Renata Brunetti holds a PhD in Social Psychology from PUC-SP. Since 1996, she has worked as a fundraising consultant for several social organizations in Brazil: Graacc, Syrian Lebanese Hospital, among others. She has been a member of the Ashoka Support Network (ASN) for over 10 years and since 2019 has been part of ICE’s associated network, whose mission is to articulate transformative leaders in developing initiatives that enhance positive social impact on the low-income population in Brazil. She is a board member of the GMK Institute, the ABH Foundation and Captamos – an online platform for learning and knowledge exchange in fundraising, and the Horas da Vida Institute ambassador.
“It was around my 35th birthday, after attending college, a marriage, two children (wonderful by the way) and a stable profession, that I highly reasoned on my role in the world. Since my childhood something struggles me with thoughts of the unbalanced social classes.
As a child I sought to understand why I was born into a financially structured and stable family, while other children so much like me were totally devoid of a social and financial structure. I worked for years with interior design and architecture, until I decided to look for a job that would meet my childish concerns.
The 1990s Brazil was taking the first steps towards more effective participation in social issues. In order to get involved professionally with these issues that touched me from an early age, I went back to study. I took courses in NGO management and fundraising in Brazil and also in the United States, I did a masters and doctorate in social psychology at PUC / SP, MBA in Social Entrepreneurship Management at FIA / FEA / USP and “Fund Raising Management” by Indiana University – USA.
In 1996 I founded “Atuação”. At first, my focus was to strengthen social organizations in fundraising through consultancies, courses and lectures. Until 2003 I was a volunteer and paid consultant for several social organizations: Aldeia do Futuro, Promove, Graacc. I also worked as a lecturer in fundraising courses at FOS, CEATS / FIA and FGV, among others.
Then, recognizing the richness of bringing complementary knowledge to my work, I created different arrangements (societies and partnerships) to offer more robust consultancies that added management, communication and legal aspects to fundraising. During this period, we developed consultancies for the Syrian Lebanese Hospital, Carpe Diem, Santa Fe, Quixote, Apae of São Paulo, Obra do Berço, among others. And we coordinate courses, give classes and lectures in various educational institutions, including: FGV-EAESP, PESC-FEA-USP, CEATS / FIA, PUC / SP, Senac.
From 2010 on, after witnessing a major maturation of our society to its social responsibility (the emergence of programs to encourage donor culture; the emergence of various foundations and corporate institutes that institutionally promoted social and environmental programs), then having participated in the creation of a fundraising association and witnessed the founding of various funding and accelerating organizations, I felt that the work of strengthening social initiatives already had several participants and I could redirect my focus.
By this time Brazil was already learning about a new format for acting on social and environmental issues – social business. This was my new focus, which in partnership with organizations such as Ashoka, Artemisia, Azzi Institute and Zoé Inova we developed, for FGV-SP, a complementary activity – “New Business Models”. Also in partnership with Zoé Inova we developed 4changeLab, which were workshops focused on social innovation and among other things, aimed at encouraging NGOs to open a revenue generation channel. To close the fundraising stage Célia Cruz and I have created an online fundraising course for social organizations. Made available for free on the internet the “4 Steps of Fundraising”, which was the seed of what is today the Captamos – online platform with the same focus.
Thus, at the end of 2016, inspired by seeing a more committed and conscientious Brazilian, added to an opportunity offered by João Luiz Borges – director of Overmedia and at the time director of production for a television network, who also had the “dream” of helping to improve the world using spaces available in its programming grid to present inspiring social and environmental initiatives, I decided to focus my activities on mobilization and communication for social transformation.” Since 2019 she has been dedicating herself to Change for Good in partnership with Renata Calmon Figueiredo and Juliana Rosa.
Academic Productions
“THE LISTENING OF “THE WORLD OF LIFE” IN THE CONSTITUTION OF AN EMANCIPATION SOCIETY” – PHD THESES IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY AT PUC-SP / 2007
This thesis tries to think of the capacity of the social entrepreneur, in connection with the international foundation Ashoka, in listening to the appeal of the needing communities that acts and after build group solutions from praising knowledge and culture of these communities. Were interviewed during the survey Daniel Becker from Cedaps, José Pereira de Oliveira Junior from AfroReggae, Vera Cordeiro from Saúde Criança e Jaílson de Souza e Silva from Observatório das Favelas.
“THE NOVELTY INSCRIBED IN THE WAY OF ACTING OF THESE SOCIAL POLYGLOTS” – VIDEO PRODUCED FOR THE DEFENSE OF THE 2007 DOCTORAL DISSERTATION
The video provides details from the story of the four Ashoka Social Entrepreneurs – Daniel Becker from Cedaps, José Pereira de Oliveira Junior from AfroReggae, Vera Cordeiro from Saúde Criança e Jaílson de Souza e Silva from Observatório das Favelas – who were interviewed during the research for the doctoral dissertation.
