brazilians.

 

U.S Consulate-General

Civil Society organization actions are fundamental in Brazil. Despite the great ability and knowledge of causes and of places in which they act, the segment has challenges to overcome, related to structure and management, which interfere in their capacity of generating long-term impacts and also in their access to resources. Stemming from this need, Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), IDIS and the U.S Consulate-General in São Paulo gathered to create the Program for Strengthening Civil Society Organizations. Through on-site training, as well as a series of online training, the program, which was implemented in June 2018, had as goals the development of three abilities in small and medium-sized nonprofit organizations that act in the metropolitan region of São Paulo. These abilities were: (1) strategic planning; (2) fundraising (for mobilizing both local and American resources) and (3) forming and participating in intersectoral networks.

A year after the conclusion of the program, eighteen out of the twenty participants were willing to answer a survey to identify how the organizations evolved in regards to the items that were approached in the course. Among the interviewed, when questioned on strategic planning, 72% indicated that the topic became more relevant in their organizations. The same percentage indicated that in the last year, there was a revision of the portfolio of programs and projects, carried out through formal analysis methodologies. With regards to partnerships, only one organization said they hadn’t made contacts in the last year. The perception on fundraising was also positive – 13 organizations said the amount of resources from third parties increased in the last year, coming from local investors mainly. The access to foreign resources proved to be the greatest challenge, with 56% of interviewees indicating that they had not made contact with any investors outside of Brazil.

Riverside Early Childhood Program

(Programa Primeira Infância Ribeirinha)

From an innovative pilot experience carried out in the State of Amazonas, in partnership with Fundação Amazonas Sustentável (FAS- Sustainable Amazonas Foundation), and having children of up to three years of age that reside on the margins of rivers in the tropical forest as our focus, IDIS developed a public policy that was to be implemented by the State Government. The project, called Programa Primeira Infancia Ribeirinha (Riverside Early Childhood Program), counted with the support of the Bernard van Leer Foundation and included dialogue with the states leaders and policy makers of the city of Manaus and of the state of Amazonas.

Endowment Advocacy

IDIS led an education and advocacy strategy to build support for an Endowment Law that was approved in January 2019.

Overview

Until recently, there was no supporting legislation for endowments in Brazil. As a consequence, few incentives existed and there were only a limited number of endowments to support CSOs in Brazil.

IDIS worked with others to build support for an Endowment Law over an eight-year period, including a strong education element about why it was needed, alongside an advocacy strategy to see a law ultimately enacted. Given the importance of endowed giving in the growth of philanthropy in many countries, bolstering it should provide a major boost to Brazil’s culture of giving.

Context

In spite of the fact that endowment funds are a well-known and commonly used mechanism in the developed world, they are only just beginning to be used elsewhere.

Some of the largest endowments in the world can be found in the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Some examples of the largest and most relevant endowments are the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with an endowment valued at over $50 billion USD, Harvard University’s endowment, valued at over $37 billion USD, and the Wellcome Trust endowment, valued at over $30 billion USD.  In emerging economies, this is also a trend with such examples as the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation in the United Arab Emirates and its $10 billion endowment, and in India, with the Azim Premji Foundation and its $21 billion endowment.

However, in Brazil there was no legislation regulating endowments, meaning while there were a few endowments, such as the Bradesco Foundation and Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal Foundation, both linked to a financial institution when founded, they were rare. Until now there has been no legal environment to support endowments, creating a level of uncertainty for endowment donors.

accomplishments

IDIS, the Brazilian partner of the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF Global Alliance), sought to generate support for an enabling endowment law in Brazil effectively from scratch.

The pillars of innovation included a dual strategy of education and advocacy. IDIS took key actions including:

1. Launched a book

in 2012, entitled “Endowment Funds, Creation and Management in Brazil” with support from Vale Foundation and Ford Foundation. It was the first book to address this topic in Brazil and continues to be a reference for organisations, philanthropists, academia, fund managers and regulators.

