Philanthropication thru Privatization Initiative

About this grant

In many less-developed regions of the world, privatization sales are a huge potential source of funds for community-focused philanthropic endowments. A number of examples exist around the world, such as healthcare conversion foundations in the United States and bank foundations in Italy. The East-West Management Institute, together with the Johns Hopkins University Center for Civil Society Studies, is launching a "Philanthropication thru Privatization" project to explore and promote capturing a portion of the proceeds of privatization sales as a means for building community-based philanthropic endowments. This grant will provide support for a planning and discovery phase during which a small core team will organize the initiative, investigate, and develop a list of examples from around the world of the creation of charitable endowments out of the privatization of formerly public or nonprofit assets, and determine promising pilot test areas for future "philanthropication thru privatization" campaigns and projects. Founded in 1988, the East-West Management Institute promotes the rule of law, civil society, and free market systems globally.