As official development assistance disintegrated, philanthropies suddenly popped up on everyone’s radar. But just as quickly came the realization that philanthropic foundations, no matter how large, can’t fill the financial gap left by governments.
But that doesn’t mean philanthropy doesn’t have a role to play in this unpredictable new age of foreign aid. It just has to be smart and catalytic, said Eric Pelofsky, deputy chief of staff and vice president in the president’s office of The Rockefeller Foundation.
“There's like one or two mega philanthropies, and even if they might be able to fill the gap [for] a single year, and then they’d be done, right? So nobody can take the fire hose of requests and do something with all of them,” he said at Casa Devex on the sidelines of the recently concluded Financing for Development conference in Sevilla, Spain.
About the author
Anna Gawel
Anna Gawel is the Managing Editor of Devex. She previously worked as the managing editor of The Washington Diplomat, the flagship publication of D.C.’s diplomatic community. She’s had hundreds of articles published on world affairs, U.S. foreign policy, politics, security, trade, travel and the arts on topics ranging from the impact of State Department budget cuts to Caribbean efforts to fight climate change. She was also a broadcast producer and digital editor at WTOP News and host of the Global 360 podcast. She holds a journalism degree from the University of Maryland in College Park.
