The National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), founded in 1952, is a federal public company linked to the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, being the main instrument of the Federal Government (its only shareholder) for long-term financing and investment in the various segments of the Brazilian economy.

BNDES operates throughout the national territory, from its office in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), its official headquarters in Brasília (DF), and regional representations in São Paulo (SP) and Recife (PE).

To fulfill its objectives of impact and social transformation, BNDES has increasingly positioned itself as a coordinator between the capture of different sources of funds and their application in investments and projects of public interest.

To this purpose, it has different strategies to establish partnerships in favor of sustainable development in socio-environmental topics, such as matchfundings, in addition to notices, calls and awards.

IDIS - Institute for the Development of Social Investment is a civil society organization of public interest (OSCIP) founded in 1999 and a pioneer in technical support for social investors in Brazil. Its mission is to inspire, support and expand private social investment and its impact and, to this end, it works together with individuals, families, companies, foundations and corporate and family institutes, as well as civil society organizations in actions that transform realities and contribute to the reduction of social inequalities in the country.

IDIS operates through the tripod: generation of knowledge, advisory and implementation of social impact projects, such as Together for Health, which contribute to strengthening the ecosystem of strategic philanthropy and the giving culture.

Through a Public Selection, IDIS was chosen as the managing partner of the Together for Health. In this role, it assumes responsibility for complying with donor and executing institutions, receiving and analyzing health projects presented within the scope of the initiative; account for expenses incurred to BNDES and donor institutions; monitor the application of funds in the projects covered and monitor their results.

IDIS will also be responsible for carrying out public selections or structuring health projects that can be supported, with a minimum value of BRL 2 million. Each of the proposals will be submitted to a committee of health experts and the validation committee, made up of BNDES and other supporters of the Program.

Matchfunding is a mixed crowdfunding model, which can combine resources from companies, individuals and public authorities. Its operation is recognized as boosted financing, because for every real donated to a Project, a second donor doubles or triples the value. In the case of the Together for Health program, for every 1 real donated by partner institutions, the BNDES will put in another 1 real, doubling the value and expanding the initiative’s impact capacity.

There are two main types of support: Notice and Structured Promotion.

Structured development is a type of support aimed at carrying out health projects that adhere to the objectives and purposes of the Initiative, but which, due to their complexity or uniqueness, require prior structuring by IDIS. The minimum value of the projects must be BRL 2 million, with BRL 1 million from BNDES added to the partner’s matchfunding.

The Notice modality involves supporting health projects within the scope of the Initiative through selection through public calls (Notices), whose themes must be approved by the BNDES, with all sources of financial funds considered, before the selection is announced. The minimum support from interested partners for the Notices is BRL 10 million (which added to the BNDES matchfunding will total BRL 20 million, the minimum amount for launching a notice).

Supporters - or Partner Institutions - are those who donate funds to the Together for Health Program. Supporters can be: companies, social organizations, philanthropists who wish to support the health cause. The minimum donation amount is BRL1 million, which means, in the matchfunding logic adopted by the Program, support for projects of BRL 2 million (for every 1 real donated by Partner Institutions, BNDES puts in an additional 1 real).

Potential supporters can learn about some of the health projects suggested by the Program at “I want to support health projects” or by e-mail juntospelasaude@idis.org.br indicating projects they would like to support that are not on the Program’s website. Projects nominated by potential supporters will go through the Expert Committee to verify whether they meet the Initiative's minimum requirements to provide support within the scope of the Initiative. Subsequently, they will be forwarded to the Validation Committee for acceptance or rejection.

The entities that can receive funds from the Program are: private non-profit organizations (Philanthropic Health Units, for example) or public bodies, except the Federal Government or entities linked to it and that do not depend on budgetary transfers from the Union for their maintenance.

The health projects presented must be aligned with the premises of Together for Health (such as concentrating its operations in the N and NE regions of the country), and will be submitted for approval by the Validation Committee, made up of members of the BNDES and other supporters of Together for Health.

Potential executors must follow the notices open here and register their projects, always paying attention to the selection requirements, as well as contacting by the e-mail juntospelasaude@idis.org.br in case they are interested in recommending the implementation of a specific health project.

The Program has a Validation Committee, which represents the deliberative authority of the initiative. The committee is made up of BNDES and Supporting Institutions, the latter participating exclusively in meetings in which proposals to which they are donors are assessed. The Committee’s decisions occur by consensus and relate to the scope of each Public Selection (Notices) or to the Health Projects indicated by supporters.

The matchfunding strategy is advantageous for all actors involved. It is a fundraising model that multiplies donations and, therefore, increases the power of impact and social transformation. Furthermore, being in a network, joining efforts to achieve common goals, increases the learning of the parties involved and brings more security to everyone. The logic of multiplying values is also a powerful mechanism to encourage the giving culture in the country.

The North (N) and Northeast (NE) regions of Brazil contain approximately 75 million people (IBGE, 2020). Many depend exclusively on the Brazilian Unified Health System (mainly know as SUS - Sistema Único de Saúde, in Portuguese) and the high demand, combined with the lack of doctors, generates serious problems in primary health care. To find out more about choosing the territorial scope of the Together for Health Program, click here.