The practice of Zakat in Muslim countries gives some NGO's an opportunity to strengthen their development. I would interested in hearing from members of the SocialEdge community who have received money thorugh Zakat contributions.

Hi Patrick.

I work at GlobalGiving and while we are based in the United States, we have partners who work in Muslim-majority countries who undertake projects that are "zakat-eligible."

Last year GlobalGiving had a Ramadan Giving campaign where we pulled together some projects from countries such as Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Morocco and Sudan and presented this group as a set of projects suitable for Ramadan Giving. You can see the page at: http://www.globalgiving.com/ramadan.html

I know there are members of our GlobalGiving project community, such as the Indian NGO, Prajwala, that has mentioned they receive a lot of their funding as zakat contributions.

First I would like to thank Social Edge for extremely interesting discussions of subjects I am deeply concerned about - such as international fundraising and social entrepreneurship. My organization, BrazilFoundation, is a young Diaspora Philanthropy incorporated in New Yorkthat has two complementary missions - fundraising in the United States for social projects in Brazil, and grantmaking in Brazil in the fields of education, health, human rights, citizenship (basic rights and responsibilities, capacity building and local social development) and culture. Potential donors are Brazilians als and businesses from Brazil in the US as well as all others who have interest in Brazil, individual or corporate. To engage these donors we must overcome mistrust, lack of knowledge about the initiatives of local social entrepreneurs and to do so, build confidence in our institution. In six years of operations the question "how do you know that the money is being well spent" is now rarely asked and it is a very satifying realization that fear and mistrust can be overcome with results. As a grant making organization in Brazil, the experience has been most encouraging - with 110 discretionary projects we only had one that did not deliver - and actually the project leader returned the money which we then gave to another finalist in the selection project. Homeland or Diaspora Philanthropy is an exciting segment of philanthropy and in countries such as the US, it can be developed to bridge many expatriate communities with the communities they left behind. I would be most interested in other people's experiences and would like to suggest that those interested in our work, please visit www.brazilfoundation.org - there is a link on our site (NEWS-about BrazilFoundation)to a publication ReVista, published by the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University, which focuses on the Search of Equity in Brazil. Our article is on page 37. Thank you for this opportunity.

for noting the importance of diaspora fundraising, which I did not stress enough. As the US becomes a more diverse and international nation, the local diaspora communities have become an important source of funds, but these funds may be lumped in with "remittances". However, as you have pointed out, they may flow through US or non-US-based foundations or institutions and therefore are not remittances, which go directly to individuals.

If you have a chance, it would be very informative if you would post a note telling the socialedge community how you go about contacting and soliciting diaspora groups. And thank you again for pointing this out.

I joined Social Edge with a sarcastic taste in my mouth. I was looking for a way to clean the remains of an episode with KIVA.org. You see I live in japan. And Kiva lives in the US. I wanted to join KIVA but KIVA wasn't interested in me. Well, I mean in theory they are. But in reality, not much. And I subscribe to the idea, "Put your faith in a person's deeds and not in their words." So why am I writing this on this topic forum. Because I had about 15 Japanese adults in my classes interested in donating their money because of my interest in KIVA.org but ultimately the were disappointed because KIVA sets rules that preclude us and others like us from participating. A lesson learned. People that cry about fundraising difficulties and donor fatigue, may also be crying, because of limitations they have placed on themselves! the money and solutions are out there, but the way to go and get them may not be what was originally planned for.

Tagrant, While I do not know which rules that Kiva sited and cannot comment on the operations of Kiva or any other micro-credit lending organization, I understand that US foundations and lending institutions are now subject to a variety of rigorous regulations to prevent any US institutions from sending money to suspected terrorist organizations (I am not implying that yu represent a terrorist organization!). Virtually every foundation staffer I know who works internationally notes that - as with most government regulatory schemes - these rules are complicated, contradictory, and may or may not have the intended effect. Briefly, there are checklists published by separate US agencies of organizations that cannot received US funds or work with US non-profits - and these lists doe not completely agree with each other. There are also complex reporting rules which generate significant amounts of paperwork. A number of US foundations have specially trained staff members who conduct "due diligence" to insure the rules are met.

However, your case sounds different. From your description, Kiva was unable to accept donations from Japanese citizens to redistribute to borrowers in other countries. I am not familiar with the regulations regarding acceptance of funds from abroad to be sent abroad, but it strikes me that the US government may view transaction involving non-US donors to non-US recipients as potential money laundering and have made it difficult for Kiva and other US-based lenders to conduct these kinds of transaction. Have you asked Kiva for an explanation?

Thanks to Patrick for a great overview of funding opportunities available! I have some additional questions: do you have any practical example of social projects based in Europe which got financing? Even better if it is a Web 2.0 project. I am searching for some best practises we can use for our own project.

THANKS!

Frank

Thank you for very useful information about international fundraising. I am working for Pan European organisation and I have to admit that in my opinion there are very few useful sources about international fundraising in the web. Do you happen to know any courses, workshops or anything similar where I can learn more about international fundraising (especially in Europe)? What would be your advice on how to let people know my organisation (remember it's Pan European) since many foundations and trusts do not accept unsolicited proposals?

Hi there, We (Touching Heaven Changing Earth)are a very young NPO no: 051-901 out in Cape Town, South Africa. We as a team have been born and raised in communities that are under privileged and found that we have to assist our community children and youth. We arrange workshops, seminars, praise and worship evenings, sports days, winter feeding schemes, Christmas lunches, youth raves, etc for these precious people. We manage to obtain local support of food, blankets, clothing and sometimes money that hardly covers our expenses. We are looking outside our Country for financial support. Should you know of organizations and companies who are willing to assist financially we will appreciate the assistance. The south african economy is deteriorating rapidly, and the poor are poorer and hungry, many die over the winter sessions. Please help us nature these precious souls. You can contact me Naomi at singh.naomi@gmail.com . We are very serious about what we are doing, so we do not need "strange" e-mails... Thank you for the opportunity for sharing our countries need.

Thank you Social Edge for bringing this topic to light. There is another degree of complexity that I have experienced, and hoped you might be able to provide some insight. In seeking funding for a social enterprise that is Internet based with global audience and customers, we cannot rely on local/regional government grants. Add the complexity of being not a non-profit, but rather has a double bottom line, we seem to fall between the cracks for eligibility in many funding profiles. We are creating a tool that simplifies knowledge sharing across the developed and developing world, empowering women to be catalysts for change locally and globally. We have great revenue potential that enables us to provide access free to members and organisations as well as to give back a portion of our profits. That same revenue potential and intent seems to disqualify us from many funding sources. I would be interested in hearing if other members of Social Edge have experienced the same challenges and what they have done to overcome them. Thank you.

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