The Transforming Territories Program is an IDIS initiative, in partnership with the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, for promoting the creation and strengthening of community institutes and foundations in Brazil, with the engagement of donors and civil society, knowledge sharing and technical support.
What are community institutes and foundations?
Community institutes and foundations are civil society organizations that work in favor of a delimited geographic territory, be it a neighborhood, city or region, with a long-term vision and seeking systemic impact for the development of the region. They are protagonists of dialogue between organizations and social initiatives with donors, civil society and public authorities, promoting transparency and engagement. These organizations act as grantmakers, that is, they finance projects and social initiatives for multiple causes to address the region’s demands and priorities.
In addition, community institutes and foundations strengthen the region’s third sector with training and technical support, invest in the production of knowledge and encourage a culture of donation in the territory where they operate.
In the model below we illustrate how Community institutes and foundations operate:
Community Institutes and Foundations in the world
Still little known in Brazil, these organizations have become increasingly consolidated internationally as an important arrangement institutional framework for social development and addressing the various demands of the territories.
According to a survey carried out by the Community Foundation Atlas, there are more
of 1,800 institutes and community foundations. Together, these organizations move more than USD 5 billion every year.
See how they are geographically distributed:
Transforming Territories
This belief is a part of the scope of IDIS since its founding in 1999. Experiences and knowledge that were acquired throughout 25 years of works, in addition to the global context, which is characterized by the growing recognition of communities and collectives as key elements in the promotion of a planet that is more sustainable, led to a partnership between IDIS and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation for the development of Community Foundations and Institutes in Brazil.
The first stage, carried out between 2018 and 2019, sought to understand the profile of organizations and informal initiatives in the state of São Paulo that searched for solutions for social problems through commitment and direct involvement of local communities. The second stage, which began in 2020, consists in the mapping and implementation in Brazil of Transforming Territories – a program to foster the development of Community Institutes and Foundations.
The initiatives operates in two fronts: one focused on sensitizing and making donors commit to the cause and another for the promotion of creating and developing Community Foundations and Institutes.
Check out the organizations that are already a part of the program:
IDIS believes that the consolidation of this model and the increasing emergence of success cases throughout the country can open new fronts for fundraising, expand territory potentialities, encourage the emergence of new community leaders, and contribute to the encouragement of the giving culture.
Want to be a part of this project? Contact us at territorios@idis.org.br
WHO ARE WE
IDIS – Institute for the Development of Social Investment is a civil society organization founded in 1999 and pioneer in technical support to social investors in Brazil. With the mission to inspire, support and promote strategic philanthropy and its impact, we serve individuals, families, companies, corporate and family run institutes and foundations, as well as with civil society organizations, in actions that transform realities and contribute for the reduction of social inequality in the country.
The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation is a North-American grantmaker organization, with headquarters in Flint, Michigan. It was founded in 1926 by Charles Stewart Mott, former director and shareholder of General Motors Corporation. Over US$3.2 billion in assets have been allocated to the development of projects with focus on 4 acting areas: Civil Society, education, environment and the Flint community. Mott has supported organizations in over 62 countries and in 2019, distributed US$ 133 million in grants.
