PARSA CF Launches Support for Iranian Culture and Social Entrepreneurship

PARSA Community Foundation is the first U.S. organization devoted to managing charitable assets in order to promote and preserve Iranian culture and houses the largest independent endowment fund that is devoted to Persian philanthropy.  PARSA is a platform for giving, and enables philanthropy through various vehicles, which help support global social entrepreneurship and nonprofit organizations. Grants are provided for work in alignment with PARSA's mission, rooted in preserving Iranian arts and culture, educating and developing leaders, and promoting civic engagement by Iranian Americans.

PARSA CF is rapidly making waves. Already the organization has:

• Six donor-advised funds
• Made its first grant in September 2006, giving $210,000 to Ashoka, an organization in Virginia that gives seed money to entrepreneurs all over the world to initiate programs that address social problems. The money will awarded to an entrepreneur of Persian descent to use in a social entrepreneurship project.
• Organized a calendar for awarding grants semi-annually (once in March on Norooz, or Persian New Year, and once in September on Mehregan, the Autumn Festival)
• Begun holding monthly philanthropy workshops throughout the US
• Attracted media attention for its work, including a feature in the San Francisco Chronicle.
  

ifPeople has assisted PARSA in extending its message to the public by developing the foundation's web site and marketplace directory.  The Marketplace is intended to connect donors, grant seekers and volunteers and is one of the most complete collections of its kind.  It was established with the strong belief that free and shared knowledge is key in advancing communities, both economically and socially.  The marketplace leverages ifPeople's online directory and has grown quickly over the past months and now includes nearly 150 organizations! The site is built with the open source Plone system, enabling PARSA to incorporate a rapidly growing body of information. In the last four months, the site's traffic has increased 25% and the number of unique visitors is up over 125%! 

The new web site has had a big impact on the organization's ability to carry out its mission. According to PARSA staff member Mariam Hosseini, "PARSA's nonprofit directory is an exciting project promoting transparency and the free flow of information, which we hope will help connect grant makers and grant seekers around the world that are committed to Persian-related causes." Additionally, the site:

• Allows a free flow of information to make the funding market more efficient and helps all stakeholders to become more knowledgeable about each other and the role they play in our community (Visit the Marketplace)
• Provides a reference tool for the general public to learn more about philanthropy (See PARSA University)
• Provides a way for the public to keep in touch with PARSA’s upcoming activities and general philanthropic events in their area (Workshops and Events)
• Helps donors, grant seekers, and volunteers find each other and learn more about each other’s efforts (Visit the Marketplace)
• Is a reference for grant seekers to learn more about PARSA’s grantmaking procedure, guaranteeing a fair chance for all applicants (Grant Seekers)

Congratulations to PARSA on their web site! If you would like to support PARSA, we encourage you to consider the following options:
   (a) donate to the annual fund;
   (b) open a donor-advised fund;
   (c) volunteer;
   (d) donate to one or more of the programs in our Strategic Grant Making program, or
   (e) host a salon dinner or philanthropy workshop to introduce PARSA to people who might find our message powerful.

For more on PARSA Community Foundation, please see www.parsacf.org

For more on ifPeople, the company that implemented the PARSA web site using the Plone content management system, please see www.ifpeople.net .

See plone.org for more on Plone.