FUNDRAISING ASSISTANCE FOR CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS

This information was taken from: Resources for Mobilizing Funding for Development Projects, which provides some very useful information on how to make your foundation thrive. The section posted below provides a useful list of resources for finding technical assistance for your organization.

Technical Assistance in How to Mobilize Resources

One of the important challenges facing any community based or nongovernmental organization is how to keep the good work of the organization going. How can such an organization attract a broad base of support to sustain itself? Where can it go to get technical assistance on how to diversify its sources of support? The following Websites offer online and other technical assistance on resource mobilization methods:

About Nonprofit Charitable Organizations
http://nonprofit.about.com/

About contains information on a broad range of topics
related to operating an NGO. The site contains
information on how to do Web-based fundraising, staff
training, donor information, management information,
public relations, technology, and managing volunteers.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy
http://philanthropy.com/

The Chronicle is a biweekly newspaper with extensive
coverage on fundraising, technical assistance, and issues
facing NGOs from a U.S. perspective.

CIVICUS
http://www.civicus.org

Civicus conducts several programs on resource
mobilization and corporate philanthropy. It also
maintains a database on organizations that work to
strengthen and grow civil society organizations
worldwide.

The Foundation Center
http://www.fdncenter.org/

The FC's Website contains a broad array of fundraising
information, including donor directories, an online
librarian to answer questions, proposal writing guides,
valuable tips on fundraising, downloadable common
grant applications forms from specific donors, training
and seminar directories, and a guide to libraries housing
the FC's directories. You can also subscribe to their
weekly email newsletter entitled "Philanthropy News
Digest." Just email to the following address:
LISTSERV@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG with the words
SUBSCRIBE PND-L your name in the text.

InnoNet
http://www.innonet.org/about/mission.cfm

InnoNet's mission is to build the skills, knowledge, and
processes within public and nonprofit organizations to
improve their overall organizational learning and
effectiveness.

The International Training and Consulting Institute
http://www.iyfnet.org/

The ITCI is a unit of the International Youth Foundation
that provides technical assistance and training worldwide
to help NGOs diversify their revenue streams and sustain
themselves.

Internet Prospector:
http://www.internet-prospector.org/

The IP provides "donor prospectors" with numerous tips
on how to conduct funding research on the Web. It
contains numerous links to other useful sources of
information on donors, both domestic and international.
The IP also publishes a monthly online newsletter that
contains a section on international prospect research.

INTFUND:

A listserve for discussion of issues related to
international fundraising. To subscribe, mail to:
listserv@vm1.mcgill.ca [note: this is a numeral '1,' not a
letter 'l'] in the body of the message, type: subscribe
INTFUND, messages to the list go to:
mailto:intfund@vm1.mcgill.ca

National Center for Nonprofit Boards http://www.ncnb.org/links.htm


Besides offering technical assistance to NGOs seeking to
engage their boards in fundraising, NCNB also offers
numerous linkages to other organizations providing
technical assistance in fundraising.

Philanthropy Journal
http://www.pj.org .

This Website provides hyperlinks to other foundation
homepages. You can subscribe to a free email weekly
fundraising newsletter entitled "Philanthropy Journal
Alert" from the publishers of "Philanthropy Journal."
Send your email address to pjalert-on@mail-list.com.

Philanthropy Search
www.philanthropysearch.com/

Sponsored by the US-Based National Society for
Fundraising Executives, this portal serves as a gateway to
the online world of philanthropy and nonprofits. Very
useful is the Website's "speed search" functions in which
one either clicks on a category related to donors or types
in a word search for information on a specific fundraising
topic.

Synergos Institute
http://www.synergos.org/

The Synergos Institute maintains a knowledge base on
mobilizing resources and support that includes
suggestions on formulating strategies to mobilize
resources, building endowments, raising resources from
international foundations, fundraising from individuals
and the public, creating a financial bridge to the private
sector, working with Official Development Assistance
Agencies, and generating earned income.

UK Fundraising
http://www.fundraising.co.uk/

This site is an electronic fundraising resource for UK and
European non-profit grant seekers.


