ABOUT THE AVON FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN

For over 60 years, the Avon Foundation for Women has been a driving force behind charitable, scientific, educational and humanitarian work that improves the lives of women and their families.  Their work has focussed on efforts to eradicate breast cancer and end domestic and gender violence globally.

Avon Products, Inc., a leading global brand in the direct selling of beauty and related products, created the Avon Foundation for Women in 1955 with the mission of improving the lives of women.  Avon is the company that for more than 130 years has proudly supported beauty, innovation, optimism, but above all women.

Learn more about Avon

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THE BUSINESS CHALLENGE

The Avon Fund for Shelter Grants, announced in March 2017, is designated to providing funds for domestic violence shelters and services in Argentina, Romania, South Africa and the U.K.

The Foundation was seeking a partner to:

  • Build an impact-focused grant programme
  • Help identify local causes in each market
  • Provide a best in class online application process to enable charities to apply for funding
  • Manage grant making compliance
  • Liaise with charities, carry out monitoring and impact reporting
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HOW WE WORK WITH THE AVON FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN

  • Designing a high impact grant making programme, identifying local causes

    The Avon Foundation engaged CAF as a critical friend and delivery partner to help them achieve their ambitions and manage risk. We co-created a theory of change, mapping the intended impact, long term outcomes and programme activities.

    We then designed a grant making programme to achieve a positive experience for applicants and maximise social impact. An online grant making system was created with a bespoke landing page for the fund, encouraging applications and supporting applicants through the process.

    We then worked collaboratively with staff in local Avon markets and CAF’s global offices to tap into vital local knowledge and identify and engage targeted charitable causes, thus broadening the reach and impact of the programme.

  • Handling the funds and making the donations

    CAF’s ability to satisfy Avon’s compliance requirements was key. As a registered charity in the US, the Avon Foundation needed CAF to complete a legal equivalency process to allow it to pass a charitable grant on to the UK. With this in place the Foundation can treat donations to CAF as equivalent to grants to US registered charities. 

    The Foundation hold the funds in a CAF Company Account, which ensures that all onward donations are for charitable purposes. We then fulfil all reporting requirements, saving the Foundation team time and enabling them to extend their grant making reach.  We make recommendations to Avon stakeholders to inform their decision making. 

  • Monitoring and evaluating to learn about impact

    We support Avon with ongoing monitoring and evaluation, enabling them to test their theory of change and learn about and improve the programme’s impact. Once grant offers are made, we undertake quarterly monitoring and provide an end of project report.

    This provides vital learning and demonstrates the impact of the programme on the lives of women suffering from domestic violence.

THE OUTCOMES

What we have achieved so far:

Confidence

Enhanced client confidence and ambition with global grant making.

Extended reach

Significantly extended beneficiary reach and impact.

CAF International

Find out more about our international partners

Making a world of difference

Impact

Greatest impact expected in countries with less developed domestic violence services.

CAF have been a terrific partner from the start. Their ability to satisfy our compliance requirements was hugely important for us as an organisation and their added resource has enabled us to better focus our time.

Christine Jaworsky, Director Avon Foundation

AVON FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN'S WORK ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

The Justice Institute on Gender-Based Violence

The Justice Institute is an interactive training programme, bringing together those who work closely with domestic violence victims. It aims to facilitate effective, coordinated criminal justice responses to addressing violence against women in countries around the world.

Argentina Institute

In San Miguel de Tucumán, the Avon Foundation convened its first Justice Institute on Gender-Based Violence, discussing the ways that our communities can better prevent and respond to gender based violence.

Romania Institute

The Avon Foundation convened its first Justice Institute on Gender-Based Violence in Bucharest, Romania, with a press event featuring a panel of global and local experts working to end violence against women.

Chile Institute

In Santiago, Chile, the Avon Foundation convened its first Justice Institute on Gender-Based Violence with the aim of making domestic violence and sexual assault laws keep their promise in the country.

CONTACT US

Laura Dosanjh

Laura Dosanjh

Senior Advisor

Laura works with our corporate clients to integrate social purpose and ensure their corporate responsibility and sustainability strategies have maximum impact. Her work spans a broad range of sectors, with typical engagements including horizon scanning, strategy development and programme design, drawing flexibly a range of CAF's products and services. 

Contact Laura via email or phone her on +44 (0) 3000 123 298

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