In 2022, philanthropists face a set of challenges, emergencies, and dynamics that make our work more difficult - but also more critical - than ever before. The effects of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, economic hardships and cost-of-living crisis, a rapidly-changing climate and a devastating war in Ukraine have created new problems for international grantmakers to solve.
For six years, CAF America’s International Grantmaking Symposium has delivered important education and training to funders and donors looking to support charities outside of the United States. We return in 2022 to address the most pressing questions facing philanthropists today:
- How can grantmakers in the United States best manage the risk and regulatory requirements of supporting vulnerable people in regions with high volatility?
- As the world’s climate changes, how can funders implement effective natural disaster response programs on a global scale?
- How can corporations engage their employees in their philanthropic responses to emergencies in a way that maximizes buy-in and impact?
- How can funders committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion mainstream those values across their philanthropic giving strategies?
- What is most needed to strengthen the global charity sector and safeguard the support services that billions of people rely on daily?
Symposium Themes
The main themes for our sessions this year are detailed below. The curriculum will include speakers both CAF America experts and other leaders in the field.
Regulatory Compliance, Risk Mitigation, and Reputation Protection
CAF America’s “3 Rs of International Grantmaking” cover all of the skills and knowledge you need to make effective, compliant international grants within a risk-based framework in the U.S. and local country contexts. Join sessions hosted by CAF America’s own experts to learn how the right approach to charity validation can unlock more funds for charities who need them most.
The “Post-COVID” Charity Landscape and What It Means for Funders
Over 2020 and 2021, CAF America mapped the developing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global charity sector. Sessions under this theme will share our insights on themes and trends among global nonprofits and their donors that have led to our current environment.
Charity Resilience in an Unstable World
Pandemic, war, climate change, and other emergencies have created an unstable environment for charities around the world. Sessions under this theme will explore how US grantmakers can prepare charity partners to weather the storm, building their resilience in the face of disaster or economic hardship.
Strategic Grantmaking for Disaster Response
As emergencies create sudden, extreme needs in vulnerable communities around the world, grantmakers in the US need to take a realistic approach to build the vehicles for support before disaster strikes. Sessions under this theme will delve into best practice for investing in a charity or community as part of a proactive approach to disaster response grantmaking.
Symposium Benefits
1. STAY UP TO DATE ON REGULATIONS
A series of thought-provoking presentations, inspiring panel discussions, and hands-on application sessions will provide participants with an in-depth understanding of international grantmaking, while also considering its critical role in shaping society. Focusing on specific challenging markets and legal environments, the IGS provides both theoretical and practical knowledge on all regulations pertaining to international grantmaking.
2. LEARN FROM EXPERTS
Featuring speakers representing leading institutions, every session promises expert-level knowledge from practitioners who live and breathe their topic. Past speakers have included experts from organizations such as the Ford Foundation, Medtronic Foundation, USAID , UNDP, Center for High Impact Philanthropy, the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and many more. Each workshop and each presentation offers knowledge you can act on to take your efforts to the next level. The Symposium will provide the tools to ensure compliance with domestic and international laws and explore the immediate and long-term implications of current trends on domestic and cross-border philanthropy.
3. CONNECT WITH PEERS
The IGS is unique in the opportunity it presents to connect with each of the Symposium’s delegates—many experts in their own right. Delegates bring diverse perspectives from corporate, community foundations; some are advisors working with private foundations or high net-worth individuals. The connections you forge with other grantmaking professionals committed to advancing international philanthropy will last well beyond the Symposium.