The complete document published by the World Bank can be found at the following site:

Resources for Mobilizing Funding for Development Projects
http://www.gdrc.org/ngo/funding/ngo-grants.pdf

MOBILE PHONE USE MAY AUGMENT COMPUTERS IN THE FUTURE

The following article from the February 21, 2007 edition of South Africa’s The Daily Star focuses on India, but it points to a direction that IT development is taking and that should have an impact on Africa in the future as well. With the cost of computers coming down, they are still very much out of reach for the average African, particularly in the rural areas. With mobile phones becoming more and more able to access the world-wide-web, this may be an inexpensive alternative to the desk top or laptop computer.


Mobile phones to fuel internet growth: Google
Afp, San Francisco

Google vice president and chief internet evangelist Vinton G. Cerf predicted Tuesday that mobile phones, not personal computers, will fuel growth of the worldwide web as countries like India snap up millions of handsets monthly.
From 50 million in 1997, the number of people who have logged onto the Internet has exploded to nearly 1.1 billion, Cerf, who is considered one of the founding fathers of the internet, said.

Yet, the internet only reaches a sixth of the world's population, Cerf told reporters during a visit to this southern city, known as India's Silicon Valley, where Google has a research and development facility.

"You will get those other 5.5 billion people only when affordability increases and the cost of communication goes down," said Cerf, 63, who joined Google in 2005. "The mobile phone has become an important factor in the internet revolution."

The silver-bearded scientist, dressed in a three-piece suit for a presentation on the internet, is hearing-impared and had to read the lips of reporters who asked him questions.

Cerf, a winner of the Alexander Graham Bell award, said one of the reasons he started working on the internet project was to give the hearing impared an instant tool to communicate.

Worldwide there are 2.5 billion mobile-phone users, whose numbers are growing rapidly in developing countries led by China and India, the world's most populous countries, Cerf said in his presentation.

India, a country of 1.1 billion people, alone is adding seven million mobile-phone users a month, a powerful enough lure for British telecom giant Vodafone to pay 11.1 billion dollars for a controlling stake in local mobile firm Hutch-Essar this month.

Handset manufacturers and mobile-phone companies are offering an array of internet-enabled features and services including payment and navigation systems while dropping charges under the pressure of growing competition that will bring many of the new subscribers to the internet, Cerf said.

The Daily Star

The Article may be found here.

"Basic Tips for Fund-raising for Small NGOs in Developing Countries" by: Jane Cravens

I recently came across another article by Jayne Cravens entitled "Basic Tips for Fund-raising for Small NGOs in Developing Countries" and thought that it is so great, I wanted to share it. The article is 15-pages long, so it is not reprinted here in its entirety but the latest version can be found at: www.coyotecommunications.com/outreach/.


The Problem

The work of CBOs & NGOs in developing countries is vital to millions of people. However,fund-raising for these organizations is particularly difficult, for numerous reasons:

o There is often great competition among numerous local groups for scarce local
financial resources.

o International funders are reluctant to fund community-based NGOs "directly", because of a perception of lack of accountability, difficulty in establishing credible references, practical issues with resource transfers, and numerous tax questions.

o Some community-based organizations lack what donors regard as the necessary prerequisite structure for being able to process donations, financial or otherwise. For many organizations, this becomes a "Catch 22": resources would permit the necessary administrative changes to become more donor rule-compliant, but they cannot get those resources without making the changes.

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Fund-raising First Step - Networking & Establishing Credibility

Many funders want to know that a CBO or NGO is credible before they will even reply to an organization's request for funding. Establishing credibility doesn't take money - it takes time, effort and personal attention.

As noted earlier, the first impulse of many CBOs or NGOs seeking funding is to request the contact information for possible funders, and once such information is received, these NGOs often write immediately to the potential funder, stressing how desperately funds are needed. Sadly, this approach often harms the NGO's reputation, rather than garnering support. Not only does it rarely attract funding, it can turn funding sources against the NGO altogether.

The activity to start with for successful fund-raising is networking: establish relationships -- formal or informal -- with local NGOs and representatives from International NGOs, local UN offices, large employers in the area, etc. If someone were to approach any of these agencies and institutions and ask about your organization, the answers should obviously demonstrate that these other organizations know what your CBO or NGO is, why it is important, and some of the good things it has done. Having such good local relationships means its more likely for these situations to occur:

o your CBO or NGO may be able to collaborate with these organizations and institutions and, therefore, receive funding o when funding becomes available for an activity your CBO or NGO undertakes, these organizations will contact you and let you know.


