Philanthropy represents a fundamental step towards reducing social inequalities. According to the most recent survey by the World Giving Index (WGI), Brazil occupies the 68th position in the global ranking of philanthropy. Despite not being an expressive number, the donation culture is evolving and conquering its space in the country. Studies reveal that the philanthropy sector in the country should gain even more relevance as a solver of complex problems.
In Brazil, Sitawi is a reference in financial management of Philanthropic Funds. But, do you know what's behind this recognized performance? In just over a year, Sitawi's Philanthropy Management quadrupled its team of people and, in 2021, was responsible for more than 80% of the amount mobilized by the organization. This fact brings visibility to the growth in demand for professionals with expertise in managing philanthropic resources and reinforces the new panorama for philanthropy in the country.
Do you want to know more about our performance and differentials? Check out the chat with Victor Ribeiro, Sitawi's Philanthropy Management Coordinator, below.
How does Sitawi work in Philanthropy Management?
We are responsible for delivering and operating contracted services in the context of philanthropy, in order to enable and leverage socio-environmental initiatives, with Philanthropic Funds being our main focus. We use our expertise and credibility to command the financial management of projects, such as contracts, payments and others, always striving for a high level of compliance and transparency. Thus, people (both legal and physical) who contribute resources to socio-environmental impact initiatives can focus on the beneficiaries who are receiving the impact at the end. In addition, we also carry out financial management and follow-up of projects for areas of Sitawi that receive grants such as Impact Investing and Conservation and Climate Finance.
What are Sitawi's differentials for carrying out these initiatives?
Our partners highlight transparency as a differential in our work, mainly because they are clear about what is being done and how the philanthropic resource will be used. We are also recognized because, through our expertise, we managed to understand what is the moment of the partner who is looking for Sitawi, offering suitable and flexible proposals. O high level of compliance that we adopt in our processes is also a factor that gives security to people who seek us out in this regard. In the 14 years that the Sitawi operates in the market, we have gained a lot of experience with national and international donors, in relationships that are always positive and even some that are long standing. In this way, the name gained strength and conveys confidence to the partners who seek us out. The follow-up we carry out on projects is also a great differential.
And how does this monitoring of projects and causes happen?
We have daily exchanges with programmatic project managers. Some projects have their own resources to execute their ideas and others need to seek donations. In both cases, we do what is necessary to ensure that financial execution, such as cash flow, budgets and balance, is met and we always focus on controlling disbursements and supporting documentation for these operations. Organizations like Sitawi, who work in the third sector, need to have this transparency in accountability in their DNA. Some projects come to us in embryonic form and, in the end, we see that, in addition to learning a lot, we also pass on knowledge, encouraging the growth of the organizations that seek us out.
In 2021, we won the Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award, held by Folha de SP and the Schwab Foundation, through the management of Philanthropic Funds aimed at combating Covid-19 in the country. What do you highlight about this performance?
I like to say that we work with partnerships and we don't do anything alone. We are facilitators, we act to make projects happen. This is what the third sector is like: a great partnership in favor of a greater objective. Funds aimed at fighting Covid-19, which mobilized more than R$ 200 million to help the Brazilian population face the health crisis, highlight this joint action. We took on the challenge and quickly adapted to the needs and urgencies of these Funds of an emergency nature, to serve them in full and in record time. Our expertise, flexibility and governance were essential to achieve such positive results, as the longer it took to execute, someone could stop receiving help at the end.
One of these funds is the matchfunding Saving Lives, carried out in partnership with BNDES and other organizations. You were recently in Pará to attend the reopening of a hospital boat supported by the Fund. Can you tell us a little more about that?
Through Salvando Vidas, we collected more than R$ 140 million until June this year, converted into PPE and medical-hospital equipment, distributed to more than 1,500 health units with SUS service across the country to face the pandemic. As a result of the crisis generated by the lack of oxygen in Manaus (AM), the Fund also started to meet this demand, purchasing cylinders and oxygen generating plants and donating them to municipalities and states in all regions of Brazil – so far there have been 19 power plants and 272 cylinders. Recently, I was able to closely monitor the impact of one of these Fund deliveries at the end. With the reopening of the Abaré II hospital boat (Basic Floating Health Unit), supported by Salvando Vidas and carried out in partnership with the União Amazônia Viva Initiative and the Saúde e Alegria Project, the riverside communities of the Rio de Janeiro region Arapiuns (PA) will have many health improvements. It is a population that normally does not have access to basic health care, as in the North region it is very common for some locations not to have service on land. See the impact of Sitawi and these initiatives up close is very meaningful, because it makes me understand the importance of my work and that of all the other organizations involved in favor of a common goal: building a better world for people.
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