Unlocking the potential of international philanthropy

As global travel, trade, and communications expand, multiplying connections among people around the planet, growing numbers are being inspired to help others further afield or more globally. The borderless giving alliance Myriad, created in 2021, has become an essential tool for those philanthropists, corporates, and organisations wishing to act with confidence and efficiency for the common good, all over the world. To represent the Alliance in Europe, the King Baudouin Foundation launches Myriad Europe.

“Corporations large and small, family offices, wealth managers, charitable organisations, and individuals have relied over the years on the King Baudouin Foundation for advice, implementation, and operational support to turn goodwill into positive impact on people and places around the world,” said KBF CEO Brieuc Van Damme. “By launching Myriad Europe and developing the new Myriad Alliance structure with our partners in Asia, Oceania, Africa, and North America, we are expanding our capacity to identify, manage, and propose cross-continental opportunities and global philanthropic initiatives and to provide the most efficient services for international collaborations, fundraising, and grant-making.”

The King Baudouin Foundation launches Myriad Europe, marking its commitment to unlocking the full potential of international philanthropy in association with its partners in the Myriad Alliance. Myriad becomes an essential tool for philanthropists, corporates, and organisations from all over the world wishing to act with confidence and efficiency for the common good, in their own country or further afield. Myriad wants also to accelerate efficient disaster relief and help multilaterals to raise funds for global causes.

“This strategic expansion and restructuring of the existing Myriad network, complemented by members adopting the Myriad brand in their home donor communities, symbolises our commitment to fostering effective and impactful philanthropic endeavours around the world,” said Birger Stamperdahl, who takes on the new post of CEO of the global Myriad Alliance after 20 years as president and CEO of Give2Asia.

In 2023, the Myriad Alliance collectively granted over USD 340 million to charitable programmes in 113 countries and across a wide variety of topics, including education, the arts, disaster response, health services, climate change, and much more.

Working with Myriad Europe offers the security of knowing that beneficiaries are fully vetted by partners with expert local knowledge on the ground, and a vibrant global ecosystem of philanthropists, advisers, and changemakers trading best practices, smart ideas, and innovation, as well as working in concert with policymakers to broaden avenues for cross-border giving. It includes locking in tax incentives for giving in donors’ own countries while transmitting funds abroad.

Concretely, Myriad Europe brings economies, efficiencies, and confidence, to the family foundation in Sweden that wishes to contribute to local education in Sri Lanka, to the multinational seeking to better align its global ESG giving with its workforce and stakeholders, all around the world, to the rural development cooperative in Nigeria looking to offer benefactors in North America simpler and cheaper means to help them, or to individuals and families who would like to make life better in the country where they have family roots through making a legacy that will have lasting impact. The Alliance will stimulate international art giving.

The network continues to seek new partners to build on synergies and improve geographical reach, complementing the particular strengths of its current members:

• Myriad Europe, launched by the King Baudouin Foundation, a leading actor in cross-border philanthropy in Europe, Africa and beyond and founding member of Transnational Giving Europe;
• Myriad USA, formerly KBF USA, now providing a global footprint for US donors out to the world;
• Myriad Canada, formerly KBF CANADA, partnering with Canadian funders for projects worldwide;
• Myriad Australia, formerly Give2Asia Australia, with its global capabilities to fund poverty alleviation with private donors;
• The Gift Trust of New Zealand, new member of Myriad, the leading national donor advised fund with deep ties to the Pacific Islands and beyond;
• Give2Asia in the U.S., the global leader for philanthropic grant-making into China; and,
• Give2Asia Foundation in Hong Kong SAR, the hub for Asia’s regional philanthropy with close connections into China’s mainland.

By representing the Myriad Alliance in Europe, Myriad Europe, launched by KBF, will allow the following opportunities:

• Streamlined funding channels for charitable associations around the globe who seek efficient access to donors in major economies;
• Fast routes for funding trusted local organisations responding to catastrophic events, notably through the expanding DisasterLink facility;
• An extensive global network that helps corporations engage with key stakeholders to drive forward philanthropic goals and achieve lasting impact;
• Estate planning, creating bequests to ensure that legacies live on;
• Immediate local tax benefits for donors who may then distribute grants wherever in the world they choose, ensuring individual or family philanthropy aligns with donors’ passions and the world’s changing needs;
• Art giving, facilitating cultural enrichment and ensuring the preservation and appreciation of artworks in major museums for generations to come;
• A seamless legal and financial network for member organisations, ensuring expertise that gives donors and beneficiaries confidence and transparency;
• A permanent exchange of ideas and inspiration, bringing donors, charitable organisations, and philanthropic foundations together to share best practices and generate creative approaches to the challenges of cross-border giving.

Myriad Europe and its fellow members of the Myriad Alliance are working together to make it simpler, easier, and safer to make a difference abroad.