fundraising

Confident young sports leaders in Mbekweni, in the Western Cape, put their communication skills into practice by embarking on a four-day door-to-door campaign to increase community involvement at the Mbekweni Community Sport Centre, as part of an outreach campaign by sport and development organisation, SCORE.

Seventeen year old Sisanda Masila from Ihlumelo High School was joined by other sports leaders in Mbekweni, near Paarl, to talk to residents about the benefits of using the facility.

The state of the art indoor sports facility has an artificial pitch, seating capacity for over 300 spectators, changing rooms and conference facilities. It opened just over a year ago, during the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was funded by United Kingdom charity, Hope Through Action. The centre continues the legacy of the event by engaging more community members to get active in sport and develop skills they can use away from the pitch. One of the centre’s most successful programmes is the Mbekweni Community futsal league. The 5-a-side indoor variation of football gives teams the opportunity to practice ball control in a smaller area and learn new rules to the popular sport which hails from Brazil. The league currently has twenty teams and is an opportunity for different community teams to meet and compete against other keen players. The centre also hosts community celebrations and sports festivals which encourage older members of the community to visit the centre and take part in the activities.

Sisanda believes that engaging residents at the Mbekweni Community Sports Centre is a crucial step towards lowering crime rates, “thanks to the sports centre, we have seen more people getting involved in sport and now there is no time to do nothing. Crime rates are lower, and people take pride in the community.”

Offering coaching clinics and life skills development workshops for all groups in the community, SCORE hopes this campaign will increase participation and help develop more young leaders like Sisanda. “As young leaders we are recognised for doing the right things. We want to see more young leaders in our community helping youth make the right decisions.”

To help SCORE continue to build young leaders of the future, donate to the SANGONeT “No Pain No Gain” campaign today, by making a donation at   www.givengain.com/activist/55367/projects/1333.

For more information about SCORE, refer to www.score.org.za. Alternatively, contact SCORE communications coordinator Mel Paramasivan at mel@score.org.za.

I have just come up with a new phrase – ‘fundraising paralysis’.

Where the pressure to bring in the funds just feels too much, where I doubt the methods which make sense on paper and where I feel isolated talking a language that no one understands, marks me as a bit wild and crazy.

I like to think we all feel this and probably more often than we realise. And I pin it down that somehow we are in a field, which most of us have fallen into, no one has studied, and which we understand by pure instinct. I swear my guidance counsellor at school didn’t have fundraising on her list of careers. The list had doctors, lawyers, journalists but not the NGO sector-related careers.

So we’re already starting at a disadvantage: a murky field where our success is dependent on a lot of factors: understanding the cause, working with a supportive board and chief executive officer, an operational structure that measures and monitors the work that it does, team work among departments.

Fundraisers may be individuals, but our role is knitting together and selling the organisation. It is short-sighted to think that we work solo and that makes finding the fundraiser that’s right for you difficult. As this is more than a job description. I technically can look perfect on paper, but am I the right person for the job?

I have just come out of a wonderful meeting with funding guru Sandra Miller, who is fighting our corner. She is training boards to stop counting the pennies, encouraging them to give their fundraisers the freedoms that they need to operate on instinct, to be creative and run with things.  And at the same time, working with us fundraisers, to take the murkiness out of our world, help focus our work, and I think inadvertently, knit us together because this is what she’s just done with me. By understanding my funding paralysis and telling me its okay, she’s made me feel like I’m not wild and crazy. That my instincts aren’t off track. That I shouldn't throw in the towel and hide in a dark cave for the next financial year.

We need more Sandra’s and we need more talk among ourselves to build a greater understanding of our work, our role, our mission, our value, and to build manageable expectations of what it is that we actually do.

- Kerryn Krige is Director Communications and Income Development at Child Welfare South Africa. This is written in her personal capacity and in no way represents the views of the organisation.

 

Making predictions for the next 12 months in the third sector, the Cinderella sector, is like bungee jumping from the Orlando Cooling towers, you don’t know if you’re going to like it but you just have to do it!

