OUR MISSION
To generate and harness support for effective, innovative and collaborative nonprofit organizations around the world that leverage relatively small donations of goods, services, or money to create significant and sustainable pathways to positive change.
At Pennywise, we recognize that support comes in many forms and offer a variety of services for our grantees and project partners.
We Make Grants.
Pennywise embraces the principle that small scale giving and small organizations can have big impacts when resources are allocated creatively and effectively. We make modest grants to nonprofit organizations that have demonstrated exceptional ability to do more with less. Our grants support innovative, collaborative, sustainable programming around the world.
We Cultivate Creative Partnerships.
Pennywise is all about making the connections that will make change happen. We help nonprofit organizations enter into partnerships that expand the scope of their work. We have a special focus on public/private partnerships because we recognize that government is uniquely situated to bring projects to larger scales and help them last over time.
We Offer Technical Assistance.
Pennywise recognizes that some of the freshest, most exciting ideas about how to tackle tough problems come from new and developing organizations. We support innovative program planning consistent with our mission and priorities. We help launch exciting projects and support their development.
We Make Grants.
Pennywise embraces the principle that small scale giving and small organizations can have big impacts when resources are allocated creatively and effectively. We make modest grants to nonprofit organizations that have demonstrated exceptional ability to do more with less. Our grants support innovative, collaborative, sustainable programming around the world.
We Cultivate Creative Partnerships.
Pennywise is all about making the connections that will make change happen. We help nonprofit organizations enter into partnerships that expand the scope of their work. We have a special focus on public/private partnerships because we recognize that government is uniquely situated to bring projects to larger scales and help them last over time.
We Offer Technical Assistance.
Pennywise recognizes that some of the freshest, most exciting ideas about how to tackle tough problems come from new and developing organizations. We support innovative program planning consistent with our mission and priorities. We help launch exciting projects and support their development.
Learn more here |
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FEATURED PROJECT |
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The Zambia Net-Works Project
The Zambia Networks Project is one of the best examples of the Pennywise approach in action. This project- a collaboration of the Doane Nets Project (DNP), the Power of Love Foundation (POL) and Pennywise- reduces waste, promotes public health, has income generating potential and has begun to attract local government support which makes us hopeful that it will increase in scale over time.
Here’s what happened:
The DNP developed an innovative, inexpensive technique for converting discarded shopping bags into useful products, including malaria preventing bed nets and window screens. The project's goal was to teach that technique to people living in underserved areas where malaria and plastic garbage waste were serious problems (sadly, this describes far too many places in the developing world). The hope was that locals would take up the effort so that they could simultaneously clean up their communities, reduce their health risks and generate income by starting businesses selling what they made out of the plastic.
The DNP piloted this initiative in communities across Eastern and Southern Africa. It worked! People actively participated in planned and impromptu workshops and used the repurposed plastic to make all kinds of things (backpacks, raincoats, cell phone covers) including the nets and screens. The problem, though, was that the US based DNP staff lacked the time and resources to conduct follow up activities that might have helped production and use of the screens and nets become widespread and/or helped people launch plastic goods businesses.
This is when Pennywise became involved. DNP matched so perfectly with our priorities that we had to see if we could help. With permission from them, Pennywise worked to identify an on the ground partner that could offer infrastructure support through which the project could be further developed. After extensive research, we found an ideal partner in POL. Operating in Matero- one of the poorest and most underserved villages in Lusaka, Zambia- POL already ran malaria prevention and micro-lending programs. They were excited by the prospects this project had for linking the two.
The Zambia NetWorks was project was born!
Now in its fourth year, the project has already accomplished so much. To date:
Here’s what happened:
The DNP developed an innovative, inexpensive technique for converting discarded shopping bags into useful products, including malaria preventing bed nets and window screens. The project's goal was to teach that technique to people living in underserved areas where malaria and plastic garbage waste were serious problems (sadly, this describes far too many places in the developing world). The hope was that locals would take up the effort so that they could simultaneously clean up their communities, reduce their health risks and generate income by starting businesses selling what they made out of the plastic.
The DNP piloted this initiative in communities across Eastern and Southern Africa. It worked! People actively participated in planned and impromptu workshops and used the repurposed plastic to make all kinds of things (backpacks, raincoats, cell phone covers) including the nets and screens. The problem, though, was that the US based DNP staff lacked the time and resources to conduct follow up activities that might have helped production and use of the screens and nets become widespread and/or helped people launch plastic goods businesses.
This is when Pennywise became involved. DNP matched so perfectly with our priorities that we had to see if we could help. With permission from them, Pennywise worked to identify an on the ground partner that could offer infrastructure support through which the project could be further developed. After extensive research, we found an ideal partner in POL. Operating in Matero- one of the poorest and most underserved villages in Lusaka, Zambia- POL already ran malaria prevention and micro-lending programs. They were excited by the prospects this project had for linking the two.
The Zambia NetWorks was project was born!
Now in its fourth year, the project has already accomplished so much. To date:
- Nearly 300 Matero residents, primarily women seeking pathways out of poverty, have learned the DNP method.
- More than a dozen women received follow up, specialized training from DNP that focused on making disease preventing window screens.
- Partnerships were developed with local carpenters (generating income for them too) to design and install frames for screens.
- High quality window screens were installed in the first Matero homes.
- Evaluation and ongoing needs assessment surveys have been conducted. They helped inform the project’s shift from bed nets, which were being underused, to window screens which are widely desired.
- Planning is underway for POL to make its first micro-loan supporting a window screen production business that utilizes the DNP method.
- DNP was invited to meetings at the Zambian Ministry of Health to discuss the potential the project has for responding both to Malaria and to a recent cholera outbreak in the Matero area. We are excited about the possibility of developing a partnership with local government.
