Network of Foundations Working for Development (netFWD)

The network brings together philanthropic leaders in the development sphere. It connects foundations with OECD experts, policymakers and key stakeholders in the multilateral system to share evidence and strategic insights, explore promising novel approaches, and engage in coalitions and partnerships.

Network

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Who we are

In a rapidly evolving development context, philanthropy can act as a source of innovation, expertise and as a de-risker. Not only is philanthropic funding on the rise, it also has the potential to be more flexible and disruptive than other funding sources. Nevertheless, philanthropic flows remain modest compared to investments from governments, bilateral and multilateral donors. By breaking down siloes and engaging with others, foundations can identify unmet development needs, facilitate peer learning and amplify their collective voice for global development.

The Network of Foundations Working for Development (netFWD) is a platform that brings together philanthropic leaders in the development sphere.

How we work

netFWD’s value proposition is threefold:

Allowing philanthropists to engage and learn from peers, based on data and evidence
Codifying knowledge and data on issues central to members ‘efforts, through the OECD Centre on Philanthropy
Positioning philanthropy globally, while connecting philanthropy to governments and key multilateral fora

Members engage via three dedicated Working Groups on education, gender and health & climate. Climate is also integrated as a cross-cutting policy consideration throughout the work. Each Working Group is co-Chaired by two members of the Network.

2012

Year founded

The Network has more than 11 years’ experience in linking foundations to policymakers and sustainable development agenda.

> 25

International members and associates

Our value and strength lies in our diverse members and associates. netFWD members come from around the world, on the frontlines of health and climate, gender equality, education, sustainability and agriculture; and they all share a common vision: to maximise their contribution to economic and social development.

205

Large philanthropic organisations

from 32 countries provided financing towards development for USD 42.5 billion between 2016-19

Our approach

netFWD is structured around 3 Working Groups which include: Education, Health & Climate, and Gender. Climate is integrated as a cross-cutting policy consideration throughout our work.

The Health and Climate Working Group focuses on philanthropy’s contribution to strengthening healthcare provision, response and systems in developing countries at the forefront of the climate crisis. The group is chaired by Foundation S – the Sanofi Collective and the WHO Foundation.
The Gender Working Group brings together foundations committed to challenge gender norms and empower women to achieve international gender development goals. The group is chaired by Children Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and Aga Khan Foundation.

Each Working Group includes:

Exclusive closed-door discussions with OECD policy experts: the Working Group meets annually. These meetings provide a unique platform and a safe space where leaders in philanthropy convene to share ideas, learn from each other and develop new partnerships.
Joint research: members of each Working Group have an opportunity to propose joint research projects on topics of common interest through the OECD Centre on Philanthropy, which collects and analyses data on philanthropy for development.
Co-funding: netFWD supports its members to explore new opportunities for creating partnerships and co-investments around specific topics and geographies.

All meetings are in-person and by invitation only unless otherwise stated. Please contact DEV.netFWD@oecd.org for more information on our upcoming events.

10 December 2024 | Meeting on African philanthropy, OECD HQ, Paris

20 November 2024 |netFWD Education Working Group Meeting, Rio de Janiero, Brazil

23-23 September 2024 | Summit of the Future, New York, United States

Private philanthropy is a growing source of funding for middle and low income countries – supporting global public health, education, agriculture, gender equality or clean energy. However, reliable, comparable and publicly available information on philanthropic funding, priorities and behaviors is surprisingly scarce. This lack of data and evidence has limited philanthropy’s potential to engage, collaborate or co-fund key issues outlined in Agenda 2030, together with other actors working in developing and emerging countries.

The OECD Centre on Philanthropy contributes to the global demand for more and better data and analysis on global philanthropy for development. It expands the OECD database and provides research and analysis on global trends and impact of philanthropy for development in the context of the 2030 Agenda.

Centre on Philanthropy

netFWD actively works to amplify the collective voice of philanthropy in multilateral fora.

Members and associates

Our value and strength lies in our members and associates. netFWD members come from all corners of the world, on the frontlines of healthcare; gender equality; education; sustainability; and agriculture; and they all share a common vision with netFWD – to maximise their contribution to economic and social development.

Recent publications

No strings attached? Making sense of flexible financing in philanthropy

Increasingly, philanthropic donors are moving from supporting specific projects to providing untied general support to their grantees. In response to the shift, this report sheds light on flexible financing – the practice of providing grantees unearmarked funding. It examines “trust-based philanthropy” to better understand both advocacy for, and scepticism towards, this approach. In so doing, it highlights the need for an empirical understanding of financing practices in philanthropy. The report focuses on one form of flexible financing: core budget support. It assesses the advantages and disadvantages of this approach for both philanthropic funders and grantees. To that end, it explores both the dynamics of grant-making as a contract and the implications of flexible funding on different types of grantees. Research is based on evidence from the OECD database on Private Philanthropy for Development. It looks at flexible funding from more than 180 private philanthropic donors from 32 countries, and historical yearly giving from 20 large foundations. Based on these data, it analyses the factors that influence philanthropic financing, using Bayesian statistics.

