Community philanthropy is a growing sector across the world, but its progress has gone largely unnoticed in the world of mainstream “development financing.” This is unfortunate for two main reasons. First because there might be a significant amount of money at the community level that is already being, or could be, mobilized for the SDG effort. And second, perhaps even more importantly, because the quality of that money in terms of its unique characteristics make it a resource worth focusing on. At a time when all the stops are being pulled out to find funds to meet the SDGs, this unique source of finance is being overlooked.

This paper looks at four areas where community philanthropy has an intrinsic advantage over other external forms of finance (including domestic public finance from far-off capital cities), and ends with two sets of ideas/ recommendations, first for the community philanthropy sector, and second for those working in development finance.