Donations Directed to VfP Partners’ Volunteer-Led Development Projects Overseas

Washington, D.C. – The Office of Volunteers for Prosperity (VfP Office), at the U.S. Agency for International Development, in collaboration with GlobalGiving (GG), an Internet-based service for international philanthropy, have established a public Web site to enable VfP partner organizations, to generate resources on-line.  The Web site, www.globalgiving.com/vfp.html, provides secure donation options for volunteer-led projects that support global health and prosperity.

"We believe in the work of our partners and want to support them and their volunteers in as many different ways as possible.  We also want to engage others in that work,” said Jack Hawkins, Director of the VfP Office.  “By teaming with GG, VfP seeks to attract more people and organizations to the work of VfP partners and volunteers through direct monetary donations to specific and qualified volunteer-led projects.  This will broaden the reach of the Volunteers for Prosperity experience to include those who’d like to get involved, at least financially.” 

Hawkins added that this cooperative effort is the result of an earlier test of the Web site developed by GG using its Internet-based donation technology.

“This Web site allows individuals who want to give directly to volunteer-led projects a variety of choices,” said Mari Kuraisi, President of GlobalGiving.  “Donors can browse by overseas regions as well as by a broad range of sectors such as health, education, environment, among others – and they can choose how their money will be spent.”

Initially, the site will include the option to donate to projects with five VfP partners, and will run as a pilot project for six months. The participating VfP partner groups are: Engineering Ministries International, Partners of the Americas, International Medical Corps, Coastal Resources Center, and Partners Worldwide.

The participating VfP partners represent a cross-section of the VfP network, and GlobalGiving has vetted their volunteer-led projects according to its rigorous due diligence process, so that donors can be confident about providing their support.  Security of the site itself is provided by GG’s technology.

A link to the site will be accessible at the VfP Web site, www.volunteersforprosperity.gov.  Participating VfP partners’ Web sites will also feature links to the site.  

Donations to the volunteer-led projects listed on the site can be as little as $10 and are tax-deductible for U.S. taxpayers.  GG is responsible for all processing associated with the donations, and providing tax receipts to donors.

GlobalGiving, founded in 2001, is the first Internet-based platform for project-specific global philanthropy. The organization's vision is to build a highly efficient philanthropy marketplace where individuals, corporations, and other institutions can find and directly fund social, environmental, and economic development projects around the world. By aggregating many donors, GlobalGiving enables NGOs of all sizes to tap into a new source of funding that goes directly to the project level, giving every dollar more impact.

Volunteers for Prosperity was established by Executive Order in September 2003.  VfP works with leading U.S. non-profits and companies to deploy highly skilled American professionals in volunteer opportunities that support the global health and prosperity goals of the U.S. Government. VfP is part of the USA Freedom Corps, the White House’s coordinating council on volunteerism.  For more information, please visit www.volunteersforprosperity.gov. The VfP Web site provides connections to over 200 non-governmental organizations whose projects advance the objectives of six federally-supported initiatives. 

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