Bright Funds Launches United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) Themed Foundation Funds

Bright Funds expands its Fund model to include all 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) in an effort to offer employers and employees an opportunity to anchor their philanthropic giving around making progress towards the UN SDGs.

Bright Funds, a leading workplace philanthropy technology platform, announced the launch of their latest Foundation Funds, representing each of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Within each Fund is a group of nonprofits, operating globally, whose programmatic work moves the needle towards achieving each goal. These nonprofits were identified by harnessing CharityNavigator’s research on organizations working within each UN SDG, as well as independent research by the Bright Funds Nonprofit Services Team.

“We’re thrilled to launch the Bright Funds SDG Foundation Funds,” says Thara Jinadasa, VP of Nonprofit Services at Bright Funds. “The Bright Funds SDG Foundation Funds were developed as a ready made tool for donor engagement. These Funds create a framework for employers, employees and nonprofits to address complex issues using the common language of the SDGs. These Funds will inspire employers and nonprofits alike to think big, innovate toward impact and reimagine what’s possible when working together on a shared vision.”

First adopted in 2015, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) were developed to be a shared blueprint for multiple stakeholders to move towards a world where there is peace and prosperity for both people and the planet by ending extreme poverty and other deprivations by 2030.

We are quickly approaching the completion of year two in the “Decade of Action”, a call by the UN Secretary-General to accelerate progress on the SDGs in order to achieve them by 2030. COVID-19 and the protests for racial equity demonstrated how critical it is for multiple stakeholders to work in concert and with urgency to address the world’s intractable challenges.

“Ending hunger is one of the critical United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and WhyHunger is proud to support this mission in partnership with the Bright Funds Foundation,” says Noreen Springstead, Executive Director of WhyHunger. “A donation to WhyHunger through Bright Funds strikes directly at hunger's root causes including systemic racism, poverty and economic injustice, and strengthens grassroots movements to create long term change and ensure the basic human right to food.”

"We are honored to be included in the Bright Funds UN Sustainable Development Goal Fund #5 (Gender Equality)," says Tara Chklovski, Founder and CEO of Technovation. "Every year we ask girls around the world to solve problems that align to the global sustainable development goals using technology, and every year we are blown away by the innovative solutions girls come up with for incredibly complex problems... Donor support makes it possible for us to reach more girls and introduce them to coding and entrepreneurial thinking. In turn, girls use those skills to serve and strengthen their communities."

The UN SDG Foundation Funds are an excellent way to engage employers and employees across geographies, company roles, and industries to align on a common vision of ending extreme poverty and other deprivations by 2030. The UN SDG Foundation Funds provides a framework to help donors direct their philanthropic dollars towards the systemic change required to solve the world’s most intractable challenges, providing them with a roadmap for change.

The Bright Funds’ Fund model has historically been an effective tool to help donors focus their giving in a specific cause area. One out of every three users make a donation to a Fund.

To learn more about our Funds supporting UN SDGs, please visit: https://hello.brightfunds.org/sdg-foundation-funds