Author Archive:

Rien van Gendt

Opinion Rien van Gendt 7 May 2021

Donations, investments, and the uncharted territory in between

Donations are widely regarded as the core product of charitable foundations. This is how they see themselves, and how the outside world sees them. Most laws and regulations about philanthropy relate to donations, and media …

Analysis Rien van Gendt 14 March 2021

Big tech giants are the new polluters

Sustainability is what we want to achieve as investment funds, right? If so, shouldn’t we be leaving BigTech stocks – companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Google – out of our portfolios? We surely need …

Opinion Rien van Gendt 22 February 2021

Blended value: financial returns, SDG’s and gender in harmony

How enlightened would it be, if foundations were to use gender lens investing as one of their strategies to contribute to a more sustainable world? Philanthropy and sustainable investing should be natural allies with a …

Opinion 1 Rien van Gendt 7 October 2020

Foundation investments: Important to challenge popular beliefs

Recently Alliance magazine published a special issue that provides an inside perspective in the world of philanthropic investments, and I participated in a webinar organised by Alliance, that dealt with issues of transparency regarding the investment …

Special feature Rien van Gendt 1 December 2015

Partnering for the public good: an SDG strategy

The evolving interaction between foundations and government in the Netherlands could either excite people in the foundation community or worry them. The Dutch government signed a landmark agreement with foundations, called ‘Space for Private Giving’, …

Opinion Rien van Gendt 1 April 2008

Governance applies to investment too

Over the years it has surprised me how limited the opportunities are for information exchange between foundation Board members, for peer learning, and, even more important, for the professional development of Board members. In my …

Analysis Rien van Gendt 1 March 2004 For Subscribers

The importance of international giving

The main purpose of this address is to touch on the current status of international grantmaking. I will do this by looking at the European perspective and by looking as a European in all modesty …

Analysis Rien van Gendt 1 March 2002

A more global role for European foundations?

In comparison with European foundations, some of the larger and most highly respected US foundations fund with real global vision. They are flexible, enlightened grantmakers that are prepared to adapt as they take risks and …

Analysis Rien van Gendt 1 December 2000

How to retail wholesale money

Like most big northern funders, the Bernard van Leer Foundation (BVLF) likes to support small local NGOs, often with very small grants. Sometimes this is only practicable if you use grantmaking intermediaries. In this case, …

Analysis Rien van Gendt 1 December 1998

Forging operational partnerships between foundations and the World Bank

Since James D Wolfensohn joined the World Bank Group as its President, he has made it very clear that he wants to see mutual understanding and effective cooperation between the Bank on the one hand …