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May 15, 2009
European Foundation Centre
Venture Philanthropy Grows More Popular in Europe
The terms “venture philanthropy” and “social entrepreneurship” continue to gain greater coinage in Europe, and one conference session presented case studies of such efforts in Estonia and Germany.
Artur Taevere, managing director of the Good Deed Foundation, in Tallinn, Estonia, discussed his organization’s effort to create “Youth for School,” a program that deploys outstanding college graduates to teach in schools in impoverished neighborhoods, much like Teach for America does in the United States.
“Why would some of the university graduates go to teach in some of Estonia’s worst schools?” he asked. “What is the incentive?”
In his group’s case, the Ministry of Education endorsed the idea, and the program has proved to be a good fit both with the young teachers and students.
But it hasn’t been easy, says Mr. Taevere. “We’ve had to focus on achieving very tangible results, and it’s been a challenge to find partners who fit well with Good Deed both as a grant maker and as a partner.”
Peter W. Heller, executive director of the Canopus Foundation, a family foundation in Freiburg, Germany, also told of his fund’s efforts looking for projects that teamed “market intelligence with high social impact.”
For example, his foundation’s “A Solar World for All” project seeks to make solar energy affordable to the estimated two billion people without access to electricity, and Canopus is working on the effort with Ashoka, in Arlington, Va., and other groups. Mr. Heller said that the project has already brought down the costs of solar panels needed to provide electricity for poor families in Brazil by 40 percent.
He added that his foundation is looking for $80- to $100-million in grants over the next several years in order to make it feasible for low-income people worldwide to pay for solar-based homes.
And while he remains hopeful, Mr. Heller added: “Venture philanthropists are restless, with an almost endless capacity for frustration.”
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