 Focus of This Profile: Online matching service to connect donors with projects in water and sanitation. Principal Office: Netherlands The Akvo Foundation supports an online marketplace to connect development projects and programs that require financial support with donors who supply the funding. Akvo’s website posts profiles of development projects that are unfunded or partly funded. Financial contributors of all kinds (e.g., companies, individuals, and others) choose which projects to support, making online payments. Akvo’s bank distributes the funds to the organizations which manage the projects (i.e., the project partners). Focus areas in Akvo are water and sanitation; education; economic development; healthcare; and IT and Communication. To date, water and sanitation is the most important focus. Grant Programs for Agriculture, Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Projects in Water and Sanitation. Projects include construction and rehabilitation of village wells and pumps; protection of water catchments; rainwater harvesting; marketing of ecological sanitation systems; production and use of water filters; application of water purification technology; and others. Most projects are managed by civil society organizations. This refers to NGOs and community-based organizations in developing countries, and to nonprofit organizations in Europe and elsewhere that support grassroots activity in the developing world. For projects in water and sanitation, project budgets range from less than €10 thousand to over €1 million. About the focus area water and sanitation APPLICATION: Akvo offers several kinds of partnerships. Organizations that implement development projects and seek funding for them are called “field partners.” Field partners need a “support partner” in order to be eligible for funding through Akvo. Akvo lists its support partners (currently about 60 of them). Many support partners are based in the Netherlands, although other countries are also represented. About partnerships Geographical Distribution of Grant Activities in Developing Countries Worldwide Comments Akvo is a recent initiative, beginning in 2007. It currently works with over 600 projects, which are organized in a searchable database. Akvo’s frequently asked questions (FAQ) are helpful for understanding the program. Akvo charges fees for posting profiles on its website. The fees are established on a sliding scale according to the size of the organization, the number of projects it posts on the Akvo site, and the country where the organization is registered (i.e., organizations in developing countries pay a reduced fee). The Akvopedia is an open information resource about water and sanitation projects. The Akvopedia is written collaboratively by volunteers and specialists, mainly from the water and sanitation sector. Anyone can edit content on the Akvopedia. Akvo is located in the Netherlands. It has additional specialists in UK and Sweden. Contact Us identifies the persons to be contacted for each of partnerships, communications, and technical issues. Last Profile Review December 2012 © Copyright protected. All rights reserved. Return to Water Resources (subject area) Return to Foundations, Corporations, and Civil Society (organizational category) |
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