Arquivo da tag: Philanthropy and COVID-19

What Brazilian philanthropy learned from pandemic giving

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Paula Jancso Fabiani CEO of IDIS and Luisa Lima Communications Manager at IDIS. 

Collaboration and strengthening civil society organisations are key to tackling Brazil’s social inequality, a new report from the Institute for Development of Social Investment asserts.

It’s easier to make a fortune than to give money away wisely, Andrew Carnegie said in the 19th century. More than 100 years separate us from that statement, but it´s still an idea that philanthropy reckons with as year by year, it tries to evolve. While global trends are helpful to anyone working in the sector, a local understanding is crucial.

In this article, we share some perspectives on philanthropy in Brazil from our research, which we hope are useful to anyone interested in contributing to development in our country or their own.

The pandemic and philanthropy in Brazil

Brazilian philanthropy had been characterized by a project-making vocation for many years, but when the pandemic struck, the sector had to quickly work to respond to the moment’s urgency. Many philanthropists realised it would be more efficient to finance projects led by civil society organisations (CSOs) than to try to build solutions themselves – CSOs had more knowledge about the problems, were close to the beneficiaries, and had implemented solutions. Corporate giving in Brazil reached its peak in 2020, and most of the resources for dealing with the effects of Covid-19 were allocated to third parties.

In this context of increasing grantmaking, another trend was strengthened. Besides the success of the projects funded, philanthropists became also concerned with the survival of CSOs. The deficiency of project focused grantmaking was more visible during the pandemic, when hundreds of organizations, were prevented from continuing their activities, having, sometimes, no resources to maintain their own structures. Many received donations of food for distribution but could not find donors to support them pay the rent or the electricity bill. This logic is slowly changing in the country with the emergence of philanthropic entities focused on the institutional strengthening of CSOs, meaning good management, capable teams, and a financial structure with reserves to face adversities.

Philanthropy in Brazil was developing towards long-term investments. Strategic philanthropy, planning aimed at systemic changes and influence on public policies increased as a practice, as well as the importance of endowments and impact assessment. This transformative approach was leading the way towards the search for more definitive answers to problems.

Nonetheless, the health crisis and its consequences boosted emergency actions, such as direct distribution of food, basic supplies and even cash transfers. Urgency required immediate reaction. During this period, unemployment, hunger, and poverty grew in Brazil, deepening the inequality gap. The societal demands have expanded because the pandemic has shown, for instance, that those who do not have access to internet cannot study and miss opportunities for health care.

Expanding the learning from pandemic response to other causes

During this moment, some causes gained new attention. Racial equality, fighting climate change, and access to technology and connectivity have particularly stood out. And other urgent causes were reinforced such as the fight against poverty, the protection of democracy, and the struggle for human rights and equity for other minority groups.

When putting a light on corporate giving, some factors have contributed to a higher engagement. Many became involved for the first time in 2020 and some decided to continue the practice, even after the most dramatic moment of the pandemic. As reported in the 2020 GIFE Census, 60 per cent of the donating companies declared that they intend to maintain or increase the total amount of social investments in the years ahead. This positioning is consistent with the pressure from investors and consumers.

On the investors’ side, the ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) agenda gained relevance. Nevertheless, Brazilian companies still invest relatively little in following ESG guidelines. The room for development is immense, and there´s a growing understanding that philanthropy is a path to strengthen the ‘Social’ pillar of the acronym.

On the consumer side, there is increasing pressure for companies to take a stand and intercede when the government does not solve society’s problems. According to Edelman Trust Barometer 2021, more than two-thirds (68 per cent) of the population agrees with this statement, and 59 per cent of Brazilians expect CEOs to speak out publicly about social issues.

Above all, no single institution or sector, in isolation, has the solution to the complex problems that we face nowadays. The world in general, and Brazil particularly, are experiencing intense polarisation that fray the social fabric and makes dialogue difficult. Philanthropists, however, can build partnerships helping to connect CSOs, companies and government. If we had to choose only a word to summarize all that is needed, it would be collaboration. The pandemic has made it clear that we get further when we walk together and, contrary to the saying, we can get there faster too.