2. Led several meetings resulting in the drafting of a bill proposal for endowments, based on international best practice

In 2012 and 2013, IDIS convened the Endowment Study Group with GIFE and JP Morgan. The group had 90 members, including lawyers, executives of the non-profit sector, public prosecutors, academics and others

3. Developed 3 guidance documents and other useful materials on
Endowment Funds

In 2016, IDIS developed guidance in partnership with Levisky Negócios & Cultura, PLKC Advogados, with sponsorship by the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES), Petrobras and Caixa Econômica Federal. They also translated an important book on philanthropy and endowments, ‘Philanthropication through Privatization’ (PtP) by Professor Lester M. Salamon from John Hopkins University

4. Created an advocacy strategy with several partners from civil society philanthropy and the private sector.

IDIS and others agreed fundamental principles for good legislation that would benefit CSOs, philanthropy and social investors. These included:

• Breadth of the social causes and non-profit organizations that may constitute endowment funds
• Existence of fiscal incentives
• Governance and transparency rules based on international best practices

5. Met with congressional representatives and government officials across multiple departments

Over a 6 year period, including the General Secretary of the Presidency, representatives of the Chamber of Deputies, Federal Senate, IDB and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Economy. IDIS hosted events and discussions that led to 11 Bills in the National Congress that sought to regulate endowments in Brazil.

6. Brought together the Coalition for Endowments

(“Coalizão pelos Fundos Filantrópicos” ) in the final stages to strengthen the movement for the regulation of endowments. Led by IDIS and with legal advice from PLKC Advogados, relevant organizations supported the creation of the movement: Gife, APF, Cebraf, Humanitas 360 and Levisky. With over 60 organizations, the Coalition was launched in the National Congress in 2018.

Challenges

The path that has led to the approval of the legislation was long and unpredictable and IDIS needed to be prepared and flexible. For example, in 2018, due to an unfortunate catastrophe, a fire that destroyed over 90% of the Brazilian National Museum’s archives ended up being a catalyst for government action. Michel Temer, the President at that time, signed a Provisional Measure to ensure that museums, universities, other public institutions and nonprofits benefit from the endowment mechanism, improving their long-term sustainability. IDIS, in the name of the Coalition, released a Public Notice declaring support to the measure and highlighting the importance that it includes all social causes and organizations.

Advocacy depends on organizational agility. Identifying key government representatives that could push forward the initiative is very important, but more so is the ability to respond rapidly to all opportunities that emerge in the process, with concrete alternatives. The IDIS president was directly involved and there were dedicated funds provided in the final stages to help achieve success.

What was achieved? 

In early 2019, after eight years of work by IDIS, Brazil’s government approved the Provisional Measure, transforming it into the 13.800 Law, the “Endowments Law”.

• The law will provide better incentives for creating endowments, expected to benefit cultural CSOs, such as museums and orchestras in particular.

• IDIS also built a stronger network of civil society supporters. Over the long period of advocating for endowment regulation in Brazil, IDIS was able to attract multiple partners and supporters to the cause (over 60 organizations from all sectors). It became a core pledge across civil society that united different actors. • Laying the groundwork for longerterm impact. If Brazil’s largest  fortunes donate 1% of their assets to endowments, at least US$ 1.2 billion for philanthropy would be realized.

KEY LESSONS

> Organisations should be responsive to external events which can help to galvanise political support – in this case a tragedy of a museum fire

>Getting a new law passed takes time. Successful advocacy depends on agility and perseverance, as well as availability throughout the process to respond to events and opportunities as they arise

> Building a strong knowledge base on the aims, with international benchmarks, is important

> Creating a broad coalition was the critical innovative aspect that led to success

Avon Institute

Operating since 2003 as the social arm of Avon, a company that for over 130 years has connected millions of women to each other and to a life with more opportunities, the Avon Institute’s mission is to “Mobilize society to address breast cancer and violence against women and girls in Brazil”.