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Philanthropy for Social and Emotional Learning

Social and emotional skills are capabilities, behaviours and competencies that allow individuals to adapt to their social environments. Extensive research shows that these skills are correlated with educational achievement and life outcomes, such as job satisfaction and income. What role does social and emotional learning (SEL) have in education, and how are foundations investing in understanding and improving these skills? This report describes the results of a global survey, carried out by the OECD Centre on Philanthropy, on philanthropy-funded initiatives that aim to develop or measure social and emotional skills and to improve educational outcomes.

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Domestic and Cross-border Philanthropy for Development and Gender Equality in China, 2016-19

This study evaluates the scope and dimension of large-scale philanthropy in the People’s Republic of China (hereafter “China”) over 2016-19. More specifically, it compares the financing provided by large cross-border philanthropic organisations with contributions from large philanthropic organisations operating domestically. The domestic philanthropic sector has experienced a significant expansion in recent years: rapid economic growth in China and the increasing concentration of private wealth allowed the Chinese private sector and high net-worth individuals to expand their support to social organisations.

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Domestic Philanthropy for Development and Gender Equality in Nigeria

Nigeria is one of the largest recipients of international philanthropic funding, but little is known about its domestic philanthropy, receiving approximately USD 192 million per year from large international foundations between 2013-18. However, these estimates do not consider funding from domestic foundations, as information on local philanthropy is limited. The report offers a first insight into a selection of domestic foundations in Nigeria. It contrasts these findings with other sources of development finance, including international philanthropy and official development assistance (ODA) targeting the country. However, only 12 of 56 foundations invited to participate responded to the survey. The low response rate and resulting small sample do not allow for generalisations about the domestic philanthropic sector in the country. Funding from 12 domestic philanthropic organisations in Nigeria amounted to USD 89 million over 2013-18. Three foundations provided the bulk of these funds (70%): MTN Nigeria Foundation, Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND) and TY Danjuma Foundation. Most domestic giving was allocated to health and reproductive health (USD 28 million), government and civil society (USD 25 million) and education (USD 22 million). Within the health sector, the most supported areas were basic health care, reproductive care, and prevention of noncommunicable diseases. Funding towards government and civil society prioritised conflict resolution, human rights and support to women’s rights organisations.

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Taking stock

Philanthropy, both domestic and international, and corporate social responsibility (CSR), are supporting gender equality in India. This study estimates funding towards gender equality from a sample of 183 philanthropic organisations, based on two observations. First, the introduction of the Companies Act of 2013, which mandated and regulated CSR, substantially increased resources for development projects in the country, including for gender equality. Second, India faces significant challenges on gender equality, and harmful practices curtailing women’s rights persist. These are highlighted by the SDG India Index (NITI Aayog, 2020) and the OECD Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI).

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Private Philanthropy for Development – Second Edition

This second edition of Private Philanthropy for Development aims to meet the growing demand for open, reliable and comparable data on philanthropic giving. Compared to the first edition, it collected more data from large foundations and other organisations based in developing countries to have a more comprehensive understanding of cross-border financing and domestic giving.

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Swiss Philanthropy for Education

The objective of this note is to provide information needed to explore points of synergies and facilitate collaboration amongst Swiss foundations and official development agencies supporting education. The note captures previously non-existent quantitative and qualitative data from Swiss foundations active in education in developing countries and developed countries. It provides insight into the educational purposes and geographies supported by Swiss philanthropy and digs deeper into Swiss foundations’ collaboration with other private or bi- and multi-lateral funders, foundations’ engagement in advocacy, and their approaches to learning. In order to complement these findings, the note sets out data on Swiss official development assistance (ODA) for education to identify common geographical and thematic priorities.

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Education Giving in the Midst of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is by far the largest disruption witnessed by education systems in the 21st century. At the peak of the first wave, school closures affected over 90% of all learners worldwide. This placed educators in a challenging teaching environment, and put millions of households under economic stress. The learning loss and the heightened risk of student disengagement, particularly for the most vulnerable, can have long-lasting effects on their life outcomes and future economic growth and well-being. Yet, beyond the recovery phase, the COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the need to explore new approaches in education delivery from pre-primary to higher education. These include a wider range of cognitive, social and emotional skills in the curricula; the active involvement of parents in their children’s education; and the adoption of technologies that allow for flexible and personalised learning. However, with a rapidly evolving situation, many philanthropic donors are making quick disbursements of funds, redirecting committed resources to new issues, and in some cases, redefining their mid- and long-term strategies. However, the lack of reliable information has limited foundations’ potential to engage, collaborate and co-fund education initiatives to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Domestic Philanthropy for Development and Gender Equality in Colombia

