Philanthropy Space Model - Aistiphi Inc

 

 

 

The Philanthropy Space™ Model - Aistiphi Inc.

Philanthropy Space™ 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 the philanthropic segments of corporate social responsibility. It is also designed to harness philanthropic potentials of nonprofits, community-based groups and local civil society.

Big P vs Small p Philanthropy

The Philanthropy Space Model stands in sharp contrast with mainstream understandings 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 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.^[4] But these are the billionaires. 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."

Replicating big P Philanthropy in Africa

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

The Philanthropy Space Model^[9] 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 relevant 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.

Beautiful Beneath Health Outreach - Credit JoyFm

Note that Philanthropy Space does not discount the importance of big P Philanthropy. In fact, it advocates for more of that.Why not? There income inequality in the region is so unbelievable. Instead, Philanthropy Space throws the searchlight on relevant, locally-based actors (even if it includes multinationals) who are key players in sustaining life-changing, charity, goodwill and community service in high-need countries.

 

Foundations of Philanthropy Space in African Communal History

Dr. Benjamin Ofori, the brain behind the Philanthropy Space Model explains that the concept is not something new. He notes that nearly every country and community has a history of activity in its own philanthropy space. Dr. Ofori notes that the world will be better off boosting and harnessing  small P Philanthropy along with big P, instead of marginalizing the former to the background and going after the latter alone.

Dr. Ofori likens the Philanthropy Space concept to the centuries-old, so-called 'communal labor' in rural African communities. Under this system, 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 food markets or efforts to address matters of sanitation for the village, etc. This was essentially mandatory community service and carried the full force of traditional customary law and sanction. 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. Ofori argues that many people and organizations actually do contribute something. That is, people and organizations voluntarily give back to society in many ways. We may not be paying attention to such efforts. They tend to happen on the quiet often without much fanfare.

Philanthropy Space, as concept, helps put a searchlight on the initiatives and commitments that people and organizations already do and have been doing for centuries and the model provides incentives to encourage such engagements of goodwill and voluntary community service.

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.