Our world is ever more interconnected. This century alone, foreign tourist travel and expat populations have doubled, world trade has trebled, and global currency movements have quadrupled. It’s no wonder that growing numbers of individuals, corporations and other organisations take a planetary view when they consider whom to help – and whose help to enlist – in philanthropic actions.
Yet, from the single donor keen to support a project in another country, where they may have family ties or vacation memories, to the multinational business wishing to engage employees around the world to better align the geography of their social engagements with their operations, they find obstacles in their path: national tax regimes rarely encourage giving abroad; new laws to combat terrorist financiers and money-launderers pose legal risks, adding to due diligence concerns when screening potential grantees far from home; and many governments have grown wary of their citizens accepting favours from overseas.
Enter Myriad. The King Baudouin Foundation has been solving cross-border philanthropy conundrums within Europe for 20 years, through its founding engagement with Transnational Giving Europe, a network of similar institutions in 19 countries. In autumn 2021, KBF greatly expanded the reach of this concept by partnering with Give2Asia, based in California and with a network of affiliates and offices across the Asia-Pacific region, to create Myriad.
By allying KBF’s expertise and networks in Europe, Africa, and North America with Give2Asia’s profile, Myriad brings nearly 100 countries on four continents into a virtual, single philanthropic space. And there are plans to expand further.