To network, start locally, with:

o local reporters or local media outlets (newspaper, radio, etc.)

o large employers in your area

o local UN offices (UNDP, UNICEF, UNESCO, ITU, etc.)

o local offices for International NGOs with excellent reputations with donors, such as OneWorld, Save the Children, Oxfam, World Vision, MercyCorps, and Doctors Without Borders (this is by no means a comprehensive list)

o local CBOs and NGOs

o local communities of faith

o local universities

o international volunteers serving in your geographic area

o any associations in your area (such as associations for small businesses, associations of women farmers -- such associations can be formally or informally-organized)

o local embassies or consulates

o local and regional government offices

Meet face-to-face with these people, whenever possible, to let them know what your CBO or NGO is doing -- do not emphasize what your organization needs but, rather, the good work that it is doing, and why the organization believes its mission is important, even essential, to the area. Invite representatives of these organizations to visit your organization and see your work first hand -- invite them more than once! If you can, give them printed information about your organization. And people representing your CBO or NGO should attend their events and accept their invitations too!

By doing this, you will lay the groundwork for funding! You will greatly increase your chances of receiving resources if you engage in these networking and reputationbuilding activities.

Even better is if this networking can lead to formal associations/affiliations with other local CBOs, NGOs, International NGOs, or UN agencies in your area, in the form of Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), collaborative activities or shared resources. Potential funders view all such associations very favorably when considering who to fund.

But remember -- when networking initially, do NOT ask for funds, nor describe your organization as desperate for support. The purpose of networking is to establish your organizations reputation for excellent, quality work, and to create a network of organizations and people who will verify to others that your organization is legitimate, credible and worth supporting.

Even More Credibility-Building

The aforementioned networking tips should help build up the reputation of your CBO or NGO, but there is more that you can do, if you have the resources to do such. Some of the following activities may not be possible in your geographic area, or, you may not have the funds to engage in these activities:

o Membership in formal networks and associations -- If your country or region has a network or association of CBOs or NGOs, you should be a member. You can find these by contacting other local organizations to find out if such exists, or searching on the Internet for such.

o Excellent online profile -- If you type your organization's name into www.google.com what happens? Does your organization's web site come up (if you have such)? What about an online document by an International NGO or UN agency that references your organization? Or a newspaper article highlighting your organization's work? Or your listing on a site such as www.onlinevolunteering.org ? Anything negative come up? An online profile adds to your organization's credibility, and many potential funders, if they receive a proposal from you, will "Google" your organization's name, as well as the name of the leader of the organization, to see what comes up. Also, post relevant information that can help others at www.developmentgateway.org , www.eldis.org and www.comminit.com . If you involve volunteers, write about how they help your CBO and NGO (especially how they help those you serve, NOT how they save you money), and submit your story to www.worldvolunteerweb.org . Even doing these activities just once every year will help greatly expand your online reputation, and increase the chance of your getting noticed by potential funders.

o A clear, complete, easy-to-use web site -- It's not essential that your organization have a web site in order to attract funding, but it will help in your efforts if you do.
If your organization has a web site, it should be:

o free of advertising for for-profit companies

o free of misspellings

o well-designed; simple and without lots of cumbersome graphics

o accessible via a variety of different types of web browsers

o complete, with a listing of your staff, your board of directors, your organization's address, contact information, and at least a summary of your organization's budget.

o Academic profile -- It's not essential, but it will certainly add greatly to your organization's credibility if it has been referred to in a university-related paper. Ofcourse, it's not always possible to say yes to participation in an academic research project, given your other priorities. But your organization should try, whenever possible and when asked, to participate, as such will add to the appearance of your organization as transparent and credible to anyone investigating your organization for such.

Again, these activities may not be possible in your geographic area, or, you may not have the funds to engage in these activities. Potential funders will understand, for instance, if your CBO or NGO cannot have a web site because your resources are so limited; they will not, however, accept "limited resources" as an excuse for a web site riddled with errors, or as an excuse for negative stories about your organization online.