‘Governance and board development’ was the topic of the most recent peer learning event organized by WINGS in Washington DC in September, together with the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers (USA). Sixteen participants spent two days comparing the governance structure of their respective associations, discussing ways to strengthen the capacity of their boards, and considering mechanisms for training and appraising them.

They also discussed, in a final section, what associations can do to help their members – grantmakers – to strengthen their own boards. On optional site visits on the third day, participants saw some governance models first hand in meetings with organizations in Washington. Reports of all peer learning events, including the last event on corporate giving (see Alliance, September 2004), are available to the public on the WINGS website.

The website was relaunched in September at http://www.wingsweb.org. The new site replaces the former WINGS and WINGS-CF websites and presents the WINGS network and secretariat in a new format and structure. The two WINGS constituencies – those working with community foundations and those interested in corporate giving – will now find material and information relevant to them marked with coloured tags (red for CF, blue for CI). Other innovations include a new search engine that allows for keyword searches of all pages and documents, one-click navigation with drop-down menus, and printer-friendly buttons on every page. A Spanish version with limited content provides easier access to Spanish speakers.

Finally, WINGS is in the last stages of preparations for Community Foundations: Symposium on a global movement in Berlin, Germany, 2-4 December, an event that will convene more than 170 researchers and practitioners from over 30 countries (see http://www.cfsymposium.org). A report on this will feature in the next issue of Alliance.

For more information on WINGS, contact Gaynor Humphreys, Director, at wings@efc.be

WINGS (Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support)
c/o European Foundation Centre, 51 rue de la Concorde, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
Tel + 32 2 512 8938
Fax + 32 2 512 3265
Email wings@efc.be
Website http://www.wingsweb.org