As a partner of the Avon Institute since its inception, IDIS supports the programmatic management and donations made by the institute to projects and civil society organizations working on the causes of breast cancer and violence against women and girls.

In 2020, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, there was an aggravation of cases of violence against women and girls, which motivated the Avon Institute, in partnership with Accor, to establish the Private Social Investment Fund for the End of Violence against Women and Girls. The Fund, which was created in an emergency context due to the increase in violence against women and girls, is now undergoing a process of evolution to become a permanent fund.

Our team was involved in defining the strategic guidelines, governance, and goals of the fund, as well as establishing its lines of action, characteristics, and criteria for donations and beneficiary selection process.

The fund began to operate, therefore, from four fronts: shelter – providing emergency shelter for women at high risk of violence and assistance in improving shelter services efficiency; food security – addressing the basic and immediate needs of women in situations of violence; legal and psychological support and training – aiming to create conditions for the resumption of an active life and an end to the socio-economic dependence of these women; and strengthening public policies – encouraging the engagement and commitment of the government to address the problem.

The results achieved in 2021 were significant for the change in perspective that the fund seeks to incentivize. In its first year of operation, the actions of the fund were able to provide 233 services and shelter 70 women with 77 companions in Accor hotels through the Acolhe program, and create 430 shelter vacancies in seven supported halfway houses in six Brazilian states.

In the area of food security, R$126,000 was raised for the distribution of 210 cards, each worth R$600, among women assisted by the supported halfway houses and partnerships through the fund, as well as beneficiaries of the Acolhe program. Just over R$800,000 was transferred to halfway houses for the purpose of renovations, aids, and necessary equipment for the comfort of those accommodated.

2022

In 2022, we celebrate 20 years of partnership with Instituto Avon. The first project carried out was the strategic planning, which gave rise to the Institute itself, which initially embraced the cause of fighting breast cancer and, 5 years later, began leading actions to address violence against girls and women. Since its founding, over R$180 million have been invested in more than 400 projects, research, and awareness actions, making the Avon Institute a reference in these two causes. To this day, IDIS contributes to the management of the Institute’s donation.

One of the highlights of this history is the creation, in partnership with Accor, of the Private Social Investment Fund for the End of Violence against Women and Girls. It was a response to the worsening cases of violence against women and girls during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Team of Instituto Avon at IDIS office.

In addition to being the programmatic manager of this fund, in 2022, IDIS conducted a workshop to transform the Emergency Fund into a Permanent Fund. Our team contributed to the definition of strategic guidelines, governance and goals of the fund, as well as the establishment of lines of action, characteristics, and criteria for donations and the beneficiary selection process. The methodology applied was the systemic mapping of violence against women, created by Rights 4 Change, sponsored by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which led to a survey of the positive and negative points of current policies. This was the first step in helping the Fund to define its new priorities.

“The ISP Fund inaugurates a new stage in the Avon Institute’s work on combating violence, as well as being an innovative project that proposes additional resources to existing public policies. It allowed us to immerse ourselves in women’s protection networks in different regions of Brazil, learn about their operation and challenges, and propose integrated and qualifying solutions to the services. An example of how social investment can and should contribute to strengthening public policies,” says Daniela Grelin, executive director of the Avon Institute.”

Throughout the year, support for programmatic management and donations made by the Institute to projects and civil society organizations working on Breast Cancer and Combating Violence against Women and Girls was also maintained.

WWF – Brazil

WWF-Brazil is an organization that is committed to preserving biodiversity and to engaging Brazilian society in the preservation of the environment and in the rational use of natural resources. IDIS provided technical support to WWF-Brazil by carrying out a viability study with the goal of mapping partnership opportunities between the organization and the business sector. As a result, IDIS outlined converging aspects between the organization’s mission and interests that represent Brazilian companies in the preservation and use of the environment, and then defined strategies to approach companies for WWF-Brazil.