Most of you are already familiar with this subject, but for the people who are new to it, it is worthwhile to start by saying that Community Philanthropy has a wide definition. There are different types of organisations that focus on supporting the local community.

There are community foundations, for instance, and in some countries, such as Hungary, “United Way” plays a role similar to that of other community philanthropy organisations (CPOs). In Russia, for example, apart from community foundations there are “school foundations” created around schools in very small towns and in rural areas. These different types of CPOs are united by several things, in particular their focus on the local community. They are supported by the local community and they support local community initiatives. In this session we will look at the role of CPOs in building social capital.

Peter Walkenhorst from the Bertelsmann Foundation (Germany) will speak about it from a more conceptual perspective. Avila Kilmurray from the Northern Ireland Voluntary Trust (NIVT) will speak from a regional perspective and Shannon Lawder from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (Prague Office) will talk about this subject matter from a funder's perspective.

The full text of the transcript, please, see below.