Spotlight on Turkey - New developments in community philanthropy

Community philanthropy has started spreading in the Turkish community, on both sides of the Atlantic. 2007 was an exciting year, with the establishment of two new organizations: a community foundation in Turkey, and a philanthropic fund for donors based in the US who want to give to Turkey.

Turkey's first community foundation

On 3 August, a group of government, business and foundation leaders came together in Bolu (a town of approximately 85,000 inhabitants, about 250 km from Istanbul) to celebrate an important milestone in the third sector: the establishment of Turkey?s first community foundation.

The Bolu Community Foundation (BCF) aims to promote the town?s well-being by supporting projects put forward by NGOs which address the critical social and economic development of the community. BCF was established with the technical support of TUSEV (Third Sector Foundation of Turkey) as part of its new programme to promote philanthropy and social investment in Turkey. TUSEV?s Social Investment Initiative (supported by the Tashman Fund, Charities Aid Foundation and the Global Fund for Community Foundations) aims to promote community foundation practice in Turkey, as well as other new approaches to enabling philanthropy and social investment, and strengthening the non-profit sector in Turkey.

The new community foundation is expected to be legally registered by the end of 2007, with an endowment of $750,000, and operational by the beginning of 2008.

A new fund for Turkey

Another new development in 2007 is the establishment of the Turkish Philanthropic Fund (TPF) in New York City. The mission of TPF is to ?help donors realize their philanthropic goals to meet community needs in the US and in Turkey.?

As a public charity registered in the US, TPF offers individuals, families and advisers (legal and financial) a wide range of philanthropic services. Donations that are intended for NGOs in Turkey are channelled through TPF with full tax-deductibility under US law. Donors can choose to make donor advised contributions as well as participating in pooled funds addressing a myriad social issues from education, poverty and health to arts, culture and the environment. TPF specifically aims not only to promote giving among the Turkish community and friends of Turkey in the US but also to channel valuable resources towards projects that promote social justice and change.

NGOs in Turkey also benefit from TPF?s ?Friends of? funds that allow pre-selected organizations to collect donations in the US without having to establish a separate entity. On the US front, TPF aims to support the capacity of Turkish NGOs active in the US by offering to have their endowments ?held? by TPF and providing other common back office and administrative services.

TPF was modelled after similar organizations in the US which have channelled significant resources from diaspora communities to India, Brazil and Ireland, among others. The fund has seven founding partners to date and has conducted several donor education meetings, bringing together the Turkish community in the US with successful non-profit leaders from Turkey on education reform, women?s rights, mother and child literacy, and social entrepreneurship.

Filiz Bikmen is Director of TUSEV and a Board Member of TPF. Email filiz@tusev.org.tr

For more information
For more about the Bolu Community Foundation, contact Filiz Bikmen at filiz@tusev.org.tr or see www.tusev.org.tr

For more on TPF, contact COO Senay Ataselim at senay@tpfund.org or see www.tpfund.org