Past Recipients - 2007

We donated $16,496 to 13 projects proposed by members of RPCVs of Wisconsin-Madison.

• Biosand Water Filters, Uganda
• Request for Well Pumps and Latrines in El Terrero, Nicaragua
• East Madison Even Start Family Literacy, Madison, Wisconsin
• Wells for School Project, Cambodia
• Generating Academic Progress, Poplar, Wisconsin
• LAFOY Youth Group Summer Meetings, Dominica
• Project Paint, Dominica
• Madison Quakers Loan Fund Programs, Vietnam
• Hand Washing Stations, Guatemala
• Cookstove Project, Guatemala
• Community in Action Educational Development, Brazil
• Primary School Library/Teacher Resource Center, Sierra Leone
• School Gardens, Republic of Congo

We donated $70,000 to 53 Peace Corps Partnership Programs (PCPP) in 2007.

2007 Peace Corps Partnership Projects

The Peace Corps Office of Private Sector Initiatives Report for 2007

The Peace Corps Office of Private Sector Initiatives (OPSI) received a $70,000 donation from the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Wisconsin-Madison in July 2007. The group generously voted to allocate $25,000 of this amount to the Peace Corps Partnership Program’s new Drinking Water and Sanitation Fund. This allocation secured an additional $25,000 from the Wallace Genetic Foundation as part of a challenge grant they offered to Peace Corps.

The Partnership Program, man-aged by OPSI, serves as a vehicle through which individuals, RPCV groups, foundations, and corporations can make trans-parent, tax-deductible donations to volunteer-coordinated, community develop-ment projects in countries served by Peace Corps. These projects average around $3,100 each. OPSI seeks to raise the amount requested by advertising each project on the Peace Corps website, where donors may con-tribute directly to a project of interest. Additionally, donations were solicited from foundations, civic groups, Volunteer referrals, and the returned Peace Corps Volunteer community.

In order to receive funding through the Partnership Program, the host community must make a minimum contribution of 24% to the total project cost and outline success indicators for monitoring and evaluating the overall impact of the project. This helps ensure community buy-in a greater chance of long-term sustainability, and, ultimately, success.

The $70,000 donation from the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Wisconsin-Madison was initially allocated to two Peace Corps Funds for the purpose of distributing money throughout the year to Peace Corps Partnership projects. The Drinking Water and Sanitation Fund received $25,000, and immediately helped Peace Corps to leverage an additional $25,000 matching grant. The remaining $45,000 was placed in Peace Corps’ Global Special Fund and allocated to Peace Corps Partnership projects as selected by the RPCVs of Wisconsin-Madison.

In total, the $70,000 donation funded 52 projects in 28 countries. This contribution helped leverage over $144,000 in additional funding from donors to the Peace Corps Partnership Program and over $125,000 from local communities.

The 52 funded projects benefited a total of 33,782 people. This translates into a cost of $2.07 per beneficiary for the RPCVs of Madison donation, and demonstrates the Peace Corps Partner-ship Program’s ability to stretch each dollar received to benefit a large number of people throughout the world.

Through the Drinking Water and Sanitation Fund as well as from allocations requested by group members, 46% of the projects funded address access to clean drinking water and basic water sanitation. Agriculture projects make up 6% of the funded projects, Education projects total 17%, Environment projects 6%, Health projects 8%, and Youth projects 17%.

The generous donation from the RPCVs of Wisconsin-Madison presented an opportunity for the Peace Corps Office of Private Sector initiatives to leverage additional funding for 52 projects, reduce overall fundraising times, and build cross-cultural awareness. This donation was also an important factor in helping OPSI launch the Drinking Water and Sanitation Fund, which continues to help the Peace Corps raise awareness about drinking water and sanitation issues; provide funding for water and sanitation projects throughout the world, and build greater capacity to fund a greater number of water and sanitation projects each year.

With the help of donors like the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of WI – Madison, OPSI has already funded 560 Peace Corps Partnership Projects in this fiscal year. This represents a 36% increase over last year. In fiscal year 2009, OPSI is seeking to provide funding for 625 Peace Corps Partnership projects around the world, helping Volunteers and their communities to promote de-velopment and cross cultural exchange. We look forward to support of the RPCVs of Madison again.