Imagine waking up tomorrow morning to discover that you are very, very wealthy. Here’s what David Callahan, the founding editor of Inside Philanthropy, thinks you might do:
First, you'd go out and talk to a lot of smart people about how to make an impact with your money. Second, you might quickly realize that your dollars will go further if you help people in poor countries rather than rich countries. Third, you could next realize that the capacity of private philanthropy to make a difference in people's lives is small compared to the power of national governments and international organizations to effect change through aid, trade, and finance. So, fourth, you might target policy groups who know how to influence these big entities. Which means that, fifth, you'd probably one day find yourself on the doorstep of the Center for Global Development, the premier policy shop working to reduce global poverty. And if you were smart, you'd start writing this outfit some very big checks.
Ok, back to reality. I know that most of us are not in a position to write very big checks. But David’s point about leverage applies to smaller gifts, too. And modest gifts go a long way at a modestly-sized think tank like CGD.
At CGD, we work to improve the policies and practices of rich countries, corporations, and international institutions that affect the world’s less fortunate, particularly the billions of very poor people who live in developing countries. Many of these problems are also a challenge for rich countries, for example: climate change, illicit financial flows, microbial drug resistance, and harsh immigration restrictions. Fixing them will require much greater international cooperation (something we work to encourage) along with CGD’s quiet but tenacious push for practical and sensible policy solutions.
That’s why I invite you to join the 2014 CGD Society with a gift of $150 or more and support our efforts to shape a more prosperous, just, and safe world for us all. By joining the CGD Society with a check, wire transfer, or secure credit card donation via Network for Good, you will become part of a global network of citizens who value independent, rigorous research and active policy engagement to help create a better world.
CGD Society members’ gifts are especially valuable because they are unrestricted support that I can allocate to emerging issues that have yet to attract major donor support, or use to pursue unexpected openings for policy change. Members also share their ideas, by participating in CGD events, commenting on blogs and publications, and engaging with our experts.
“A big challenge for think tanks in cultivating donors is to educate prospects on why investments in policy offer so much bang for the buck,” David Callahan wrote. “CGD is ahead of the game....Its website includes a whole 'Impact' section that walks readers through important case studies. Reading through these cases really drives home the importance of CGD’s accomplishments.”
Here are a few ways we will put your gift right to work:
- Promoting Development Impact Bonds, a new financial tool for public-private partnerships. In 2014 there has been a flurry of announcements of plans to apply CGD’s blueprint for development impact bonds: the UK Department for International Development (DFID) for sleeping sickness; Instiglio, for girls’ education; and the Inter-American Development Bank, for service delivery projects. The Washington DC government plans to pilot the impact bond model to reduce teen pregnancy. As these pilots are tested, CGD will be monitoring and improving this promising new financial tool.
- Bolstering US foreign assistance through the Global Development Council. President Obama’s Global Development Council held its long-awaited public meeting in April 2014 and announced an agenda packed with CGD ideas. These included recommendations to unleash the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, create a US Development Bank, apply Cash-on-Delivery in foreign assistance, publish subcontractor data, and more. As the Council increases in influence and scope, we will continue offering practical policy solutions to increase the effectiveness of US development agencies.
- Streamlining health funding through priority-setting institutions. In March the Gates Foundation and UK’s NICE International announced support for a new International Decisions Support Initiative (iDSI), which will help low and middle-income countries make better-informed health-care allocation decisions. The initiative draws heavily from our 2012 report on Priority-Setting Institutions for Global Health–a reminder that CGD ideas have a shelf life well beyond their publication date.
- Making the US a reliable partner for energy access in Africa. After CGD experts and others pointed out that energy poverty is a key issue for Africa, the US government embraced improving energy access as a key priority for the region. With the President’s Power Africa Initiative under way, the Electrify Africa Act approaching the Senate, and the first US-Africa Heads of State Summit in August, CGD will continue promoting clear-cut ways for the United States to be a reliable partner on clean and cost-effective energy.
By joining the CGD Society with a gift of $150 or more, you can help us advance these policy improvements as well as other promising new ideas in aid, climate change, education, agriculture, migration, trade, and more. You’ll receive preferred access to events, complimentary copies of our publications, exclusive interactions with our experts, and many other benefits.
As CGD becomes a hub for sharing and creating policy ideas through our new Washington headquarters and growing European presence based in London, we look to CGD Society members to be active participants, persuasive advocates, and sometimes outspoken critics of our work.
We value every dollar invested in the Center, which is one reason we have committed to be a leader in think tank funding transparency, listing the members of the CGD Society on our website and publishing information on all other gifts that have a value greater than 1% of our annual budget (see How We’re Funded). I am proud that CGD recently was one of just two think tanks to win a top rating of five stars from the think tank watchdog Transparify.
Without your interest and support, CGD’s work to shape a world of prosperity would only have a fraction of the reach it has now. I hope you will choose to contribute to CGD and help us put more innovative development policy ideas on the US and global agenda today.
Warm wishes,
PS. You can learn more about our recent work by viewing our multi-media 2013 Annual Report. Want more options to give to CGD? Visit our Contribute page to explore other opportunities to increase your giving, such as inviting your company to join the Partners Council or becoming a Legacy donor. Or contact Anna Moran at amoran@cgdev.org or +1.202.416.4049.