How can we help philanthropic funding work harder?
February 25, 2021
Even when it is readily available, getting money to development and humanitarian organisations often proves inefficient. Funding can be complicated and meeting donors’ vetting and reporting requirements involves time-consuming administration.
To change this, the IKEA Foundation is supporting our partner the Oslo Philanthropic Exchange Foundation (OPX). Established in 2019, the Norwegian-based non-profit foundation is developing a global financing platform to enable innovation and efficiency in philanthropy.
A simpler process
The OPX platform will let investors and grant makers identify humanitarian organisations working on causes they care about and Sustainable Development Goals they prioritise.
Besides simplifying the process of linking donors and recipients, the platform will save time. All organisations will be vetted before being listed and reporting will be standardised. Donations will be made directly through the platform.
OPX will also offer better security to organisations by encouraging investors to commit to multiyear funding. This means a recipient can count on a steady flow of income over a set number of years.
Less paperwork
The platform promises to lighten organisations’ administrative load, as they only need to report to investors via annual or biannual updates and webcasts.
A transparent, predictable funding stream means freeing time and resources for organisations to focus more on their missions than their paperwork.
The first version of OPX will be launched this autumn.
Benefits for communities
Nina Skui Lohk, CEO of OPX, says: “Not-for-profit financing can benefit from best practice and infrastructure in the for-profit capital markets. By working with wealth managers and other advisors in the established for-profit infrastructure, OPX aims to make philanthropy a more natural inclusion in investment portfolios.”
Annemieke de Jong, Head of Refugee Livelihoods at the IKEA Foundation, says: “We provided the initial capital OPX needed to get off the ground because we are committed to global financing that benefits people living in poor communities and affected by displacement. We hope to see many others join the effort in bringing greater efficiency to philanthropic flows.”