The focus of this study is two-fold; the first objective is to provide open, reliable and comparable data and analysis on the scope, scale and diversity of domestic philanthropic flows in Colombia. Colombia is estimated to receive close to USD 34.5 million annually from international foundations, but these figures do not consider funding from domestic foundations. Yet Colombia has a long-standing tradition of private philanthropy, which has become more organised over the past decade. The second objective is to provide an in-depth focus on domestic philanthropy’s support to gender equality, given that only a small proportion (less than 1%) of global philanthropic flows in developing countries directly addressed women’s needs like preventing violence or supporting women’s rights organisations (OECD, 2018[2]). Colombia has made important advances towards gender equality in recent years, and yet persistent challenges remain for women. These include the burden of providing unpaid care, gender-based violence and access to justice – all of which are experienced more severely by women in rural areas than by those in urban areas.

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Domestic Philanthropy for Development and Gender Equality in South Africa

The first objective of this study is to provide open, reliable and comparable data and analysis on the scope, scale and diversity of domestic philanthropic flows in South Africa. South Africa is estimated to receive close to USD 138 million annually from international foundations. This makes the country the sixth largest recipient in developing countries for which data are available. However, current estimates do not consider funding from domestic foundations because information on domestic philanthropic giving is scarce (OECD, 2018[2]). The second objective is to provide an in-depth focus on domestic philanthropy’s support to gender equality. South Africa has made important advances towards gender equality in recent years, including a solid legal framework to work against structural obstacles to gender equality. However, persistent challenges remain in the unpaid care burden women face, gender-based violence and access to justice.

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Insights on Philanthropy for Gender Equality

This policy note explores foundations’ support for gender equality by providing data on philanthropic flows targeting gender equality, women and girls, as well as an analysis of foundations’ funding allocations: patterns, overlaps with ODA, and opportunities for partnering. It ends with recommendations for foundations on how to enhance the effectiveness of philanthropic giving for gender equality. This policy note is part of the OECD’s efforts to bring together leaders in philanthropy, policy makers and OECD experts to address the world’s most pressing development challenges. Since its launch in 2012, the Network of Foundations Working for Development (netFWD) has been providing a space where those stakeholders can share evidence and strategic insights, explore promising novel approaches, and engage in genuine partnerships. To shed light on ways on which philanthropy supports gender equality in developing countries, netFWD launched a Gender Equality Working Group.

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Bringing foundations and governments closer

Collaboration between governments, civil society and corporations is acquiring increasing importance in the international agenda as a solution to the complex problems currently affecting our societies. It has become clear that issues such as climate change, persistent poverty, increasing inequality, social exclusion and other major current challenges cannot be tackled by a single sector alone. Given this reality, it is encouraging to see that more and more initiatives featuring various forms of collaboration are being enacted to tackle major social issues. However, despite progress, there is limited knowledge of these initiatives in different countries. This study aims at filling this gap by examining in Mexico how foundations and federal government (FG) departments and agencies have been engaging with each other.

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Bringing Governments and Foundations Closer

This report analyses the experiences of India, Kenya, Mexico and Myanmar in implementing the Guidelines for Effective Philanthropic Engagement, to bring foundations and governments closer together on a theme of common interest. This report compares the results of surveys led in the four countries between 2015 and 2016 to diagnose the level and nature of engagement between foundations and governments (see Box 2 for more information). The report starts by sketching the country contexts and highlighting their specificities. It then presents some key findings on aspects such as differences in the level of engagement between countries or the benefits of dialogue, as well as transversal challenges. It ends by suggesting drivers for engagement. The report will be updated as more countries commit to implement the Guidelines.

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Quality Education for All

Many foundations recognise the remarkable contribution of education to society, as it provides individuals with skills to live a healthy, meaningful, and productive life. Moreover, education empowers people with the civic values and critical thinking needed to contribute actively to their communities. It is therefore not surprising that many foundations see education as a lever to promote greater social cohesion and shared prosperity in the longer term. Overall, foundations working in developing countries are an important source of funding for education. Between 2013 and 2015, an OECD survey of 143 foundations working in developing countries revealed that philanthropy allocated on average USD 693 million yearly towards the education sector. In aggregate, philanthropic giving represented the sixth largest source of funding for education towards developing countries. This made it on par with the bilateral official development assistance (ODA) towards education provided by the United Kingdom or Japan. Higher education received the largest proportion of philanthropic resources. Between 2013 and 2015, close to USD 549 million for education went to scholarships, and degree and diploma programmes at universities, colleges, and polytechnics. Asia and Africa attracted most education-related giving between 2013-15, while India, Turkey and the People’s Republic of China ranked as the top recipient countries.

