User:Bofori/sandbox/Philanthropy Space - Aistiphi

The Philanthropy Space™ Model - Aistiphi Inc.

On the public front, Philanthropy Space™, also represented as Philanthropy Space Inc® is a social enterprise pioneered by Aistiphi with Ghana as testing ground. In practice, Philanthropy Space is an experimental model of mobilizing local and grassroots philanthropy and community service. At an operational level, it comprises a set of institutional incentives and signalling devices designed to sustain and boost corporate philanthropy segments of corporate social responsibility. It is also designed to harness philanthropic potential of nonprofits, community-based groups and local civil society.

Big P vs Small p Philanthropy

The Philanthropy Space Model stands in sharp contrast with the mainstream understanding of philanthropy as it pertains in the U.S. and other rich western countries. In the latter, philanthropy is understood as big letter P Philanthropy. It has long been the world of the super-rich who choose to give off some of their wealth to social causes - and in some cases to political ones. In fact, these days, a newer crop of ultra-wealthy Americans are displacing the old guard of philanthropic titans - names like Soros, Gates, Bloomberg, Mercer, Koch and Zuckerberg, etc. The New York Times observed that these new mega donors accumulated vast fortunes early in their lives and are spending it faster and writing bigger checks.

It makes one wonder what the situation might be in not-so-rich countries, especially sub-Saharan African countries, which are buried in longstanding stereotypes of begging and receiving? Africa has its own super rich too. High growth rates, and of cause, extremely high income inequality, has produced some super rich folks in Africa. When Forbes recently published a list of the world's richest, 11 out of 2,045 billionaires were from Africa. Leading the pack is Nigerian cement tycoon Aliko Dangote ($14.1 billion); others include South African diamond magnate Nicky Oppenheimer ($7.7 billion), Nigerian oil and telecoms mogul Mike Adenuga ($5.3 billion), Patrice Motsepe ($2.4 billion), Strive Masiyawa ($1.7 billion), just to name a few. But these are the billionaires, and there are the millionaires too and so on down the scale.

The question is, are these big monied Africans writing big checks too? Some have argued that the concept of philanthropy is not well embedded in Africa. But a good answer is perhaps more complex. Sudanese business mogul and philanthropist Mohammed Ibrahim told the Financial Times that the fact that rich Africans may not be writing big checks does not mean Africans are not generous. Rather, Mr. Ibrahim explains, in many African societies, the notion of the extended family truly 'extends' to cover many people - "cousins of cousins, wives of cousins, wives of cousins of cousins - the tradition of looking after your family is very strong."

There are current efforts to put in place institutional structures to harness big P Philanthropy in Africa. A good example is the African Philanthropy Forum (APF), an offshoot of the Global Philanthropy Forum, based in California, USA. The Global Philanthropy Forum is an initiative of the World Affairs Council, which acts as a peer-learning network of philanthropists (i.e.grant-makers and social investors committed to advancing equity and opportunity in the developing world).

The APF brands itself as a strong and vibrant community of givers who through their strategic investments, partnerships and influence, foster inclusive and sustainable development on the African Continent. AFP reports on its website that it had engaged approximately 1200 philanthropists in 10 countries across Africa and the World over the past decade. It had also created platforms for current and emerging philanthropists to interact, learn and share best practices.

Aistiphi Inc.'s Philanthropy Space Model - Small p Philanthropy

Given this background, the Philanthropy Space Model is premised on a simple question: which actors are making an impact everyday through their philanthropic engagements and community service initiatives in sub-Saharan African countries? The concept, as espoused by Aistiphi Inc., holds that businesses, corporate foundations, nonprofits and community-based organizations, celebrities and civil society organizations are the local actors on the ground who constantly give of their resources including, scarce funding, time, expertise and strategic assets to improve life in communities, help institutions work better and alleviate some of the worst forms of poverty and vulnerability. The argument then goes that if these actors could be identified and their interests and activity mapped effectively, then their resources and potentialities could be harnessed so that they make a greater dent on poverty in many countries. This is at core the argument supporting the Philanthropy Space model of Aistiphi. Note that Philanthropy Space does not discount the importance of big P Philanthropy. In fact, it advocates for more of that. Instead, it throws the searchlight on relevant, locally-based actors (even if it includes multinationals) who are key players in sustaining life-changing goodwill and community service in high-need countries.

Founder of Aistiphi Dr. Benjamin Ofori, who pioneered the concept, explains that Philanthropy Space as a Model is not something new. He argues that nearly every country and community has a history of activity in its own philanthropy space. Dr. Benjamin Ofori notes that the world will be better off boosting and harnessing this small P Philanthropy instead of marginalizing it to the background and going after big P Philanthropy (which is very important by every measure).

Foundations of Philanthropy Space in African Communal History

The Philanthropy Space concept is likened to the centuries-old, so-called 'communal labor' in rural African communities. The Traditional leader or Village Chief would summon all citizens to an undertaking at a specified place and time. It could be the dredging of the stream that supplied drinking water for the village, clearing and weeding the path that led to neighboring villages, building infrastructure for public meeting places or attending to matters of sanitation for the village. This was essentially mandatory community service and carried the full force of traditional customary law and sanction. Those who did not show up without justifiable cause were subject to a fine - a punitive fine to deter such practice. The Akans of Ghana call this 'Oman Adwuma' which literally translates 'service to the state'. Underpinning the concept of Philanthropy Space is the notion that everyone, on a voluntary rather than mandatory basis, can contribute something. Dr Benjamin Ofori argues that many people and organizations actually do contribute something. That is people and organizations voluntarily give back to society in many ways. Therefore, Philanthropy Space, as concept, puts a searchlight on what people and organizations already do and have been doing for centuries and it provide incentives to encourage such engagements of goodwill and voluntary community service.

Philanthropy Space is therefore not averse to, or skeptical of big P Philanthropy. It simply fills a gap that is not addressed by big P Philanthropy. The model is still in its test phase. It is yet to be seen if the concept is well received and if it has the capacity to be adapted in several African countries. It is important to mention that in operationalizing the concept, Aistiphi chose to implement it as a social enterprise, not as an academic construct. The set of tools and incentive devices that grounds the Philanthropy Space concept demands resources. For example, its online and social media tools, multimedia programming and public relations mechanisms meant that Dr. Benjamin Ofori and the team at Aistiphi Inc. needed to raise money. They faced two options. The founders could have gone solely nonprofit and fundraised to mobilize resources. They reasoned that to maintain neutrality, and to not tie the prospects of the concept's growth to the charity of organizations and people with the money, they would let the concept run on the fuel of it own generated income, especially on member subscriptions from corporations and businesses.

External links

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