Geneva Foundation for the Future

Foreword

Admin — 2022-06-20T08:52:09Z

In the world of citizen initiatives and the charities meant to fund them, two things are truly surprising:

The scarcity and weakness of the funding actually implemented.
The very large amounts that are available and therefore underutilized.

It is not the will to bring these two worlds together that is lacking, but it must be acknowledged that they are indeed two worlds with such different rules and rituals that meeting and even only understanding is difficult: interactions and communication become so laborious that they turn into a dialogue of the deaf. On the side of the funders, many of the collaborators, often coming from the banking world, do not necessarily understand the concerns and the needs of citizen initiatives, and the latter do not necessarily find all the required presentation forms, which resemble a business plan, to be relevant in their domain of activity.

To set the framework, let us recall that the sums available to fund charities and projects are extremely significant, and so are the needs claimed by project leaders. It is not surprising then that disappointment, at the time of the annual review, is painful on both sides: for those who want to give and claim they cannot find "quality projects" to donate to, and for those convinced of the validity of their initiative, disappointed "not to have been understood" and, as a result, not having been helped.

This is why our working group has taken charge of this situation to bring about change. We have chosen a bridge as our symbol. Indeed, the goal is to build a bridge between two shores: that of interesting projects and that of potential funders willing to support initiatives that align with their desired philosophy of action.

And the traffic on this bridge is not only the "requests from project leaders" and their "reporting" at the conclusion of the exercise. It also involves promoting mutual understanding, spreading information about projects and their funders to a broader audience.

Other users of this bridge are those who provide assistance and project evaluation services, information elements, or even training on the two shores that this bridge connects. The goal is to smooth the interaction between potential funders and project leaders. The operational objective is to help and "make things possible" in a simple, effective, and user-friendly way.

The Geneva Foundation for the Future aims to develop the working tools, the training about how to use them and operate as a facilitator to streamline interactions, help smooth out difficulties, while ensuring the regularity and seriousness of deliverables.

What to do?

Admin — 2022-06-16T21:36:00Z

Our working group notes that the difficulties arise essentially in three stages of the process, which need to be instrumented and for which appropriate training must be developed and made available:

the documentation and formulation of requests by project promoters
regular or end-of-project reporting, with documentation of the social impacts achieved
controlling the effectiveness of the funds and the efforts made

In reality, these difficulties have been well known since the days of academic projects financed by national or European funds. However, it is important to recognize that project leaders have not necessarily had this type of experience. The same applies to the staff of donor organizations, as a business has little in common with a research project description.

To this end, the working group proposes the establishment of a foundation intended to act with advisory and monitoring functions as a "bridge" between project sponsors and donors. This foundation and its internal monitoring service should not only facilitate work with both donors and beneficiaries but also carry out controlling tasks. The aim of this foundation is to facilitate interactions and increase the quantity and quality of projects.

ATTENTION: The functions of this foundation strictly fall within Swiss regulatory frameworks, are complementary to public functions, and must be ratified in their final version by a legal and regulatory review. To this end, we will consider the study of two possible models:

the advisory function,
the function of a non-custodian sub-manager of dedicated donor fund envelopes for SDG projects, in partnership with a registered financial institution qualified for custodial fund management.

The management of the Foundation's fees and revenues will be separate from the management of funds for SDG projects. The Foundation must be equipped with a methodology, working tools, a dedicated structure, and the necessary staff.

Building trust

Admin — 2022-06-15T21:39:00Z

It's a bridge to a new generation of projects, ...

... that unites
impact investment ....
... and a new generation of project stakeholders ...

... around ESG (environment, society, governance) projects.

Not only do we need a bridge between the present and the generation that is now entering the fray, we also need projects that are responsible for future generations (‘enkeltauglich' = useful to our grandchildren, as the Germans say).

Relationships between investors, philanthropists and the future generation of project stakeholders must not only be based on sustainable values and be imbued with trust, but they must also offer support

based on project education
with introductions to interested potential partners...
in other words, a complete partnership, viewing the project as a ‘shared destiny', with monitoring of results and impact.

Why is this interesting?

We want to set up a ‘covenant mechanism' between donors, investors and project stakeholders.

How can this be achieved?

To succeed, we need to make the mechanisms for managing donations (sponsorship), loans and investments human. This commitment, alongside our project partners, must first be demonstrated in a few concrete flagship projects that have convinced us and that will enable us to finalise our tools before structuring them.

Vision - Mission - Strategy

Admin — 2022-06-14T21:50:00Z

Inspiration and Values:

Network of Foundations and Impact Funds: the GEFF initiative as a starting point (institutions and individuals)
Common Plea: institutional model
Institutional convergence initiative (see list of contributors and institutions)
Developing a new advocacy model to finance ODD projects
Deontology of values (to be developed)

Vision:

Next generation impact projects
Convergence between available capital and ODD projects

Mission:

Facilitate and advise on a better and more extensive use of philanthropic funds in order to multiply the number of ODD projects.
To make it easier for philanthropists to channel their funds to interesting projects.

Strategy:

Foundation acting as a ‘bridge' between the impact finance network, available capital (private and social) and ‘impact projects'.
Providing advice and assistance to projects
providing evaluation services to donors and investors
Providing identification services for projects of interest to donors and investors

Ecosystem-context

Admin — 2022-06-13T21:52:00Z

The city, the canton of Geneva and the surrounding area of neighbouring France represent a global hub for the SDGs! This project is framed in the context of Geneva, a sustainable and digital city, as a platform serving its international mission, as inspired by Henri Dunant. Geneva, a global city for the SDGs and its immediate neighbourhood, is home to many organisations and initiatives that are close to GEFF's aims, which will facilitate interactions:

UN/ post COP 26 context
Global SDG references
Green and sustainable financial markets
Experience of OSI Geneva Forum and Sustainable Education
Red Cross/Henry Dunant
Cite Solidarité Internationales, Annemasse, www.cite-solidarite.fr
Nice-Future Initiative, Lausanne
New initiatives:
Galactica Foundation Annecy
Open Business Foundation
Geneva Digital Atlas of ‘Geneva International Platform-Multiparty', a platform sponsored by the City of Geneva
UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) Programm: Environment Program Finance Initiative (sponsored by the Canton of Geneva)
UNDP Geneva (Sarah Bel and Maria-Luisa Silva, Director)
United Nations Habitat Agency Endowment fund
UNDP Geneva (Sarah Bel and Maria-Luisa Silva, Director) -* Master Plan for the SDGs to be created in the territories
Geneva liaison office: un-habitat, https://unhabitat.org/geneva
Partnership with Dialogue Institute in Brazil, partners of unhabitat.
https://financefortomorrow.com/ Finance for Tomorrow at Paris Europlace

COP context

Admin — 2022-06-12T21:54:00Z

Example in the context of COP 26

As part of the priorities of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow in November 2021 (UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties in Glasgow on 31st October - 12th November 2021)

The COP26 summit brought together stakeholders to accelerate action to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The UK is committed to working with all countries and joining forces with civil society, business and those on the frontline of climate change to inspire the delivery of climate action at COP26.
Committees and new Alliances have been set up to launch actions in this direction.
A new global civil society movement for the SDGs and high social impact projects has been launched.

The Geneva Foundation for the Future will make it possible to carry out similar initiatives outside the areas defined by COP26.