Over the course of more than two decades, The Atlantic Philanthropies have awarded approximately 4,614 grants totalling $4.4 billion through the end of 2007.

We plan to spend our entire endowment by 2020 to make a significant, sustainable impact in our four programme areas – Ageing, Disadvantaged Children & Youth, Population Health and Reconciliation & Human Rights. We intend to award approximately $350 million per year through 2016, the year we plan to complete active grantmaking.

As of 31 December 2007, our net assets were approximately $3.3 billion, which includes approximately $824 million already committed to grantees. Atlantic’s endowment consists of a diversified portfolio of absolute return strategies, private equity investments and cash. The total fund portfolio had a 14.8 per cent gain against a benchmark return of 11.9 per cent. We also own interests in hotels, resorts, health clubs and retailers through General Atlantic Group Limited (GAGL), a subsidiary. These businesses account for approximately 4.7 per cent of our net assets at year end 2007.

Search Criteria

Our programme staff actively seeks out organisations that share our philanthropic focus in our seven target regions – Australia, Bermuda, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, the United States and Viet Nam. We do not consider unsolicited applications.

In selecting potential organisations for funding, we search for institutions that demonstrate strong organisational leadership, evidence of past and current successes, financial strength, and the capacity to implement projects and evaluate their success.

Prior to inviting an organisation to submit an application for funding, our programme staff will conduct extensive due diligence. Occasionally, we will seek external verification of our due diligence.

Emphasis on Strategic Learning & Evaluation

Before we award a grant, we agree with grantees upon arrangements to monitor their progress and report on outcomes. We believe that evaluating our grantees’ work and sharing learning about effective strategies are keys to bringing about lasting changes in the programme areas where we concentrate. To that end, we work diligently to help our grantees assess their progress and learn from their experience. We then invest in sharing lessons as to what works and what does not work.