The Virtual Foundation - your donation makes it happen
Letter of Agreement between Virtual Foundation Consortium Members
and ECOLOGIA
I. General Goals
The purpose of the Virtual Foundation is to promote a new kind of international
philanthropy, using Internet technology to link small scale donors and NGOs.
This will provide NGOs (non-governmental organizations) with new sources
of funding for community projects ranging from $100-$5000 and allow donors
and grant recipients to establish long term partnerships.
The Virtual Foundation consists of a consortium of experienced regional
grant-making organizations as local grant administrators and ECOLOGIA
as manager and international coordinator.
II. Responsibilities of ECOLOGIA as Virtual Foundation Manager
Technical Support
- Maintain the Virtual Foundation website.
- Provide Virtual Foundation Consortium Members with an opportunity
to place current information about their organization on the Virtual
Foundation website, and/or to make a hypertext link to the member's
Internet site.
International Coordination
- Review, approve and post proposals endorsed by the Consortium Member
on the Virtual Foundation website
- Establish by mutual agreement between ECOLOGIA and the Consortium
Member the number and maximum dollar amount of proposals.
- Ensure that the Virtual Foundation operates in conformance with:
- the tax laws of the United States,
- standard international practices concerning the publication of
materials on the Internet, and
- prevailing principles of conduct for fundraising to guarantee
credibility of the Virtual Foundation.
- Develop policies and procedures in cooperation with Consortium Members.
Financial Management
- Process funds from donors expeditiously and in the most cost-effective
manner for each Consortium Member.
- Guarantee donors and Consortium Members absolute transparency concerning
all financial transactions.
- Account for all Virtual Foundation funds using standard US accounting
procedures and undergo an external financial audit annually.
- Provide financial support for administrative costs by adding a 10%
administrative fee onto each grant request. ECOLOGIA and the local Consortium
Member administering the grant will each receive half of the administrative
fee (5% of the project cost) if and when the project is funded.
Marketing and Public Outreach
- Publicize the Virtual Foundation in appropriate US media, targeting
major publications read by potential donor groups including: computer
magazines, environmental periodicals, major church journals, national
publications of major community service clubs, national newsletters
for teachers, ethnic organization publications, etc.
- Conduct a concentrated outreach effort to specialized donor communities
including private philanthropists, small family foundations, major US
Foundations working in the environmental sector, and organizations generally
promoting new forms of philanthropy.
- Solicit the public endorsement of traditional foundations and major
international nongovernmental organizations.
III. Responsibilities of Virtual Foundation Consortium Members
Consortium Members shall provide recommendations to Virtual Foundation staff,
concerning the reliability and track record of applicant NGOs in their country
or region.
Consortium Members are encouraged to work with applicants to
- produce proposals in the required format; and
- design projects that meet Virtual Foundation criteria.
If and when a proposal receives funding, Consortium Members shall:
- handle the transfer of grant funds to the NGO, receiving their administrative
fee of 5% (which had been previously added on to the proposal budget);
- provide oversight to insure that grant funds are used properly;
- share ECOLOGIA's commitment to transparency of finances and administration
in Virtual Foundation projects;
- work with grant applicants to ensure that they produce a final report,
which will be forwarded to the Virtual Foundation Grants Coordinator,
within four weeks of project completion.
Agreement signed by:
ECOLOGIA/Virtual Foundation
________________________(representative's name)
________________________(title, date)
Consortium Member
________________________(organization's name)
________________________(representative's name)
________________________(title, date)
The Virtual Foundation® / ECOLOGIA
PO Box 268, Middlebury Vermont 05753 USA
Telephone 1-802-623-8075.
E-mail: cschmidt@ecologia.org
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