Volkswagen Foundation Award will accelerate nonprofit organizations

The Third Sector is experiencing a unique moment in Brazil due to the growth and professionalization of management instruments in recent years. Nevertheless, nonprofit organizations have been facing the decline of philanthropic aid in the country, which has compromised their performance and the potential for social impact they can cause. Last year, philanthropy accounted for only 0.2% of the country’s GDP – in the US, the volume accounted for 1.4% of the GDP.

On the other hand, the impact entrepreneurship sector has grown in the period. According to the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE), resources invested in social impact businesses in Brazil have risen 56% over the past four years, reaching around 340 million USD today.

Bringing the business mindset of impact into social organizations is the main goal of the First Volkswagen Foundation Award. The program will support nonprofit organizations that want to achieve financial sustainability and scale their solutions through new business models. In this way, they may depend less on donations and public bids, ensuring autonomy and independence to define and achieve their medium and long term social impact objectives. Volkswagen is an associate of Aberje.

Thus, the program seeks primarily organizations that fit the following profiles:

– Social organizations that are innovating and creating new sustainable business units.

– Social impact businesses that, for lack of a more suitable model, organized themselves as non-profit organizations.

In addition to the above profiles, this program focuses on organizations with initiatives in the following priority causes: urban mobility, social mobility, and inclusion of people with disabilities.

The initiative unites Volkswagen Foundation’s 40-year expertise in the mentioned causes and the worldwide relevance of Yunus Corporate Social Innovation. The Award will select six projects for a 12-week acceleration program. Through face-to-face and immersive meetings in the city of São Paulo and weekly remote meetings, the program seeks to prepare those selected to scale their solutions through financially sustainable business models. “We strongly believe in the potential for transformation of the Brazilian reality brought by the Volkswagen Foundation. For this partnership, we bring the expertise of how supported social organizations can amplify their social impact in a sustainable, scalable and perennial way,” says Túlio Notini, Director of Yunus Corporate in Brazil.

At the end of the program, the three organizations whose initiatives demonstrate the greatest potential for social transformation will receive a financial contribution of 100,000 BRL.