NOVEMBER 2005

Global Partnership: Investing in the Era of the Millennium Development Goals

At the recent 2005 World Summit, world leaders confirmed their commitment to achieve the Millennium Development Goals — eight measurable goals addressing hunger and poverty in its many forms — by 2015. Goal eight is to develop a global partnership for development.

Hunger Project investors embody global partnership. Those of us who fund The Hunger Project do not see ourselves as “donors” helping someone who is “needy.” We know that we are privileged to stand in equal partnership and solidarity with some of the most marginalized and disempowered people on our planet. We recognize that, when given the chance, these hard-working women and men will end their own hunger and build lives of self-reliance and dignity.

Our investors are committed, bold and knowledgeable — learning deeply about issues, in order to understand and advocate for The Hunger Project’s cutting-edge strategies. Our investors are also deeply satisfied by knowing that their investment is unleashing the creativity, productivity and responsibility of millions of the poorest people on our planet. There can be no better investment.

In this era, as The Hunger Project steps forward to play a leadership role for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), our opportunity for leverage is greater than ever before. If ever there was a time when making a bold commitment with our money could change the course of the future, the time is now.

THE GLOBAL INVESTMENT GROUP

Fully 75 percent of Hunger Project funding comes from individuals investing $5,000 or more per year. These individuals make up the Global Investment Group. Here is their stand.

As members of The Hunger Project’s Global Investment Group, we stand committed to a new future for all humanity:

a future free from hunger;
a future where every child, woman and man has the chance to lead a healthy, productive life;
a future where both women and men have the opportunity to express their dignity, creativity, vision and wisdom in authoring their own destiny;
a future where we honor human beings and our natural environment.

We are people of means. Each of us invests our money at the highest appropriate and sustainable level in the creation of this new future.

As Hunger Project investors, we are partners in a worldwide movement for the end of hunger. Just as a village worker contributes his or her skills, as a government leader contributes the courage to change policies, each of us is honored to contribute what has been entrusted to us for this global achievement.

We invest in recognition of the unity of the world, our connectedness with all people, and our own highest human aspirations. Our investment in a world free from hunger is the fullest expression of our common humanity.

As leaders in our communities, we seek to express the principles of The Hunger Project and to demonstrate the integrity, boldness and courage, focus and discipline, endurance and flexibility, partnership and interconnectedness that the end of hunger requires.

As a global family of investors, we hold ourselves responsible that The Hunger Project be funded sustainably and consistent with the fulfillment of its mission.

We are committed to the expansion of our own numbers. We call on all those with boldness, vision and courage to join us. Join us now.

We shall not cease until the job is done — a world free from hunger.

Your Legacy — A World of Self-Reliance and Dignity

The Hunger Project is funded by visionary individuals who are stakeholders in the long-term future of humanity. One powerful way to invest in that future is to include The Hunger Project in your estate planning.

There are several ways you can include a significant investment in the end of hunger through a planned gift or bequest.

· Name The Hunger Project in Your Will. The most common planned investment is through your will, as a bequest. You can arrange for it to be a specific amount, a percentage, or all or part of the residual of your estate. Sample wording is available on our Web site.

· Name The Hunger Project in Your Retirement Fund or Life Insurance. Naming The Hunger Project as a beneficiary of a retirement fund or life insurance policy will ensure that your commitment to The Hunger Project continues until the job is done.

· Inspire Others! We would like to honor your commitment to include The Hunger Project in your estate — and inspire others to do the same — by listing you as a member of our Legacy Circle in our annual report and other publications.

Depending on the form your bequest or other planned investment takes, you may see significant tax advantages for yourself or your estate.

Express Global Solidarity:Women and Philanthropy

Women and Philanthropy (WPI) was launched in The Hunger Project in 2003 to provide women in the developed world the opportunity to lay claim to their money, and invest it at the level of $5,000 or more in their sisters in the developing world. Since that time, WPI has raised more than $2.7 million.

Becoming powerful with money may be the last frontier of liberation for women in the developed world. They now may have money, but leave men in control of it. Today, there is a growing phenomenon of women discovering their financial power through philanthropy.

As Joan Holmes recently stated, “We, the women in the developed world, are living a life granted to us by our mothers and grandmothers fighting tooth and nail every step of the way to gain rights for women. And whether we recognize it or not, the baton has been passed to us.

“There are clearly more rights to gain here, but the issue really is extending this opportunity to our sisters in South Asia, Africa and Latin America. And if we don’t do that, who will?”

Empowering women and promoting gender equality is a make-or-break issue for achieving all the MDGs. Women bear primary responsibility for family nutrition, health and — increasingly — family income. They are the traditional caretakers of the environment. Yet age-old discrimination prevents women from gaining the education, health care, skills and voice in decision-making to fulfill their responsibilities. Women are powerless to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS, and they bear the primary burden of caring for family members with AIDS.

Women and Philanthropy is therefore the opportunity to express global solidarity and partnership with the women who are on the front lines of achieving the MDGs.

THE HUNGER PROJECT MOVEMENT OF INVESTORS

Why I Invest!

“For us, in this world of deep inequities between people of different cultures and circumstances, it is a matter of conscience and fairness to attempt to be of some use. We have seen that The Hunger Project embodies our vision for our world and for our place in it. We have money to invest, therefore we do.”

“Previously I responded to ‘charities’ as a donor, through a sense of obligation to help those who are disadvantaged. The Hunger Project challenged me to transition from donor to investor. I am now no longer a donor but an activist, with a clear objective and many new friends around the world, with whom I share a common goal of ending hunger and poverty.”

“We love the notion that empowering those with the least among us improves the lot of us all. Interconnectedness lives for us in our investment. I used to say that we don’t have the kind of profession upon which life depends, but I don’t say that anymore. All work is great work that contributes to a new future for humanity where no one is left out. We love people.”

“Investing in The Hunger Project gives me a unique opportunity, one for which I had been searching and couldn’t see, and that is to make a profound contribution to others’ lives at the margins of society.

“Through my money, I have the ongoing privilege of literally causing miracles in people’s lives that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. I have never been more empowered in my life than through my investment in the end of hunger.”

Special Opportunities for Investors

EXPAND OUR INVESTOR MOVEMENT

One key to the success of The Hunger Project everywhere is that we mobilize the committed voluntary leadership of thousands of individuals. The work of The Hunger Project in 23 countries around the world depends on the leadership of more than 60,000 active volunteer leaders, in partnership with 130 paid staff.

This applies particularly to our fund-raising. The leadership for expanding our investor movement comes from hundreds of trained, committed volunteer “activists” who reach out to their friends, colleagues and others in their localities, share The Hunger Project, and provide people with the opportunity to invest.

TAKE AN INVESTOR TRIP

One of the most powerful opportunities for Hunger Project global investors is to travel as a member of an investor delegation — to experience

The Hunger Project’s work firsthand, be a part of our strategies on the ground, and return more empowered as an activist in their community.

In 2006, investor delegations will travel to Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Bolivia and Bangladesh.

To learn more about these opportunities, visit www.thp.org/invest or call your local Hunger Project office.