PHILANTHROPY
Alfanar doesn’t just provide funding to start-ups. It also plays a major role in helping those organisations grow. “They must have some goal towards financial sustainability. Equally, openness to receiving technical assistance is vital. The financing is definitely necessary, but it isn't sufficient for growth. What we have found is that the real glue to venture philanthropy is the technical assistance we can offer,” explains Atalla. Atalla tells me how proud she is of the Women’s Program Association (WPA), which Alfanar has invested in since 2013. Based in Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camps, WPA educates women in food production, and recently raised the funds to buy a food truck through a successful crowdfunding campaign. Atalla and Alfanar were involved in virtually every aspect of WPA’s creation. “We seeded funds, helped with branding, secured training from another social enterprise and helped get the organisation up and running,” she says. Now that WPA is making good progress, Atalla hopes to soon exit the investment and watch the organisation flourish on its own. The idea of philanthropic organisations coupling charitable
funding with technical assistance is growing quickly in the Middle East, as institutions realise challenging social issues need to be dealt with in new and innovative ways. “Since the 2008 recession, the concept of aid and philanthropy has shifted as budgets have fallen at many charities. It’s made people think about how problems can be solved in financially sustainable ways and not allowing charities to be bound to an ever-changing aid agenda,” says Atalla. Not only are charities adapting to a new environment, but givers are also displaying signs of change, she says. Younger givers are doing a lot of research on projects they invest in and want to know exactly where their money is going. But, says Atalla, the onus is still on charities to meet the new needs of philanthropists. “Charities must be much more transparent and communicate in real time because donors want to see the unvarnished reality. When people are involved with the story, including the challenges, they really feel they have been on the journey with us.”
Alfanar supports women and children in refugee camps in Lebanon, helping them to get employment through social enterprises
2017 / SUMMER
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