IslamicFinance.de

More than 10% of the world's nearly three thousand billionaires made a philanthropic commitment in support of COVID-19 response and relief efforts between January and May. According to the Billionaire Census 2020, billionaires who have donated were more likely to be in the tech industry and were more likely to be under the age of 50, to be self-made and to be wealthier. The share of women was larger among COVID-19 donors and those women were more likely to be self-made. The seventh edition of the annual study also found that the number of billionaires globally rose 8.5% in 2019, to 2,825, while their combined wealth grew 10.3%, to $9.4 trillion.

Sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Mojaloop software project has announced the launch of the Mojaloop Foundation. With additional support from founding sponsors Omidyar Network, the Rockefeller Foundation, Coil, Google, and ModusBox, the foundation will work to advance its free open-source software as a public good in service of financial inclusion globally. The software serves as a blueprint for how to simplify and reduce the cost of payment interoperability. This will enable banks, digital service providers, government agencies, NGOs, and other entities to develop tools that increase opportunities for low-income and unbanked individuals to access financial services.

A new report from Philanthropy University, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, and GSVlabs offers recommendations for strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships focused on advancing the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. According to the report, SDG Partnerships Agenda 2030: Accelerating Progress, According to the report, the global community faces a $2.5 trillion annual funding gap with respect to the SDGs and no nation is on track. Studies have shown that only about a quarter of existing partnerships are meeting their objectives, while many participants in such partnerships are concerned about their costs. Taking steps to partner differently will enable stakeholders to leverage the untapped potential of philanthropy as not only a funder but a facilitator, of government as not only an approver but a builder, of civil society organizations not only as implementors but experts, and of the private sector as an accelerator of rather than a barrier to SDG efforts.

New York's Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art has announced fifteen grants totaling $2.49 million in support of arts and media projects dedicated to strengthening relationships between U.S. Muslim and non-Muslim communities. The grants are part of the foundation's Building Bridges 2018-2019 Program, which supports theatrical and literary programming, documentary films, hands-on workshops, and a "jingle truck" created by a Pakistani truck-art painter that will tour elementary schools. Senior program officer Zeyba Rahman said the projects proposed by grantees offer an inspired, inventive, arts-based approach to deepen connections between Muslims and their neighbors in the U.S. For a complete list of Building Bridges Grant Program awardees, see the DDCF website.

A new guide from Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors offers advice for philanthropic funders on how to align their missions and activities with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The publication provides practical advice as well as examples of how other funders are addressing social and environmental challenges. The guide argues philanthropy has a critical role to play not only in providing support for the goals but also in providing risk capital for innovative approaches. Volume one of the guide lays out the economic, social, and environmental issues encompassed by the SDGs. Volume two outlines three steps: planning, assessing progress, and reporting and using data, that funders can take to align their efforts with the SDGs and increase their impact.