Infrastructure

A simple concept has emerged in the complex process of international grantmaking: People at the grassroots level know what is best for them and their future.

Such is the philosophy of International Development Exchange (IDEX), a San Francisco-based nonprofit with a staff of eight that has channeled more than $2.4 million since 1985 to some 500 self-help community projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

IDEX supports partners that focus on projects in women's and girls' empowerment, youth education and training, sustainable agriculture and micro-credit lending.

"We seek and foster a democratic approach to grantmaking," says IDEX Executive Director Peter Stanga. "And we focus on those groups—namely women, indigenous peoples, and youth—that have historically fallen through the cracks in large-scale, topdown development projects."

A Youthful Micro Grant

IDEX's democratic partnership model stems from the 1964 Peace Corps experience of its founder, Paul Strasburg. In the village of Ban Nong Boa, Thailand, Strasburg raised enough money on his own ($2,000) to build a school. On a return visit to the village a few years later, he was surprised and gratified to see that the school's success had expanded beyond service to area youth; it had spurred significant economic development in the community. Strasburg's observation and later research secured his belief in the worth of and need for small-scale, partner-driven projects to combat extreme poverty in developing countries.

The Partnership Model: How it Works

IDEX engages the democratic principles of equality, open communication, transparency and accountability to work with 13 partners in seven countries—Bangladesh, Guatemala, India, Mexico, Nicaragua, the Philippines and Zimbabwe—in a three-pronged approach:

Grantmaking—IDEX distributes $13,000 in grants per year to each partner organization for a three- to six-year period. This regular, long-term funding stream recognizes that social change at the grassroots level moves slowly and requires consistent care and feeding.

Alliance Building—IDEX helps its partners to be in touch with each other, with U.S. funders and with nongovernmental organizations worldwide that work on similar issues.

U.S. Public Education—IDEX seeks to counteract the lack of coverage of the challenges faced by its partners in the mainstream U.S. media through its biannual newsletter, monthly eUpdate, website, conference presentations and community events.

Expanding the Model

Two recent initiatives have helped IDEX to fine-tune its democratic partnership model.

Through a Ford Foundation grant, IDEX is conducting a lengthy and extensive review of its partnership model—what has and has not worked. Its partners approve of IDEX's democratic principles and find them to be well implemented. But the majority feel that they need to be even more involved, particularly in the choice of new partners.

To respond to this finding and to navigate the difficult process of growth, IDEX has developed the Catalyst Grant Program. The goal is to expand its work to other countries and partners, while maintaining longstanding relationships with existing partners (some of which span ten to 13 years).

"Employing a democratic model can be time-consuming, and it can limit our capacity to grow and recruit new partners," explains Stanga. "Through the Catalyst Grant Program, we use the expertise of current partners to identify and evaluate new ones. We then start with shorter-term grants to these new partners, with the goal of making these relationships long-term."

IDEX plans to expand its work to Nepal and South Africa.

FOUNDED: 1985
WEBSITE: www.idex.org
LOCATION: San Francisco
MISSION STATEMENT (in its own words): IDEX is a social change organization challenging social and economic forces that marginalize people worldwide. We build mutually empowering alliances with partner organizations that share a common vision to confront global systems of inequality, through channeling funds, mutual learning, networking, capacity building and outreach.