Most environmental NGOs in the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe will continue to depend on outside support for some time to come. ECOLOGIA recently (October 1996) established a new initiative, the Virtual Foundation, to encourage international funding of a wide range of small-scale projects. Now there is an Internet Web site where specific project proposals can be posted, and potential donors can select those areas of interest to them. The Virtual Foundation provides an alternative source of money to NGOs and thus allows them to diversify their funding base.

This is the first international use of the Internet as a fund raising tool for specific environmental projects at the grassroots level. The website address is www.virtualfoundation.org/ The goals of the Virtual Foundation are: to solve global environmental problems with small scale and affordable projects, to promote private philanthropy internationally, and to encourage donors and grant recipients to develop long term partnerships.

Visitors to the Virtual Foundation World Wide Web site are able to use search tools to locate and select a project reflecting their geographic or topical interests. Then they can support a project by donating on-line, or by mailing in a contribution.

Virtual Foundation grant applicants presently listed include grassroots groups from Central Europe, the Baltics, Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Their small scale local projects are responding to serious challenges, such as deforestation, water and air pollution, preservation of endangered species, environmental health, and maintenance of biodiversity.

The Virtual Foundation is a consortium of twelve organizations, with a well established record of support for environmental projects throughout the regions in which they work. Each organization gathers proposals from local citizens' groups with whom it has worked. After review and if approved, the grant applications are placed on the Internet where millions of potential philanthropists, users of the Internet, may read and fund them.

Before the appearance of global electronic communications, it was not feasible for the average person, small organization, or medium sized business in the United States to engage in international philanthropy. Without the luxury of international travel, it was nearly impossible to find individuals and organizations working on common problems in foreign countries. Similarly, many struggling NGOs across Europe and the former Soviet Union have been unable to locate colleagues and potential supporters in the wealthier nations. Without such direct contact, international partnerships at the grassroots level were rare.

The Significance of Electronic Philanthropy
The Internet has been praised as the great leveler; it offers its users equal access to a wealth of free information regardless of their social class, nationality or geographic location. Since information is power, the Internet has great potential as a democratic tool. But until now the Internet has done little to address economic inequality.

The information by itself is necessary, but not sufficient, for many forms of action to improve communities. For example, if a municipality needs to build a water purification system, access to free plans for an efficient system will only be frustrating if those who need it lack the money to purchase the materials.

The Virtual Foundation will use the Internet to provide funding for hundreds of such small scale community improvement projects. It brings together citizens' organizations which are struggling to improve their communities, and private donors who are considering engaging in their own acts of international philanthropy. The Virtual Foundation allows donors to choose the type of project they most want to support. Then, it allows them to see an on-line report documenting the impact of their support.

1. A community organization designs a project, such as developing a bird sanctuary. They have some of the resources they need to start the project, but they need 1, 250 dollars to complete it.

2. They draw up a proposal and submit it to the Virtual Foundation Consortium Member which serves their country. Consortium Member organizations have agreed to work with ECOLOGIA to locate and supervise projects funded through the Virtual Foundation. These organizations each have several years of experience assisting citizens' groups to design and implement projects.

   Present Consortium members are:

   {EPCE} Environmental Partnership For Central Europe : Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia;

   ISAR Offices: European Russia and Siberia, Central Asia, Caucasus

   {PERC} Pacific Environment and Resource Center: Siberia and the Russian Far East;

   {SEN} Sacred Earth Network: throughout the former Soviet Union (except the Baltics)

   ECOLOGIA Baltic Office in Vilnius: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

3. The Consortium member reviews the proposal and budget. If the project is approved, the Consortium member sends it to the Virtual Foundation Grants Office in Vilnius where it is given a technical review. If approved, it is sent to the United States office.

4. The proposal is presented to the Virtual Foundation Board of Directors. If it is accepted, the project is posted on the Virtual Foundation World Wide Web site. Ten percent of the amount of the grant request is added to the website funding request to support the cost of administering the project in the U.S. and by the Consortium member. (The $1,250 sanctuary proposal becomes a $1,375 on-line request.)

5. A group of ornithologists in the United States read the proposal and decide to support it. They notify the Virtual Foundation office, which makes the final decision to implement the arrangement, and handles the overseas financial transaction.

6. The funds are wired to the Virtual Foundation Consortium member which is administering the project. This organization allocates the funds and supervises the project.

7. The donors and grant recipients are encouraged to establish communications, to find ways of expanding their cooperation, and to exchange information about the project as it unfolds. However, donors may choose to remain anonymous.

8. When the project is completed, the grant recipient provides a final report to the Virtual Foundation. The report is posted on the Internet as an example of a Virtual Foundation project. These reports are linked, via the World Wide Web, to other environmental information sites where they will serve as models of community development projects.

9. The original recipient and donor are free to develop their relationship further, with exchanges of information, site visits, or perhaps ideas about further joint projects.

1. Contact a Virtual Foundation Consortium Member who serves your region. Submit your proposals directly to that Virtual Foundation Consortium Member, who will review and evaluate them. Proposals which the consortium member approves will be forwarded to the Virtual Foundation Grants Office in Vilnius.

2. Your NGO does not need to have access to the Internet itself.

3. While the Virtual Foundation currently accepts proposals up to 3,000 USD, smaller proposals (250-1,000 USD) for very short term projects which can demonstrate quick results are given priority.

1. The Virtual Foundation Consortium welcomes new members. In order to become a member, an organization does not need to be an American organization, and is not required to be formally registered.

2. A Virtual Foundation Consortium Member must have a well documented record of providing grants to local NGOs and working closely with them to supervise the implementation of the project.

3. Organizations which work across national boundaries are welcome.

4. Organizations which work in fields such as the human health impacts of environmental pollution, are welcome.

5. Very small grant making organizations, such as those with a regional focus or focus on a specific topic are welcome. Organizations encouraging small scale projects, especially for start up groups, are particularly welcome.

6. All Virtual Foundation projects must have a concrete goal. Thus, academic research projects are not funded.

For more information please contact the Virtual Foundation Project Manager, Lydia Thompson, at ECOLOGIA - USA.

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