In recognizing that funders are integral in building healthy philanthropy support ecosystems, WINGS  opened a supporting membership opportunity for funders (foundations, individuals, public institutions, etc.) that are investing in or would like to contribute more to developing philanthropy and its infrastructure.

For Supporting Members, WINGS now offers access to a working group, which aims to engage funders in collective thinking and peer learning to share experiences, knowledge, and tools to develop high impact practices that help build sustainable philanthropy support ecosystems.

This exclusive group for funders had its first online meeting on March 12th. Members on the call discussed different approaches to undertaking philanthropy ecosystem research and exchanged ideas on the importance of these efforts.

Currently, the group is composed by the following organizations: Aga Khan Foundation, Brach Family Charitable Foundation, Mott Foundation, Ecobank Foundation, Fondation de France, Ford Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, Instituto Sabin, Narada Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Skoll Foundation, Sawiris Foundation, Potanin Foundation, and the Zagoriy Foundation. These funders are working in different countries- Brazil, China, Egypt, France, Kenya, Russia, Togo, UK, Ukraine, and USA. This community of practice is facilitated by WINGS with the support of Filiz Bikmen, Senior Advisor at Beyond Philanthropy.

The second online meeting of the group will happen in June. The topic of discussion will be the impact of philanthropy support organizations: how to assess and communicate the added value of those who build the field, including funders of philanthropy infrastructure themselves. We will discuss how having metrics and concrete frameworks (like the 4Cs) can help to more effectively measure and communicate the impact of these actors and their contribution to civil society strengthening, development and democracy.

If you are a funder interested in playing a leading role in global philanthropy development: Join WINGS!

Contact Nadya Hernández to learn more (nhernandez@wingsweb.org). By joining, supporting members can position themselves as philanthropy ecosystem builders committed to increasing the collective impact of the field.

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