The document outlines the Global Challenges Local Solutions Fund, which aims to support community foundations across Europe in addressing social issues through grassroots initiatives. The fund plans to grant $500,000 for local solutions related to education, sustainable cities, and refugee inclusion, benefiting approximately 50 local communities in the first three years. It invites partnerships to enhance community engagement and philanthropic efforts to address pressing social challenges.

1. Partnership offer
Global Challenges
Local Solutions

2. Problem
There are many challenges facing
European society nowadays.
Real sustainable answers to the biggest,
most crucial social problems can be
found and applied by starting on the
local level, in other words by working
bottom up.
Community foundations play a key role
in change on the local level – they
support self-organizing, local citizens to
responding to problems and challenges
by leveraging local resources, such as
social, human and financial capital.
From our rich experience we know that
social and human capital can be
mobilised to great ends, but that
financial support is essential, both for
community philanthropy to thrive in a
changing and competitive landscape, and
to sustainably address social problems.

3. The Global Challenges Local Solutions Fund:
Solution
VISION
Local communities actively participate in the process of global problems resolution by running grass-root
initiatives and supporting CFs and community philanthropy organizations. Thanks to such activities they
live in inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable communities.
MISSION
The Fund is a long-term grantmaking program, which will support community foundations and local
philanthropic throughout Europe to address global challenges on the local level.
EXPECTED RESULTS
In the first three years (2017-2019), the Fund will:
• Increase the knowledge and understanding of CFs about global challenges and their effects on the local
level in at least 50 local communities.
• Provide 20-30 small grants to address these challenges.
• Create a database of at least 40 good practices.

4. During the first 3 years Global Challenges Local Solutions Fund focus on
3 main challenges that in our opinion are most relevant for Europe,
based on the Sustainable Development Goals*:
Solution
Education for all
Solutions to ensure
inclusive and equitable
education for all.
Sustainable cities and
communities
Solutions to make cities
inclusive, safe and
sustainable.
Refugees, population
movement
Solutions to ensure diversity
and social inclusion.
*However, if there will be a need raised by the Fund’s Board members, partners, community foundations of
other stakeholders we will take it into consideration and be open to implement a donor-advised project
focused on different global challenge.

5. Grant-making mechanism
The Fund will provide small grants to community foundations and local philanthropic
organizations throughout Europe for the purpose of identifying and implementing local
solutions to the above global challenges.
When fully developed, the Fund will have a grantmaking budget of $500,000 and will offer
annually 20-30 grants of $15,000 on average.
Solution

6. Market size
There are approximately 700 community foundations in 28
member countries of the European Union.
Under the V4 Community Foundations Maturity Program we have already
strengthened and financed projects by 35 community foundations
in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.

7. Join us!
The Global Challenges Local Solutions
program needs your support.
Become a partner and help us to build strong and sustainable
local communities in Europe, capable of taking up global
challenges on the local level.

8. Cooperation
We invite you to the group of European Philanthropy Investors, who do care
about challenges facing contemporary Europe. Program Global Challenges
Local Solutions offers a variety of cooperation forms:
• from the financial support (minimum contribution is 15 000€) ,
• by helping in popularization of the Program,
• to the implementation of joint regional and national projects (Donor-
advised Funds).
Terms of cooperation will be discussed individually.

9. • Joining a formative initiative and the opportunity to shape priorities for
community civic activism and change on community level across Europe.
• Launching new projects that reflect your institutional generosity and
philosophy, and pursuing ideas and dreams with partners across the
continent.
• Enhancing your institution’s social bottom line, strengthening public
perceptions of an organization that goes beyond its core business to address
pressing social issues.
• Working with other committed Europeans to increase citizen involvement in
public life and community activism.
• High profile for your institution through affiliation, participation and co-
branding.
• Accountability: annual and on-demand reports on the activities of the GCLS;
the Academy follows the highest standards of legal-financial compliance.
Being partners with GCLS means

10. About us

11. Since its founding in 1998, the Academy of Philanthropy has:
• Carried out more than 40 programs.
• Established 183 institutional partnerships.
• Issued some 90 publications.
• Awarded €10 million in grants.
• In 2015, allocated more than €1 million for grants .
Foundations, public agencies, international institutions and corporations that worked
with us in the years 1998-2015:
Who are we?

12. • We mobilise local communities
• We support socially responsible business
• We promote social engagement
• We promote innovative philanthropy
How do we change our world?

13. We organize:
• Poland’s oldest competition for corporate social responsibility – The Benefactor
of the Year
• Poland’s largest contest for civic leadership, run together with Newsweek - Civic
Leader of the Year
• The biggest campaign promoting celebrity activism – Charity Celebrities
• The biggest project engaging CEOs – Presidents’ Volunteer Coalition
• The biggest network of local activism centres - Act Locally
• The largest scholarship portal (over 5000 programs) – MojeStypendium.pl
• The first Polish crowd-sourcing platform for the 3rd sector – TuDu.org.pl
• The first Polish crowd-funding portal for young athletes – DamNaSport.pl
We inspire, we help others act!

14. The Academy’s GCLS Team
Kaja Petryka – GCLS Coordinator
Marzena Kacprowicz – GCLS International Partnerships
Tomasz Bruski – Financial Director, Academy of Philanthropy
Paweł Łukasiak – President, Academy of Philanthropy

15. GCLS Program Board
Ulrike Reichart – Director of the Community Foundation
Team, Federal Association of German Foundations
Ewa Kulik-Bielińska – Chair, European Foundation Centre,
Director of the Stefan Batory Foundation
Mark Doherty – Operations Director, UK Community
Foundations
Thomas E. Wilcox – President, Baltimore Community
Foundation

16. Kaja Petryka, k.petryka@filantropia.org.pl
Marzena Kacprowicz, m.kacprowicz@filantropia.org.pl
http://partnership.localsolutionsfund.org
Join us!