2011 will be a year of rejuvenation for a number of South African non-profit organisations (NPOs) but you will need to be wide awake and cautious in your dealings. Sadly there have been causalities during the two-year financial downturn along with the demise of good community projects. The challenge from here on is in how we rebuild the fallen structures and strengthen capacity of those who have been surviving on a shoe-string budget!

Governance issues

As so many NPOs have limited human resources and monetary capacity they have been operating in crisis mode which has led to a situation of non-compliance with founding documents such as defaulting on the number of determined meetings or not holding annual general meetings or not having sufficient office bearers or not producing annual reports. Take note that your accounting officer needs to state in your annual financial statements that you have complied with the NPO Act and your own constitution during the period under review.

Panic has led some NPOs to the brink of a financial nightmare after making bad calls and not seeking alternative solutions. In one instance a well -known organisation went into overdraft to cover running costs which exceeded millions of Rands. They were recently cautioned by their bankers that the collateral to secure the overdraft had devalued below the amount owing! They have risked damaging their reputation and opportunities for new fundraising.

Donors never fund reckless debt or weak governance so make sure you have your reporting commitments in order and that your bank manager isn’t foreclosing on your assets.

Local is Lekker

The South African economy is improving and this means that it’s better to work on local resource acquisition rather than dream of American dollars and British pounds, these donations will not reach our shores for many years. Local business donors are also looking at ways and means to assist non-profits by offering technical and capacity building such as volunteer programmes, in-kind goods and services – so rather than seeking money see how you can reduce your budget by asking for non-financial resources.

Private Sector

Corporate Social Investment (CSI) will once again have to cautiously award grants as companies in sectors such as construction, mining and financial still haven’t yielded sufficient profits. However, one of the big international players in the construction sector, Murray and Roberts reported a 27 percent increase in their turnover in 2009 and distributed R22.2 million last year to maths, science, numeracy, literacy and environmental programmes. The 2010 turnover will not be as buoyant as the previous year and this could mean a drop in the 2011 allocation to CSI. This is why NPOs need to be vigilant and monitor business trends, get to grips in how CSI budgets are determined and if they are aligned to the norms of BEE Codes of Good Practice and Industry Charters.

The CSI Handbook for 2010 reported that R5.4 billion was spent on CSI initiatives, which means no growth, yet it was better than we predicted. Some NPOs were able to state a new source of funding or an increase from the corporate sector, yet others reported huge reductions in grants or withdrawal from projects. Those that were successful attributed this improvement to more concentrated efforts on brandraising (image building, public relations, marketing and fundraising) they also highlighted networking as important and being involved in burning issues. For instance the Endangered Wildlife Trust was quick to promote their Rhino Security Programme during the intensified media frenzy over the senseless and ongoing slaughter of rhinos. This situation made people angry and anger is one of the motivators for giving. With an increase in donations from business and individuals EWT is now able to be advocates and protectors of these majestic animals.

Individuals are the key to sustainability

Individual donors will continue to support their chosen causes but may reduce the amounts, however, we do believe that from 2012 donations from this market will be more generous. So keep working on those relationships and nurture donor loyalty.

Be wary of a new (to South Africa) concept in fundraising known as a Face2 Face also called Chugging (charity mugging). This is street or door to door fundraising and requires teams of sales people to recruit individuals to sign up monthly debit orders. Initially it seems like a great idea for acquiring new individual donors and so it can be if soliciting is done by your own members and not an external company. It’s certainly more sophisticated than Tin Shaking and has been successful for organisations like Greenpeace and Medecins Sans Frontieres in South Africa. If you decide to go this route be aware that there’s no current regulation for this practice and no guidelines to how the sales team gets paid. It is heavily regulated in the UK and Australia and just being tested in the USA - it can be the quickest way to lose friends and has even stirred-up heated debates on the BBC with regards to level of sincerity – it’s risky so be careful.

Government – friend or foe?

