Funding Domestically with a Global Lens

Global grantmaking...is a style of funding that implicitly recognizes the interplay between international and local events and processes. It does not necessarily require funding outside the United States, or even outside one’s own community.

An international perspective may be helpful not just in understanding local problems but in working toward their solution. The director of a community foundation described a small step that helped resolve a painful local misunderstanding: “A few years ago, there was a huge increase in the Hispanic population in one of the counties we serve. One county commissioner wrote to the INS to say, ‘Please get rid of these foreigners.’ This had a polarizing effect on the community. A local group was sponsoring a study trip for public officials to Mexico to help them understand immigration issues. We went to our donor advisers to ask if they would put up funds to allow him and some others to be part of the trip. We only needed $6,000, so this wasn’t huge. The commissioner returned a changed man. He announced publicly that he would work to make his county welcoming for all residents.”

Hoping to inspire a more global approach to national policies, one large East Coast foundation organizes an annual symposium for health ministers from major developed countries. The officials review comparative international research and discuss strategies for improving the performance of their national health care systems. The foundation also supports exchange programs that allow health professionals to study innovations in other countries.

American funders are increasingly borrowing strategies and perspectives developed in the global arena for their domestic work. For example, the microenterprise lending movement, which originated in Bangladesh through the pioneering work of the Grameen Bank, has found its way into foundation-supported antipoverty work in communities around the United States.