Filipino Diaspora Donors in Chicago, June 2009

Welcome to my blog! I will be writing about 99 personal stories of the growing philanthropy of diaspora donors in the US and around the world to their homeland countries and how they are making a difference.

Diaspora Donors: A Definition

Diaspora donors? Who are they anyway? The term diaspora refers to a population that shares a common ethnic identity that were forced to leave or left voluntarily and became residents far from their homeland (Wikipedia).  Diaspora donors are communities of individuals, residing and working outside their country of origin who give generously to their country of origin or homeland. Diaspora donors could include recent immigrants and refugees, second or even third generation Americans who give to various philanthropic efforts to their homeland countries.

Diaspora giving DO NOT include the remittances immigrants and refugees send regularly to their families and relatives as personal gifts or to support their family’s basic necessities.  Diaspora giving encompasses philanthropic giving that benefit the community at large which include the gamut of international projects from providing health and education assistance to large-scale community and infrastructure projects.

Remittances and donations are expected to decrease slightly but continue to be steady despite the recent economic meltdown  The Economist article thinks this is great news!

Diaspora Donors – Will They Matter?

So why do these donations really matter? Will they really make a difference? Will they ultimately affect people’s lives in their homeland countries and reduce the economic ‘push’ to migrate? Yes, I think so.

Diaspora Donations – The New Development Mantra

I proclaim that diaspora donations are the newest ‘development mantra’ among institutions like the World Bank, governments and  international development nongovernmental organizations. Diaspora donations can make a difference if steered correctly, nourished and supported over the years.

Global Coalition for Humanitarian Efforts

I’m the new Executive Director of the Global Coalition for Humanitarian Efforts-Philippines, a coalition of 48 individual donors and organizations that donate to the Philippines. We also want to share best practices, resources and capacity building among diaspora donors around the world. We want to forge alliances, build networks among diaspora donors,  promote capacity building and provide matching funds. Why would anyone want to ‘recreate the wheel’?  The lessons of donating to the Philippines can be shared among other diaspora donors around the world.

A Blog of 99 Personal Stories

This blog is about 99 personal stories: 1) the success stories of everyday people contributing and making a difference; 2) the heartbreaking stories of donations that went awry; and 3) the heartfelt stories of people giving from the heart to help someone locally in their new adopted country and in their native homeland.

Diaspora donors are both connected here and there. They give both locally and globally; they are the new ‘transnationals’.

So throw out the old notion that immigrants need to be ‘American’ or ‘British’ or ‘Australian’, adopt their native countries’ culture and throw out their old customs, language and culture. This is the 21st century, folks! The new paradigm is that immigrants are equally connected HERE and THERE. It’s called transnationalism.

So I hope you’ll read these wonderful, heartfelt stories of giving from everyday people, making a difference in their local neighborhoods and halfway around the world. Welcome to my blog, Global Grassroots Giving!

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