Statement of Operating Principles

Our core approach is to introduce and facilitate a relationship between two or more willing partners in a lean and efficient manner to create an outcome which is morally, ethically and emotionally satisfying to all concerned.

Who are our Partners?

Our local partners are usually small charities and associations of people that perhaps don’t even think of themselves as charities. These organizations and people are simply doing what they believe is essential for the health and welfare of people in their community. Our local partners invariably are people who started making a difference because they saw that something needed to be done, and they stood up and started taking action. They can use some help, but they often don’t know who to ask or how to get the help they need to increase their effectiveness.

While government grants and support from large global charities are theoretically available to our partners, the process of securing that support is often cumbersome, time consuming and complicated. And even in the event of success, the relationship can often end up being very prescriptive, which detracts from the core work already being done. This is where our donor partners come in.

Our donor partners are educated professionals, business owners, retirees and engaged citizens who are looking for ways to contribute their skills and resources in a way that “makes a difference” to people on the ground. 

The challenge many such people face is threefold: (1) they are not fantastically wealthy people who can undertake grand charitable projects, as people like Bill Gates or large international charities do; (2) they are not convinced that monthly financial support to a large established global charity actually makes a difference to people on the ground (or put another way: the connection between their charitable work and the end result is tenuous at best); and (3) they don’t have the time or resources to find the causes that truly excite and motivate them. 

Partners’ Operating Principles

We identify and verify local partners engaged in good work on the ground; people who are walking the walk, where the key people are actively involved on a day-to-day basis. We then introduce these local partners to our donor network. 

We recognize that both parties need to make incredibly personal decisions in deciding to work together. Each partner must believe the other can contribute to the success and growth of the venture already underway. We encourage our partners to start working together in small ways; to build trust and develop the relationship from there. Every relationship is entirely voluntary and consensual. Our work is not driven by complex contracts or key metrics that need to be achieved and reported on. Each project is guided by the principle of two or more willing partners simply working together to make a difference. 

Our local partners explain what they do, who they are, and what kind of support they can use to more effectively address the needs they are working on. They will report on project progress as mutually agreed, but always in a more informal than formal way. Our donor partners respond with what they can offer to help (and here we do not encourage, necessarily, a strictly financial relationship). Often, our donors have skills or connections they can provide that are at least as valuable as financial assistance. 

If the parties determine that there is compatibility then they enter into a willing relationship driven by mutual respect and cooperation. There is no contract and no legal obligation. We expect both parties to be on the lookout for how they can grow their relationship into a more fruitful collaboration over time. If the relationship works, it will grow into a larger cooperation, which is the ideal outcome. If it does not work for both parties, then the parties will mutually end it. What is essential here is that both parties enter into the relationship intending to develop a close personal relationship that they mutually design and agree on so that together they can make a bigger difference than they could apart.