This paper was published by Harvard University Press as a chapter in the book From Philanthropy and Social Change in Latin America, edited by Cynthia Sanborn and Felipe Portocarrero.
During the last two decades, the spotlight has moved onto the civil society sector as a key agent of development and social change in Latin America. An increasing number of civil society organizations are taking on the challenges of shaping societies that are more democratic, have lower levels of corruption and guarantee citizens their basic human, social and economic rights. There has been little information available, however, about the presence of professional philanthropic institutions in the region that are channeling grants to local civil society organizations.
With support from the Tinker Foundation, Synergos worked with its partners Centro Mexicano Para la Filantropãa (Mexican Center for Philanthropy, CEMEFI) in Mexico, Grupo de Institutos, Fundaã§ãµes e Empresas (Group of Institutes, Foundations and Businesses, GIFE) in Brazil and Fundaciã³n Esquel-Ecuador (Esquel Foundation, Ecuador) to begin to quantify the emergence of institutionalized philanthropy in Mexico, Brazil and Ecuador, offering a basis for extrapolating lessons for the region.
This paper summarizes and analyzes that research. It explores the particular characteristics of local grantmaking foundations in Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico. It then provides a comparative analysis, extracting lessons for the region, and concludes by addressing challenges and making recommendations for promoting the growth and development of these vital civil society resource organizations.