WINGS will hold its next peer learning event on ‘Sustainability of grantmaker associations and support organizations’ at the end of June when senior staff and board members of WINGS participants from 11 countries convene in Istanbul. They will share their experience of the factors that contribute to (or hinder) the survival and growth of a grantmaker association or support organization.

There will be no outside ‘experts’, and presenters and facilitators for the event will be drawn from participants themselves. The meeting will be hosted by TUSEV, the Third Sector Foundation of Turkey.

WINGS has also published the final report of Community Foundations: Symposium on a global movement, an event held in Berlin in December 2004 (visit http://www.cfsymposium.org to download). Written by Eleanor Sacks, the report reviews the ideas aired at the meeting, and provides summaries of plenary speeches and principal discussions on topics including how community foundations grow; their role in facilitating diaspora giving; fostering inclusion in divided communities; encouraging generosity; and their experience in making an impact through activities additional to grantmaking.

Plans are now well advanced for the global WINGSForum in Bangkok in November. Topics to be discussed at the Forum include organizational capacity-building, communications, knowledge management, developing an enabling environment, accountability and many other issues.

WINGSForum 2006 will also inaugurate the Barry Gaberman Lecture on Global Philanthropy in honour of, and gratitude to, Barry, who will retire this year from his position as Senior Vice President of the Ford Foundation, for his role in developing WINGS of which he is Chair Emeritus. Barry himself will give the first lecture. To contribute to the fund that will service this lecture in perpetuity, please contact WINGS.

WINGS (Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support)
Director: Gaynor Humphreys
T + 32 2 512 8938
wings@efc.be
http://www.wingsweb.org