March 22, 2006

The Skoll Foundation and Give2Asia Enter Strategic Partnership

Groups Work Together to Increase Philanthropy to Asia by 2010

October 25, 2006 – ( San Francisco, Calif.) Give2Asia, founded by The Asia Foundation to promote private philanthropy, has established a strategic partnership with the Skoll Foundation to increase charitable giving to Asia. The partnership includes a $300,000, multi-year gift by the Skoll Foundation to Give2Asia to support its donor-driven philanthropy. With the Skoll Foundation’s support, Give2Asia will help donors generate $85 million in new philanthropy for Asia between 2007 and 2010.

“This partnership will allow the Skoll Foundation to achieve a much broader reach in Asia by leveraging the on-the-ground knowledge that Give2Asia has developed of the most promising and innovative social entrepreneurs working in the region today,” said Sally Osberg, President and CEO of the Skoll Foundation. 

The two organizations began their collaboration in 2005 with the Skoll Foundation accessing Give2Asia’s network of 18 offices across Asia to identify social entrepreneurs who are using pioneering approaches to tackle critical issues .

“The Skoll Foundation has proven its innovative approach to advancing the work of social entrepreneurs internationally. We are excited by their commitment and the value they see in our ability to connect entrepreneurs with donors,” said Mike Rea, President and CEO of Give2Asia. “The goals we are working toward with the Skoll Foundation recognize the large, untapped giving potential of donors in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere.”

Through this partnership with the Skoll Foundation, Give2Asia will be able to reach out to new donor communities in the U.S., as well as to donors in financial capitals across Asia. Donors use Give2Asia’s network in Asia to identify social entrepreneurs, local organizations and projects working on causes and issues that match donor interests and giving goals.

About the Skoll Foundation

Headquartered in California’s Silicon Valley, the Skoll Foundation was created by eBay’s first president, Jeff Skoll, to fulfill his vision of a world where all people, regardless of geography, background or economic status, enjoy and employ the full range of their talents and abilities. Today the Skoll Foundation benefits communities around the world by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs—individuals dedicated to pioneering new innovations that result in lasting solutions to complex social problems.

The Skoll Foundation supports social entrepreneurs with the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship--multi-year grants awarded to individuals whose work has the potential for large-scale influence on six key issues: environmental sustainability, health, tolerance and human rights, institutional responsibility, economic and social equity, and peace and security. The foundation connects and celebrates social entrepreneurs through the annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship at the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford University and through an online community at www.socialedge.org, and via media projects that feature social entrepreneurs such as the PBS documentary series The New Heroes and a series of short independent films called Uncommon Heroes. For more information, visit www.skollfoundation.org.

About Give2Asia

Give2Asia (www.give2asia.org) is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization founded in 2001 as an independent affiliate of The Asia Foundation. In its first five years, Give2Asia has helped 2,500 donors give more than $40 million to projects and causes of their choosing. Give2Asia provides services that overcome the common challenges associated with giving overseas. With a flexible menu of custom giving options,Give2Asia provides individuals, families, corporations, donor advised funds and foundations the tools for fulfilling their charitable goals in Asia. Give2Asia’s overseas program staff members, as well as those of The Asia Foundation, operate in 18 Asian countries, making philanthropy to Asia convenient, accountable and tax deductible.