Casa Fund surpasses the milestone of 3,000 supported projects throughout its history, according to the annual report

The 2022 annual report showcases the value of systemic grantmaking for individuals and organizations leading the actions for social, environmental, and climate justice in Brazil.

Every year, through our report, we share with our partners, funders, and grantees a compilation of relevant data and information about our work, aiming to bring transparency, reflections, and inspiration to the philanthropic field in Brazil and worldwide. This year, as we celebrate our 18-year history, our 2022 annual report presents a glimpse of the enormous value of tailored-made support for local communities, support that enhances the capabilities and reach of seemingly small organizations and initiatives that, collectively, form a transformative network. That’s how we have supported 3,157 projects since the beginning of Casa Socio-Environmental Fund.

As a local Brazilian fund, founded by local activists, our mission is to serve as a bridge and catalyst for diverse resources to efficiently reach, in an efficient and safe way, strategic groups promoting social, environmental, and climate justice in our corner of the world. That’s why our premise is to allocate the majority of our budget  to direct financial support to the protagonists of the transformations we believe are important for the world. In 2022, it was no different as we allocated US$3.3 million to direct donations, representing 70% of our total budget. Of this amount, more than half was donated to quilombola, indigenous, artisanal fisherfolk and communities living sustainably out of forest products – populations that dedicate their lives to defending the climate-regulating biomes of our region.

We launched eight calls for proposals in 2022, covering all regions of the country, with a higher concentration in the Amazon, representing 52% of the total. More than half of the projects supported in 2022 were led by women. According to the data provided by the groups, the initiatives supported by Casa Fund in 2022 directly or indirectly benefited over 13 million people. The amount that Casa Fund donated in the last 4 years along is equivalent to 62% of the total ever donated by the Fund throughout its entire institutional history, demonstrating exponential growth, which we understand is due, finally, to the fact that the field understands who we are and what we are here for.

In our 2022 annual report, you can learn more about the science of systemic thinking employed by Casa Fund through the article “The essence and the science that guide us”, written by Maria Amália Souza, Founder and Director of Strategic Development. In it, Amália shares the origin of the action model we have adopted, which has yielded significant results. In another article, “Leading alliance actions among Local Funds in the South – South context”, we describe how Casa Fund is supporting new local funds in different countries of the Global South , which, in 2021, gave rise to the Socio-Environmental Funds of the Global South Alliance (Alianza Socioambiental Fondos del Sur) – a global initiative that unites funds to support communities fighting for the protection of ecosystems and life across the globe.

The report also highlights the production of knowledge, which has become an integral part of Casa Fund’s strategy. In 2022, we launched four publications addressing various topics such as financing for climate resilience, human rights and environmental defense, women leading social and environmental justice, and the importance of socio-environmental philanthropy in the cities. Additionally, the report covers our team’s participation in key discussion spaces related to our performance areas, such as the Pan-Amazon Social Forum and the Climate Change Conference – CoP 27 in Egypt. Our work is only possible thanks to an extensive network of individuals and organizations with whom we have joined forces. In 2022 alone, we dedicated over 1,700 hours to meetings and collaborations with partner organizations, grantees, and funders. To strengthen the capacities of the organizations we support, we conducted 44 workshops in 2022, with the participation of 610 representatives from 361 different organizations.

These are some of the highlights that can be found in the document, which is illustrated with photos submitted during the 1st Casa Fund Photography Contest, also held in 2022, providing a space for amateur and professional photographers to share their work carried out in the context of the supported projects.

We invite you to read and explore our complete report! Click here to access it.