“THE FUNDRAISER: A NEW CHARACTER IN THE CONSTITUTION OF AN EMANCIPATION SOCIETY” – MASTER DEGREE ESSAY IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY AT PUC-SP / 2003
The essay analyses the process of identity constitution of the fundraisers in Brazil and looks for possibilities of these professionals to add (or not) for the emancipation of the society in it own personal emancipation.
FUND RAISING IN THE SOUTHERN CONE’ – ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE MAGAZINE NEW DIRECTIONS FOR PHILANTHROPIC FUNDRAISING PROFESSIONALS SPONSORED BY CENTER OF PHILANTHROPY AT INDIANA UNIVERSITY AND ASSOCIATION OF FUNDRAISING PROFESSIONALS – AFP, 2004.
In “Fund raising in the southern cone”, Daniel Yoffe and Renata Brunetti present a parallel between the ways of fund raising in Argentina and Brazil, pointing some changes in the political and social aspects of these communities.
“THE ASHOKA METHODOLOGY AS A TOOL OF STIMULATION OF THE ENTREPRENEURISM AND TO THE SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION” – GLOBAL FORUM LATIN AMERICA 2009
The article offers a view about the perspectives of a stimulation methodology to the entrepreneurism of social transformation. In the article there are discussions of different positions occupied by the individual in the society inside one timeline and the Ashoka stimulation methodology is described to this way of leadership, followed by some examples, three conceptual keys are presented, focused in the suggestion of re-valuation of “world of life” and in the logic of Jürgen Habermas solidarity.
“INTERSECTOR ALLIANCES: EVALUATIONS AND MONITORING – CASE STUDY” – MBA MANAGEMENT AND SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURISM AT FIA – FEA/USP, 2005
Course Conclusion Job developed by Renata Brunetti, Tamara Czeresnia, Maria Luiza de Jesus Crociquia and Christiane Nista. The study shows the importance of creating mechanisms of evaluation and monitoring of social projects developed in partnership with different sectors of the society – intersector alliances and points that these evaluations must be done not only in the projects’ itself scope, but also in relation to the partnership process.
WHO IS THE FUND RAISER? – ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE ELECTRONIC MAGAZINE OF THE THIRD SECTOR – INTEGRAÇÃO – DO CENTRO DE ESTUDOS DO TERCEIRO SETOR OF EAESP/FGVSP IN MARCH, 2004
The article developed from Renata Brunetti’s master degree essay, it presents the view about the opportunities of the resources raiser in collaborating more significantly for the constitution of a more fair society. The resources raiser as an mediator of the relations between the social companies and their partners and collaborators.
I CONSUME, SO I EXIST. WOULD THIS BE A WAY OF INCLUSION? – ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE ELECTRONIC MAGAZINE FOR THE THIRD SECTOR –INTEGRAÇÃO – OF CENTRO DE ESTUDOS DO TERCEIRO SETOR OF EAESP/FGVSP IN OCTOBER. 2005
The article offers a thought about the behavior that has been followed in relation to the population that occupies the called “basis of the pyramid”. In the article the authors intend do focus an important difference between developing products that meet the needs of this community and the worry in “getting them” as new consumers.
“FUND RAISING, AN ACTIVITY WHERE EVERYBODY CAN CREATE AND EVERYBODY CAN ONE COPY” – ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE MAGAZINE FILANTROPIA IN 2008.
An article where the practice of fundraising is focused involving processes, techniques and people.
“THE FUNDRAISER: A NEW CHARACTER IN THE CONSTITUTION OF AN EMANCIPATORY SOCIETY”. PUBLISHED IN REVISTA FILANTROPIA 2004. ARTICLE PRODUCED FROM THE MASTER’S DISSERTATION.
This article takes up the observation that the fundraiser (like each of us as members of a society) can interfere with the process of social regulation and that citizenship and social responsibility can be taught, can be promoted.
“THE MOST EFFICTIVE REVENUES TO THE FUNDRAISER” – ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE ELECTRONIC MAGAZINE OF THE THIRD SECTOR – INTEGRAÇÃO – DO CENTRO DE ESTUDOS DO TERCEIRO SETOR OF EAESP/FGVSP IN NOVEMBER, 2004.
This article, developed from the directive lines of The Fund Raising School of the Philanthropy Center of Indiana University in the United States, it has the intention of making clear the Best practices in relation to revenues of the resources raising for the companies of the civil society.
“SPECIAL EVENTS: ONE OF THE MANY FUNDRAISING STRATEGIES. IS THAT ALL?”
Special events can be one of the most exhausting strategies for fundraising, but it is important to remember how many doors and possibilities it could be opened.