WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The American India Foundation and the Philippine Development Foundation/Ayala Foundation have been selected as the best diaspora philanthropic organizations worldwide. Both organizations were selected as global benchmarks with high value-add best practices, especially for emerging economies. The Charles & Agnes Kazarian Foundation commented that:

“Both organizations share a passion for improving performance at the nexus of the commercial and social sectors.”

To support setting new global benchmarks in philanthropy, the Charles & Agnes Kazarian Foundation will invest US$10 million in Knowledge Partnerships with world-class philanthropy organizations that continue to significantly improve their key performance indicators (KPIs) through the use of global benchmarking and high value-add best practice research.

The Charles & Agnes Kazarian Foundation will build its first Knowledge Partnerships with PhilDev and AIF, and has agreed to invest US$1.8 million in its Knowledge Partnership with AIF. Both organizations have consistent track records of: creating global benchmarks and high value-add best practices; innovating and using KPIs to continuously improve performance; and achieving the “three highs” (high value-add, high return on resources, and high impact). The Charles & Agnes Kazarian Foundation commented that:

“Both AIF and PhilDev achieve approximately ten times more positive social impact from donor contributions than its average peer, which we refer to as a 10x NPB multiplier.”

The Knowledge Partnerships have four components: (1.) benchmarking and best practice research; (2.) staff, volunteer, and partner training; (3.) KPI assessment, comparison, and goal setting; and (4.) assessing and ranking prospective new initiatives.

The selections were based on a J-InterSect Project Report by a ten-person team with contributions from over 125 sector professionals within its global network. The team researched, worldwide for six-months, benchmark diaspora philanthropic organizations and high value-add best practices.

Information on the global benchmarks and high value-add best practices can be found in the Project Report highlights at www.jintersect.com, under Project Reports.

The Charles & Agnes Kazarian Foundation is currently assessing prospective new partners for 2011 Knowledge Partnerships in three areas: job creation projects and SROI analyses; government policies and programs to identify and cultivate innovative, high impact leaders; and university admissions infrastructure to identify and cultivate innovative, high impact leaders.

For additional information contact: Noi Reineke, The Charles & Agnes Kazarian Foundation, +1.202.449.9600, nreineke@kazarianfoundation.org; Mark Ogan, J-InterSect, mogan@jintersect.com.

About:

American India Foundation (AIF) is the premier India Diaspora philanthropic platform that has consistently set new global benchmarks in several high impact sectors and created new standards in massive scale, high value-add global best practices. AIF is the largest India Diaspora philanthropy organization based in the US. Since inception in 2001, AIF has benefited more than 1.5 million people, by implementing programs through over 115 Indian NGOs. The mission of AIF is to catalyze social and economic change in India. AIF mobilizes and invests resources to improve education, livelihoods and public health for the marginalized in India.

One of the most strategic nationwide programs supported by AIF is the Digital Equalizer (DE), which takes digital expertise to thousands of students in under-resourced schools across India. Children learn to work with computers and digital media and use them as tools of empowerment. The program’s USP is intensive teacher training and support which is delivered on-site for three years. To date, nearly 750,000 students and 24,000 teachers in 2,077 schools across India have benefited. The DE program has been implemented in 15 states, and is currently in 6 states with large-scale government support. www.aif.org

Philippine Development Foundation/Ayala Foundation (PhilDev) is the preeminent Philippine Diaspora philanthropic foundation with a track record of building global benchmark initiatives and innovating high value-add best practices. PhilDev is a bridge between US-based Filipino communities and Philippine-based social development institutions. PhilDev has benefited several million people through over 200 projects in the Philippines. PhilDev’s mission is to empower a passionate global Filipino community committed to sustainable and equitable development in the Philippines. PhilDev is the recognized leader among non-government organizations facilitating resources for social development needs in the Philippines.

One of the most strategic nationwide programs supported by PhilDev Foundation is GILAS (Gearing up Internet Literacy and Access for Students) which aims to connect all public high schools throughout the 7,100 islands of the Philippines to the internet. They have connected more than 3,000 schools, effectively giving about 3 million underprivileged youth access to the world of information on the internet. www.phildev.org

Charles & Agnes Kazarian Foundation seeks to empower great aspirations in the whole human family through economic development, education, and healthcare. The Kazarian Foundation's mission is guided by the knowledge contained in “New Philanthropy Benchmarking: Wisdom for the Passionate”, especially the principle that the social sector can achieve transformative change by cultivating intense positive competition among its stakeholders. The Foundation believes that a society is best judged by its success in empowering the most disadvantaged, especially the disabled. The Kazarian Foundation has approximately 100 professionals globally. www.kazarianfoundation.org

J-InterSect (JIS) is a global performance improvement company at the nexus of the commercial and social sectors. JIS has three products and services that create high value-add, high return on resources, and high impact: Customized Project Reports, Project Reports Library, and Training Programs. Organizations utilize JIS Project Reports to improve performance through: Benchmarking and Best Practice Research; Staff, Volunteer, and Partner Training; Key Performance Indicator Assessment, Comparison, and Goal Setting; and Assessing and Ranking Prospective New Initiatives. JIS team members are located in the US and Asia and have completed 200+ Project Reports. JIS team members include an extensive global network of 10,000+ professionals in ten Programs. www.jintersect.com