Synergos' partnership with the Grupo de Institutos Fundações e Emprezas (GIFE) officially began in 1998 with a preliminary mapping of grantmaking foundations in the Southern Cone (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay) and the organization of a sub-regional foundation-building conference. As the second major joint initiative between Synergos and GIFE, the two institutions collaborated on the writing and dissemination of the results from both the mapping and the conference. In a partnership guided by a formal Memorandum of Understanding, both groups have been working on the design of a joint work-plan to strengthen grantmakers in the region.
Synergos staff have also worked closely with a core group of Brazilian non-profit, government and private sector leaders to form the Instituto Rio (formerly called the Rio Foundation). Once constituted, Instituto Rio will be the first community foundation in Brazil. It will mobilize resources from the national and international communities and channel those resources to projects for women, children and youth in Rio, and will channel its first grants to the West Zone of Rio, where the needs of those populations are greatest.
Synergos has worked with the Instituto in all aspects of building the organization, and has provided various materials to guide its formation. Other institutional development assistance provided includes help in identifying consultant support and a local full-time coordinator; defining the organization's mission and eventual organizational structure; identifying potential donated office space; preparing publicity materials; defining the legal framework and statutes for the foundation; and conferences to broaden the political support for Instituto Rio.
Synergos helped negotiate the first major Foundation grant to the Instituto, received in August 1998. Synergos staff have provided guidance in the design of a financial feasibility study and have accompanied core group members to meetings with several other donors to lay the groundwork for future local private sector support. And with GIFE, Synergos co-hosted the seminarPrivate Resources for Public Ends: Strengthening Foundations and Institutes in the Southern Cone. The conferences not only offered the opportunity to exchange experience among participating institutions, but also promoted the construction of a national and regional agenda based on a diagnosis of the strengths and weaknesses of the sector.
In March Synergos also formalized a new partnership with the Abrinq Foundation for Children's Rights (Abrinq), an organization devoted to children's rights in Brazil. Abrinq boasts a 40-person staff and an excellent track record in advocacy for children, organizational development, mobilizing resources from the local private sector and creation of a strong communications program. The organization is highlighted in Synergos' Foundation-Building Sourcebook and will be one of the cases in our earned income case study series. As Abrinq is one of the stronger partners in Synergos' network, it will act as a vital resource for training and technical assistance to other foundations.
Synergos and Abrinq defined a joint work-plan that includes assistance in building foundations throughout Latin America; documentation and dissemination of the Abrinq experience; and mobilization of resources for Abrinq in the US.
Abrinq also worked with Synergos in the design and implementation of a financial sustainability-training workshop for Mexican community foundations in August.