Thinking Beyond Borders:

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Thinking Beyond Borders

• The Role of Foundation CEOs

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How limiting are statutes? (1)PVFs history
since 1988

• Pre  Berlin wall collapse  original statutes
  limit PVF interventions to Western Europe
• Since early 1990s such political restrictions
  pointless

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How limiting are statutes? (2)

• 1990s experience
• huge government means public generosity
• ? PVF funds ineffective in OCDE countries
• ? Increasing budget to Third World (95 in
  2004)

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How limiting are statutes? (3)

• BOARD CONSIDERED EVOLUTION DOES NOT REQUIRE
  AMENDING STATUTES.
• BOARD CONSIDERS INTERPRETATION OF STATUTES
  ESSENTIAL.

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How limiting are statutes? (4)

• ? PVFs EVOLUTION SHOWS THAT STATUTES ? AS
  CONSTRAINING AS SOME BOARDS WANT THEM TO BE

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How to go about it ?

• A. Operational issues
• B. Strategic issues

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A. Operational issues (1)

• Cross-check information (3rd party qualified
  opinion)
• Be very demanding on financial data
• Never be blinded by extent of needs (always
  colossal) but focus decisions on likely outcomes

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A. Operational issues (2)

• Make sure that approval and evaluation procedures
  are in as separate hands as possible
• Fund different operators in similar fields and
  same country ? possibility to compare
  effectiveness

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B. Strategic issues (1)

• Strategy must be evolutive (dont lock yourself)
• Geographical focus may be more essential than
  programatic focus
• Accept that 5 of projects will be failures
• No identified failures only (but clearly) means
  that your control mechanisms are ineffective

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B. Strategic issues (2)

• Avoid hit and run support have 3-5 yr support in
  mind
• Be aware of moral risks linked to being top donor
• Balance relative advantages of heavy transaction
  costs and reasonable failure rates

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Fighting Complacency PVFs strengths and
weaknesses (1)

• Strengths
• Follow up and external views allows us to
  identify (humiliating) failures
• Trust between secretariat and board leads us to
  transparency and acceptance of failures ?No witch
  hunting
• Priority to grassroots projects

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Fighting Complacency PVFs strengths and
weaknesses (2)

• B. Weaknesses
• Difficulties of the skilled doctor in slum
  syndrom
• Lack of focus leads to scattering of efforts
• Distance and lack of permanent field set ups
  leads to dependence on recipients feedback
• Reticence towards root causes linked projects

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• Thank you.