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About Us

The inspiration for the Latin America Donor Index comes from a dual commitment to helping nonprofit organizations find much-needed resources and donor organizations learn more about their peers working on similar issues or locations. For the first time, information about giving to and within Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is consolidated in one place.

The Latin America Donor Index represents a change in the mindset of philanthropy in the region. Only by seeking partners, acting synergistically, and building common agendas, will donor and civil society organizations progress toward sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean. Until now, grant seekers had to rely on word of mouth, individual contacts, and partial information to identify potential donors. Now they can use the Latin America Donor Index to search hundreds of donor profiles by thematic area, geographic area, and other variables.

Now, a new spirit of transparency and accountability is apparent in how donors share their information. A case in point, the Latin America Donor Index relies on the commitment of donors to keep their data current for all Index users. LAC donors and grantees alike have begun the vital work of collaboration, co-construction, and participation to catalyze more sustainable and equitable processes of development.

The team of the Latin America Donor Index is honored to play a small role in facilitating this shift toward increased collaboration.

About the Index Partners

The Latin America Donor Index is the result of a fruitful collaboration between AVINA and the Office of Outreach and Partnerships of the Inter-American Development Bank. Together these two institutions have pooled resources to build the Latin America Donor Index so non-profits and donors alike can identify potential allies.

The Office of Outreach and Partnerships of the Inter-American Development Bank: With their participation in the Latin America Donor Index as well as other programs and activities, the Office of Outreach and Partnerships (ORP) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group hopes to help both nonprofits and philanthropic organizations active in the region to easily identify potential donors and strategic allies. A primary objective of the ORP is promoting a culture of transparent, strategic, and results-based social investment and philanthropy in the region. By leveraging its deep network and convening power, the IDB disseminates best practices, aggregates relevant information and showcases successful experiences to strengthen philanthropy in the region.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group established the Office of Outreach and Partnerships in 2008, underlining the critical importance of bringing new ideas, approaches, and actors to bear on the development challenges facing Latin America and the Caribbean. The ORP reports directly to the President of the IDB and is charged with strengthening the Bank’s dialogue and alliances with key partners for development, including donor governments, co-financing agencies, foundations, individual philanthropists and the private sector. For more information about ORP and its work, please visit http://www.iadb.org/partnerships.

Fundación AVINA: AVINA’s contribution to building the Latin America Donor Index is an important addition to the body of social investments it has made over the past 15 years in Latin America. Among the largest Latin American foundations and present in sixteen countries, AVINA fosters the construction of networks and alliances between social and business leaders in the search for sustainable models of development in Latin America. To reach this mission, AVINA promotes shared agendas for action in four strategic areas: Equity, Democratic Governance and Rule of Law, Conservation and Natural Resources Conservation, and Sustainable Economic Development.

Today, AVINA partners with more than 1,000 leaders from the social and business sectors who are dedicated to sustainable development in the region. To add value to the work of its partners, AVINA:

• strengthens partner organizations;
• broadens their inter-sectoral alliances;
• creates productive links between with institutions in other regions and continents committed to sustainable development in Latin America;
• gets partners involved in local, national and continental networks to generate greater scale for their actions;
• promotes an exchange of know-how and learning;
• develops communications and mobilization strategies; and
• brings its own creativity and innovation to catalyze the social transformation process.

AVINA was founded in 1994 by Swiss industrialist Stephan Schmidheiny, who inspires the values and mission of the organization. For more information about AVINA and its network of partners, please visit http://www.avina.net.