International Funders for Indigenous Peoples’ (IFIP) Second Annual Conference in Tucson, Arizona, on October 16, 2003, brought together funders and successful grassroots organizations. They shared more than 20 years of good practices and lessons learned, but despite accomplishments it was evident that huge challenges remain. In one session, participants held an in-depth discussion on a study that revealed less than one-twentieth of one percent of funding from U.S. nonprofit foundations is earmarked for Indigenous development efforts — a finding that underscores the need for IFIP’s increased role in ameliorating the economic disparity inflicted upon Indigenous communities around the world.

Rebecca Adamson (Cherokee), President of First Nations Development Institute in Fredericksburg, Virginia and founder of IFIP, shared her vision of IFIP’s primary role — “to make grantmakers, better grantmakers.” Adamson also added “IFIP’s conference provides a unique opportunity for funders and leaders from Indigenous communities to share ideas and plan strategies aimed at increasing funding to Indigenous peoples' initiatives.”

"How can international grantmakers become better grantmakers? Chris Allan from the Global Greengrants Fund answered, "educating other funders on the importance of Indigenous issues and how badly they are neglected by foundations.  Also, to help funders understand how Indigenous issues are intimately related to other issues we are already working on, and creating mechanisms to lower the barriers to both Indigenous organizations and foundations to making good grants."

Atossa Soltani, Founder and Director of Amazon Watch, commented on what she gained from the conference, “IFIP’s conference gave funders views from the trenches about the inherent challenges Indigenous peoples face in understanding how foundations work and how they can seek grants.” Soltani added, “I feel the gathering served as a springboard for increasing resources to Indigenous peoples’ initiatives worldwide.”

For Atossa, the two most significant ideas that came out of the meeting were: how to expand the network of funders who consider funding Indigenous peoples issues, this included reaching out to other foundation networks such as human rights, environment, social justice; and sustainable development affinity groups and how to increase the foundation fundraising capacity of Indigenous grantees.

There was also general support for her idea of inviting funders to attend Indigenous peoples’ gatherings as means of increasing their connections to and understanding of Indigenous movements. Atossa suggested, “The bi-annual forum of the Amazon Alliance in Washington, D.C. is an example of an existing network of Indigenous peoples that would be a good opportunity to invite funders to learn about current issues in the Amazon region.”

Amazon Watch’s main mission is to work with Indigenous and environmental organizations in the Amazon Basin to defend the environment and advance Indigenous peoples’ rights in the face of large-scale industrial development, such as oil and gas drillings, power lines, roads, and other mega-projects.

Ana Maria Murillo, Executive Director of the U'wa Defense Project, added to the discussion. “To assist in funneling good, accurate information, one suggestion I immediately thought of is a mirroring of the Global Greengrants Fund Regional Advisory Boards. Global Greengrants Fund divides the world into 10 regions with key partners who are on the ground who advise them on who’s who in each region. It is important that IFIP can help to answer questions that grantmakers may have about organizations they are thinking of funding ”

The U’wa are “the people who speak,” an Indigenous community of 5,000 who are from the tropical forest of northeastern Colombia near Venezuela and whose ancestors trace back to the country’s original Chibcha inhabitants. Indigenous peoples are the original environmentalists, as the U’wa are guardians of a haven of biodiversity; their territory includes headwaters that feed many Andean and Amazon rivers and tributaries, one of the two most pure sources of water in all of Colombia. The U’wa Defense Project provides legal, community development, research, and support to the Indigenous U’wa people in Colombia as they work to defend their life, land, and cultural autonomy. 

Murillo added that it was wonderful to see her organizational colleagues from Amazon Watch and funders that have been supportive all along such as Global Greengrants at the IFIP gathering. “They compliment our work with the U’wa tribe, but in a very different capacity, by doing the other half of the job, pressuring corporations, doing media and advocacy and providing resources.  Without all of these components working together, in the end, the U’wa and the environment would suffer.”

The gathering was made possible with financial support from the Skoll, Levi Strauss, Rockefeller, Ford, and Garfield Foundations.

For a complete report of the conference, email Evelyn Arce White, IFIP Coordinator, at ifip@firstnations.org, for more information on IFIP visit its website at www.firstpeoples.org/ifip.html. Evelyn Arce White (Chibcha) is Coordinator for International Funders for Indigenous Peoples.

International Funders for Indigenous Peoples

International Funders for Indigenous Peoples (IFIP) grew out of First Nations Development Institute's twenty-one years of work promoting Native American self-determination and economic self-reliance. Established in 1999, IFIP is an affinity group of the Council on Foundations. It is an association of almost 200 grantmakers that support or are interested in supporting Indigenous projects worldwide.

IFIP was born from the needs voiced by grantmakers to more effectively manage their efforts to support Indigenous development efforts. IFIP was envisaged as, and is, a forum within which funders exchange ideas and experiences, as well as interact with representatives of Indigenous communities in order to gain direct access to information relevant to their grantmaking activities, ensuring that their investments are consistent or complementary to the traditional cultures and their sustainable social structure. IFIP’s goal is to foster greater foundation commitment and more effective grantmaking for international Indigenous initiatives by providing a venue for communications and resource sharing, improving networking opportunities, enhancing collaboration, building capacity, and promoting linkages among new and experienced donors.

Mission

IFIP’s primary mission is to expand, enrich, and increase the effectiveness of grantmaking for international Indigenous development projects and efforts. IFIP accomplishes this mission by increasing knowledge and understanding of the unique issues faced by Indigenous peoples by actively facilitating dialogue amongst its grantmaking members and between Indigenous communities. IFIP fills a unique need in the funding world. 

Membership

Membership to IFIP is currently free to grantmakers, though members are encouraged to contribute. The benefits of membership include: being part of an unparalleled vehicle that exchanges ideas and guidance with funders and experts; receiving The Sharing Circle, our bi-annual newsletter that offers insight into the international arena; invitation to our annual member's roundtable; and receiving a complimentary copy of Native Americas: Hemispheric Journal of Indigenous Issues.

To become a member, please send your contact information to Evelyn Arce White, IFIP Coordinator, at ifip@firstnations.org.