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Philanthropy and youth empowerment

There are an estimated 1.8 billion young people between the ages of 10 and 24 in the world today. Around 90% of these adolescents and youth live in developing countries, where they make up a large proportion of the overall population. Policy makers in many developing and emerging economies acknowledge the pressing nature of the “youth bulge” challenge and are trying to identify ways to successfully integrate young people into their countries’ societies and labour markets. With regard to these endeavours, many other development actors have shifted their focus to youth. Among these actors, foundations have allocated increasing resources and support for exploring innovative ways to empower youth in developing countries. Youth inclusion is also one of the major topics in the OECD Development Centre’s work, which aims to help governments better design and implement policies. Foundations belonging to the OECD Development Centre’s Global Network of Foundations Working for Development – “netFWD” – have identified youth empowerment as a priority. They aim to share and codify knowledge in order to build on emerging good practices and scale up emerging successes.

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Bringing Foundations and Governments Closer

In Kenya, collaboration across sectors to foster sustainable development has been recently gaining momentum. Development players have started to work together more closely due to the ambitious scope of Agenda 2030, the limited financial resources available and the need to achieve greater scale. Other factors influencing this trend include new development strategies and tools such as venture philanthropy and the use of basket funds to pursue more sustainable development. Governments, which are the primary drivers of development, have been keen to plug into these new vehicles. Some have provided non-state players, such as the private sector, social businesses, and philanthropists, with a strong policy and regulatory environment, while others have co-financed initiatives. However, the nature, scope and impact of these partnerships have not often been captured. This study provides an overview of the current state of collaboration between foundations and the government in Kenya and offers recommendations for enhancement. It is based on the three pillars of the Guidelines for Effective Philanthropic Engagement (“the Guidelines”): dialogue, data and knowledge sharing, and partnerships. The Guidelines were developed under the leadership of the OECD Network of Foundations Working for Development (netFWD), together with the Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support (WINGS), the European Foundation Centre (EFC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Stars Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.

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India's Private Giving

Economic growth, domestic regulation on Corporate Social Responsibility and global interest in India’s development are transforming the role of domestic philanthropic giving. First, the rapid expansion of the economy over three decades of strong economic growth, with a concurrent increase in domestic wealth, bodes well for the potential for philanthropic giving. Second, the Indian Companies Act of 2013 regulates Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and mandates higher corporate spending towards specific sectors. Third, global interest in India’s social and economic development is high – reflected in important levels of external funding – and it has become the largest recipient of international philanthropic flows, while external financing from foreign direct investment (FDI) and personal remittances have increased as a percentage of GDP. Meanwhile, official development assistance (ODA) as a percentage of Gross National Income (GNI), has decreased. The OECD invited 178 of the largest CSR and philanthropic organisations in India to be part of a survey to map India’s domestic giving sector and compare it to other sources of funding, such as ODA, international philanthropic flows and public social expenditures. Family foundations and corporate foundations, however, were reluctant to share financial data, so domestic funding has been partially identified for only 50 large organisations by type of funder, target sector and the Indian States and Territories in which it is carried out.

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Bringing Foundations and Governments Closer: Evidence from Myanmar

Myanmar has made considerable progress in recent years in opening its economy and introducing substantial reforms towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Within this context, there are potentially increased opportunities for civil society and foundations to shape policy and promote development and well-being for the Burmese people. Providing better development outcomes for citizens and achieving the ambitions set out in the SDGs will require that all development actors, including foundations, work together to make further headway and provide tangible development benefits to all segments of society. Building on Myanmar’s rich and deeply rooted values of charity and generosity, the philanthropic sector can provide innovative and much-needed support for continued prosperity.

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Bringing Foundations and Governments Closer: Evidence from India

Collaboration, undoubtedly, is the key to unlocking sustainable impact in the developing world. Today, we have more and more non-profits, government agencies, philanthropic institutions and businesses addressing a range of critical social problems across the globe. However, collaborations between these stakeholders remain uncommon. In India, the sheer scale and complexity of the country’s development challenges make collaboration both useful and timely. A collaborative approach is urgently needed to complement the strengths of a number of important players in the development space, including two of the largest and most influential ones – governments and foundations.

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Venture philanthropy in development

The study Venture Philanthropy in Development: Dynamics, Challenges and Lessons in the Search for Greater Impact, undertaken by the newly created Global Network of Foundations Working for Development (netFWD), is a first step towards offering an in-depth insight on how foundations working for development are evolving in their search for greater impact. It looks at the journeys, enabling environment, incentives and drivers that led a number of philanthropic organisations willing to seek novel ways to address global development issues to (re)define their operating model. While they were once “grant-makers only”, considering allocated money gone for good, an increasing share of foundations are becoming real investors, i.e. expecting a financial return alongside social impact or at least seeking to recover their initial capital.

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To find out more about how to become a member, please contact us at DEV.netFWD@oecd.org.

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