I joined in on a webinar on charity and philanthropy in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS countries). Because of the interest and value to ministries and churches, I decided to post the powerpoints presented and resources mentioned during the webinar on the Lausanne Conversation.

Some of the common philanthropic themes in the countries were:

•Wealth creation combined with inequality •Greater giving •Evolving laws, tax and regulatory systems gradually becoming more accommodating  but long way to go •Greater institutionalization of giving •Greater organization of philanthropic sector  •Primary focus on charity – education and training as bridge to social change/philanthropy In a discussion on how to increase giving in the BRICS, the following were mentioned: – Improve the effectiveness of charities/non-profits (and therefore ministries) to attract giving. They emphasised the importance of standards in charity/non-profit operations; – Improve the legal framework to facilitate giving and philanthropy; – Investment in civil society – not only in projects but in organizational development; – Better philanthropic investment vehicles in the BRICS countries; – The development of social enterprises that can make charities/non-profits more sustainable; – Encourage local giving; – Develop partnerships between charities, business, local philanthropy and outside philanthropy. All of these themes and giving challenges are relevant to churches and ministries. The presenters actually emphasised the importance of religious giving in the webinar. The webinar confirmed to me the direction of the Global Generosity Network and Resource Mobilization Network. We should continue to encourage giving in the Global South throug a Biblical perspective on giving, improve ministry standards to attract more giving, develop new ministry giving vehicles, facilitate greater collaboration among Christian givers and ministries, look at ways to encourage social enterprises as ways for ministries to generate income and determine how ministries and churches can improve the legal framework for giving in their countries.