Background
The Pioneer Network of Foundations
Networking was a
concept virtually unheard of in the
1970s. It was particularly alien to
non-government organizations in the
Philippines, at least, until the
Association of Foundations (AF) came to
be.
Established in November 1972, AF is the
country’s first network of
non-government organizations (NGOs). Its
mission is to enable its member
foundations to develop sustainable
programs that serve their communities.
Through the years, AF has become a
bridge to grant opportunities, capacity
builder, data bank, consultant, and an
advocate of key issues. It is committed
to the constant growth and
professionalism of its member
foundations in their efforts to improve
the quality of human life.
AF is the most experienced federation of
foundations in the country, and perhaps
the most heterogeneous in membership.
Its well over one hundred member
foundations come from all over the
Philippines—from highly urbanized Metro
Manila to the northernmost province of
Batanes to the southern island of
Mindanao. These foundations are involved
in education, science and technology,
health, art and culture, governance,
social development and other special
interests such as environment and
micro-finance. The AF membership
includes leading non-profit
institutions, corporate foundations, and
even small organizations based in remote
rural areas. Such diversity is a clear
reflection of AF’s pluralism, its
multi-cause orientation being one of its
main strengths and constant challenge as
well.
In its early years, AF operated
primarily as a clearinghouse of
information among foundations. It also
initiated the accreditation of member
foundations in order to maintain the
highest standards of integrity at a time
when foundations lacked the esteem they
deserved.
AF became the venue where people and
foundations with expertise in specific
fields shared their knowledge and
experiences with those who were smaller
or newer. With this, the National
Science Development Board looked at AF
member foundations as the dedicated few
aiming for credibility in the highest
degree.
As a result, AF also operated as an
advocacy body dedicated to fostering a
deeper public understanding of
foundations as institutions of
nation-building. It published the
first-ever Philippine Directory of
Foundations in 1974, followed by a
four-volume edition in 1979 and
subsequent updates backed by an
electronic databank in 1990 and 1996.
In the late 70s, the role of AF expanded
to include fund sourcing to ensure the
survival of its member foundations. It
was also at this time that AF actively
lobbied for issues such as tax
incentives and other policies that
threatened to stifle the growth of
non-government organizations. AF was
determined to establish itself as a
partner of government in the task of
national building.
In the decade following the EDSA
Revolution in 1986, AF mobilized a total
of P25 Million for 45 projects
nationwide. It put together the
Philippine-Canadian Human Resource
Development Program which prioritized
capability building among member
foundations. In 1992, AF hosted and
managed the United Nations Development
Programme Global Environmental Facility
Small Grants Programme. AF also became a
founding member of the Philippine
Council for NGO Certification (PCNC),
Caucus of Development NGO Networks
(CODE-NGO), the National Coordinating
Council on Local Government (NCC-LG),
and the Federation of People’s
Sustainable Development Cooperatives. In
the same year, the League of Corporate
Foundations (LCF), which advocates
philanthropy among business corporations
in the Philippines, began as a
sub-sector of AF. Its international
affiliations include involvement in the
Asia-Pacific Advisory Forum of CIVICUS,
a world alliance of civil society
organizations. Today, AF is the only
umbrella organization of Philippine
foundations which recognized by the
Council on Foundations (USA).
After nearly 3 decades of trailblazing
work, AF has truly made an impression on
government and non- government
institutions, in the Philippines and
around the world.
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