BORDERLANDS MAP

The U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership (BPP) and Foundation Center have joined forces to develop a customized and interactive binational philanthropic database and mapping platform of the 10 Border State region.  ​​The map will be a micro-site of Foundation Maps and tailored to: California, Arizona, New Mexico, Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas.  
The Borderland’s Map will allow regional stakeholders to:
  • see who is funding in the region,
  • what projects and initiatives are being funded, and
  • where the funds are being invested in the 10 State region. ​
The borderlands philanthropy map will provide critical knowledge to civil society leaders to better understand their field, make strategic choices, and strengthen their local community impact.

The Need

The Border Region is vibrant and dynamic, and has unlimited opportunities for community growth and development.  Families, communities, and economies on both sides of the Border are inextricably linked to one another. We are bi-lingual, bi-cultural, and bi-national.   We live and work on both sides of the Border. The Border Region’s population is young and growing, and is projected to increase by more than 25 million people in the coming decades. Yet, despite the growing opportunities for success, many daunting challenges face us at every turn. If the border region in the 10 Border States, Mexican and American, were America’s 51st State, it would rank at or near the bottom in nearly all measures of prosperity, community health, educational opportunity and quality of life (Source: Institute for Policy and Economic Development, University of Texas at El Paso).

Projected Impact

The customized interactive map will allow users to search thousands of grant opportunities from hundreds of foundations, and thousands of recipients.  Ultimately, the borderlands map will facilitate bringing more charitable giving and grant opportunities to important causes, issues, and organizations in the borderlands.

Target Audience

The borderlands map will benefit civil society leaders from academia, business and corporate sectors, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and public, private, family, and community foundations across the 10 Border State region, and enable them to make informed decisions.
  • Funders will be able to scan the giving landscape and find other funders supporting similar initiatives
  • Consultants will be able to access funding data and trends to better support their local clients
  • Grantmaker networks will be able to provide the member network with data needed to achieve their local mission
  • Nonprofits will see which funders historically support nonprofits similar to their own
  • Anyone interested in philanthropy will better understand the scope and diversity of philanthropy in the borderlands as never before.

The Key Features of the borderlands map will be for stakeholder users to better tell their local stories by bringing philanthropy data to life with key visuals to enhance presentations, board meeting discussions, and annual reporting.  It will also allow leaders and organizations to understand how they are connected and map their network to discover new points of connection.

Priority Areas

Civil society leaders across the leaders support issues and concerns across multiple interest areas.  Key interest and priority areas will include:

Collaborating partners and Leveraged funds

In order to launch the Borderlands Map, a national directory of philanthropy in Mexico needed to be created.   Foundation Center and BPP partnered with the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) and Alternativas y Capacidades  to design and implement a social investment database that would compile basic information about Mexican donors, the amount of their donations, the areas they support, their programs and procedures, and the organizations they fund. This led to the creation of Fondos a la Vista, an online directory of Mexican organizations and grantmakers.  This first phase of this project was funded by Foundation Center, and will serve as the main source of philanthropic data for the borderlands map.    Our collaborating partners include:

ABOUT THE BPP

The BPP is a binational membership organization whose mission is to support a network of organizations that build prosperity through leadership, collaboration, and philanthropy in the U.S.-Mexico Border region. BPP is the only binational group along and across the 2,000-mile border that unites a vibrant network of national, regional and local leaders and organizations who are making a difference on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.  Our member driven agenda strengthens organizations already working actively to address issues of prosperity, equity and opportunity along both sides of the Border. Together, members of the BPP are a single voice for greater philanthropic investment, leadership, and collaboration in the border region.  From its beginnings, BPP has been proud and unwavering in its commitment to bi-nationalism.  BPP was incorporated as a U.S. non-profit corporation in 2008. The following year, it was incorporated as an Asociación Civil in Mexico. Its governing Board of Trustees draws outstanding and committed leaders from both sides of the Border.

ABOUT FOUNDATION CENTER

Foundation Center is the leading source of information about philanthropy worldwide. Through data, analysis, and training, it connects people who want to change the world to the resources they need to succeed. Foundation Center maintains the most comprehensive database on U.S. and, increasingly, global grant makers and their grants – a robust, accessible knowledge bank for the sector.