Fostering collective impact for meaningful change
Collaborative philanthropy is powerful way to tackle systemic problems by leveraging collective impact. To meet a growing demand from donors for a more collective approach, we facilitate discussion and workshops that enable a group of likeminded philanthropists to develop a shared strategy and identify organizations that meet their objectives. The group can then choose to jointly fund one or more organizations. In the latter case, we propose a portfolio of projects that meet their requirements.
Impact
The thematic funds hosted by Swiss Philanthropy Foundation illustrate how collaboration works in practice. Donors pool their resources to co-fund projects that have been rigorously selected and planned by our team, thereby generating significant impact. Participants commit to supporting selected projects in either education and employment or health and social impact for a period of 3 years. From 2012 to 2022, the thematic funds disbursed $9.3 million in grants to 28 organizations, making a difference in the lives of 171,607 direct beneficiaries.
If you can’t meet all the needs of a project from your own resources, it makes sense to join forces with like-minded donors. Giving to the thematic fund made us feel fully engaged in the project and its outcome. It's much more satisfying than writing a cheque to a big organization and wondering how your money is being spent.
How WISE added value
WISE plays an important role by facilitating discussions between donors. We help identify shared values and goals, and define a common focus. We also consider risks, terms of engagement, and funding structure. We then compile a personalized portfolio of projects for our clients and recommend potential beneficiary organizations or people they should meet.