Philanthropists have a new way to partner on the SDGs

Foundations will contribute at least $364 billion to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, according to the Foundation Center. But philanthropy alone cannot foot the $3.5 trillion bill. Enter the SDG Philanthropy Platform, a new collaboration between philanthropy and the international development community, aiming to maximize resources through coordination and collaboration and to address some of the challenges that have limited the impact of foundations. “At this time, when countries are facing employment and budget pressures and sadly turning inwards, the SDGs as a universal, global, carefully thought-out normative framework to pull people and institutions together are more important than ever,” said Heather Grady, vice president of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, which leads the project along with the U.N. Development Programme and the Foundation Center. The SDG Philanthropy Platform was highlighted at a Global Partnerships Week kickoff event in Washington, D.C., last week as one of several examples of how sectors are aligning around the SDGs and building cross-sector partnerships to address them. One of the lessons the philanthropic sector learned from the Millennium Development Goals, which preceded the SDGs, was that their impact could have been greater through “a more conscious collaborative” effort, said Edmund Cain, vice president of grant programs at the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, which supports the SDG Philanthropy Platform, alongside the Ford Foundation and MasterCard Foundation. “We saw the platform as an opportunity for a strong convening and alliance-building ability among foundations to take risks, test new solutions and spur innovations, and to build upon local knowledge and strong connections with civil society and advocates,” he said. He added that foundations have often operated independently of national plans and local “ecosystems,” which has limited their impact. The partners supported the project both to help the philanthropic sector achieve a greater understanding of the SDGs and to help the U.N. system, governments, private sector and civil society see the role and potential of philanthropy in sustainable global development, Cain continued. “Foundations can best leverage this opportunity by taking a longer-term view and consider funding projects and processes that help establish the multi-stakeholder partnerships necessary to ensure that all key actors across the development and humanitarian fields pursue common indicators and commitments,” he added. Country-by-country approach The SDG Philanthropy Platform website hosts a dashboard of indicators where users can click on one of the 17 goals, then select a region or country, to see the distribution between donors and demographics, as well as the balance between philanthropy and official development assistance. A search for funding for gender equality, for example, will show how money is distributed across countries and between groups — such as people with disabilities, children and youth, and migrants and refugees. Users can also enter information on their organization’s work into the SDG Indicator Wizard to see the SDGs and targets related to it. “We can map the key actors and work together,” Radhika Shah, a Palo Alto, California-based advisor to the platform said, pointing to the dashboard during a recent meeting with philanthropists and other stakeholders at the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai, India. The January event was the start of a series of convenings in India and elsewhere in the region, Grady said, adding that she expects philanthropy to be included in the national SDG plan that the Indian government will present at the High Level Political Forum in New York in July. The SDG Philanthropy Platform has held planning workshops in its pilot countries of Kenya, Ghana, Colombia, Indonesia and the United States, bringing together representatives from philanthropy, governments and the U.N. to identify opportunities for collaboration within each country to achieve the SDGs. This country-by-country approach is built around the idea that solutions to the SDGs are contextual, Shah said, and each workshop has resulted in different priorities, such as water in Ghana and peace in Colombia. Because philanthropy has historically been absent from the conversation on global goals at the country level, this approach is key, Cain said. “We noticed a number of challenges in the philanthropic sector when it came to working with government agencies, particularly as it related to the SDGs,” he said. “Typically, we found that foundations have operated independently and that funding is generally unconnected with national development plans, limiting impact. We also noticed that philanthropy is not fully aware of the ecosystem in which it operates, especially when it comes to working with government agencies, thus limiting its impact.” By recognizing the added value of philanthropy, governments can create an enabling environment for philanthropists, and help them to leverage their resources with official funding, government policymaking and other foundations, Cain explained. Beyond launching partnerships within these countries, such as working with the Kenya Philanthropy Forum to support early childhood development, the SDG Philanthropy Platform is sharing lessons from its pilot countries in reports — such as this country guide for investing in the SDGs in Kenya. The SDGs are intended as a unifying framework, and the SDG Philanthropy Platform is one example of initiatives that are turning goals into strategies — in this case, attempting to make the most of philanthropic resources in addressing them. Read more international development news online, and subscribe to The Development Newswire to receive the latest from the world’s leading donors and decision-makers — emailed to you free every business day.