King Baudouin Foundation launches Myriad to aid international charity giving

Belgium’s leading philanthropy institute, the King Baudouin Foundation (KBF), has launched a new alliance with US public charity Give2Asia to ease cross-border charitable donations worldwide.

The KBF and its affiliates in North America have set up Myriad to help donors on four continents support charities in nearly 100 countries, while benefitting from standardised services, fees and tax advantages in their home country.

“Moving money around the world gets easier every day - until you try giving it to charity,” says KBF managing director Luc Tayart De Borms. “We want to make it effortless for donors to support good causes anywhere in the world, not just in their own backyard.”

Through Myriad, the foundation builds on two decades of work with Transnational Giving Europe (TGE), a platform enabling philanthropy institutions in 20 European nations to aid European residents make cross-border grants and gifts. Donor-advised funds set up with the KBF in Belgium or with its partners in the US or Canada will now allow individuals and corporations to channel grants to charities to Europe, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. These funds can also handle legacy bequests and art donations to foreign museums.

A Disaster Response Fund also offers a tool to engage employees in many countries, in order to mobilise giving across multinational enterprises for local communities in need.

Moving money around the world, including international donations, has become more difficult following post 9/11 anti-terrorism measures and anti-money laundering controls.

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