Article originally published at Alliance Maganize’s blog (click here) on June 4th

IDIS participates on report focused on the impacts of the pandemic on philanthropy

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Candid and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) released a new report, Philanthropy and COVID-19: Examining two years of giving, that details COVID-19-related philanthropic funding in 2021. Candid and CDP’s third assessment of COVID-19 philanthropic data notes a concerning decline in giving by large U.S. foundations even as communities face decades-long efforts to recover from the compounding effects of the pandemic.

One of the chapters of the report is dedicated to pointing out how the pandemic impacted philanthropy in other countries, one of them Brazil. IDIS contributed with its expertise and point of view and the project Emergency Health Fund – Coronavirus Brazil created by IDIS, BSocial and Movimento Bem Maior in 2020 and which raised R$ 40.4 million to help hospitals in 25 Brazilian states against COVID, was highlighted as a case study.

Check out the main highlights of the report:

Candid and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) released a new report, Philanthropy and COVID-19: Examining two years of giving, that details COVID-19-related philanthropic funding in 2021. Candid and CDP’s third assessment of COVID-19 philanthropic data notes a concerning decline in giving by large U.S. foundations even as communities face decades-long efforts to recover from the compounding effects of the pandemic. The new report highlights the need for more philanthropic support for long-term recovery, and CDP provides actionable steps funders can take to invigorate their COVID-19 giving strategy, including:

  • Increase support to marginalized communities.
  • Provide flexible funding to grantees.
  • Implement trust-based philanthropy.
  • Fund as locally and grassroots as possible.
  • Commit to transparency by sharing grants data with Candid.

In previous reports, CDP and Candid noted the record amount of disaster-related funding for the pandemic. The new report includes analysis of Candid’s coronavirus data set (as of December 15, 2021) to illuminate funding trends among U.S. foundations, corporations, and high-net-worth individuals. To date, Candid has recorded $1 billion for COVID-19 in 2021. Additional key findings from the report include:

  • 18% of COVID-19 funding was explicitly designated as flexible funding or general support.
  • 17% of funding was coded for policy, advocacy, and systems change.
  • Health, human service, and education organizations received the highest shares of funding.
  • U.S. donors allocated 22% of funding dollars to recipients based outside the United States.
  • For U.S.-focused domestic funding, 27% of dollars was explicitly designated for racial and ethnic identities. Of this, 71% didn’t indicate a specific identity, but instead, was broadly designated for “racial equity” or “communities of color.”

This report also examines data from Candid’s Foundation Giving Forecast Survey, which surveys large U.S. foundations about their grantmaking. This year’s survey asked respondents about their total grant payments in FYE 2020 and 2021 and also sought to find out how much of this funding was specifically for COVID-19-related support. Results show:

  • An 11% increase in overall grantmaking, but a 31% decline specifically for COVID-19-related funding in FYE 2021.
  • Corporate foundation funding for COVID-19 decreased by 76%; community foundations’ funding decreased by 43%; and funding by independent foundations decreased by 24%.
  • COVID-19 funding accounted for 7% of total giving in FYE 2021, compared to 12% in FYE 2020.

“Overall, surveyed funders did not maintain their COVID-19 support in the second year of the pandemic,” observes Grace Sato, director of research at Candid. “But defining COVID-19 support can be challenging. Since there isn’t a universal definition of COVID-19 funding, survey respondents used their own criteria to estimate how much of their grant payments were allocated for COVID-19. Many may not have considered increased general support or increased flexibility as part of their pandemic funding.”

Chart: Covid-19 support as share of total grant payments FYE 2020 vs 2021

To illustrate funding flows outside the U.S., country and regional experts described the philanthropic response in their localities. The report presents snapshots of COVID-19 funding in 11 countries, including case studies of how philanthropy responded to the crisis in India, Brazil, and Ukraine.

The report also provides information about CDP’s approach to disaster grantmaking. In 2021, CDP granted nearly $2.6 million in 2021 to address psychosocial health and wellbeing needs after disasters.

“We strongly believe that mental health is an area that will need ongoing funding to support global COVID-19 recovery,” said Regine A. Webster, vice president of CDP. “Our communities—especially communities of color—are going to feel the impacts of the pandemic for decades to come. We need to keep the momentum in ensuring that frontline organizations have the financial resources to address immediate needs and root causes to help all community members thrive.”

Philanthropy and COVID-19: Examining two years of giving is available here.