Jobs, jobs, jobs must be created for those living in poverty and the NPO sector could be the partner that government is seeking to help generate opportunities. We have the ability to churn out work, build social enterprises and organise communities. This sector employs an estimated one million ‘big hearted’ people, more than mining and probably on a par with tourism yet the politicians still haven’t mentioned us in dispatches. Is the New Growth Plan another fairytale from government, will Minister Ebrahim Patel turn from a frog into a handsome Prince? He is a lovely human being though!

One of the strengths of our community based organisations is their ability to do great work by reaching the poorest of the poor on small budgets. A good example is the thousands of Home-Based Care givers, many of whom work in some of the remotest parts of the country and walk kilometers across difficult terrain to nourish and attend to the needs of the sick. During the election period local councilors would be wise to talk partnerships and find ways of working together (now where have we heard that strap-line before?). Just a word of caution to CBOs; when entering a contract with government you must ensure that it is financially viable, do your own budget and don’t do more work than stipulated in the agreement. Three years ago a large health NGO was forced to train more people than the contract stipulated with only a promise of recompense and ended up R1 million down the tubes.

Project Literacy, a national literacy organisation, anticipated a further roll-out of a three-year ABET programme during 2010 but this was put on hold after the Education Department was split into two and the contract, originally signed by the Department of Labour, was relegated to the new Department of Higher Education. Twelve months later the contract isn’t signed, the Director General has resigned and everything remains in limbo. Sadly 45 well-trained people have been made redundant, branch offices closed and 8 000 adult learners will remain illiterate! Working with government can be a blessing but you have to be prepared for political upheavals.

Just before the end of 2010 the Ministry for Women, Children and People with Disabilities advertised a number of high level vacancies – does this mean that things are starting to move? Will we now be able to communicate and walk together with the DWCPD or will requests for meetings from relevant civil society organisations still go unheeded and be ignored by the new Minister like the first appointee? It’s doubtful that any funding will be forthcoming but visit their website and read the five-year plan to find out how civil society fits in with the new thinking.

Perhaps it is time civil society started a pressure group for the establishment of a Ministry for Non Profit Organisations, it could be a melting pot for dialogue and entering into partnerships with government departments to support service delivery. Could the DWCPD be the beginning of this body or could the Non Profit Organisations Directorate become a Ministry?

Lotto Lolly Logic

We now have a set precedent in applying to the National Lottery Development Trust Fund for conference money after R40 million was awarded from the miscellaneous fund to the newly established National Youth Development Agency for an International Youth Festival that is oddly referred to as a socialist camp for anti-imperialist youth. The usual funding criteria and application process didn’t apply whilst the mandatory two years of financial statements was waived by the distributing agency as they presumably took into account previous financial reports from the merged entities of the National Youth Commission and Umsobomvu Youth Fund. So how did this request get through the system and how does it fit into the purpose of the NLDTF (National Lottery Development Trust Fund) as stated in its Roadshow presentation “The NLB (National Lottery Board) is committed to HELP more non-profit organisations to access NLDTF grants, especially those working in poorer communities.” Trustees please explain your logic?

In a nutshell:

• Love your donors and keep them close
• Be wide awake and don’t fall for quick fixes
• Brandraise and Hellraise – be heard!
• Stay true to your purpose of being and remain focused on accountability
• Be vigilant and make it your business to know what’s going in government and in business

“You’ll have more fun and success when you stop trying to get what you want, and start helping other people get what they want.” Dale Carnegie

- By Ann Bown of Charisma Consulting, a Management and Advisory Service to the Non Profit Sector specialising in financial sustainability. www.charisma.za.org

As we come to the end of the year there are many ‘wrap-up’ issues that begin niggling at the edges of our organisational to-do lists. One of these should be the production of the Annual Report in early 2011.

For many nonprofit organisations the dual constraints of critically limited budgets and overloaded staff portfolios usually shifts the production of an annual report to a low position on the strategic priorities list. After all, the resources required to create an annual report could be used to many other more tangible needs. However, to not produce an annual report is to miss out on a major opportunity for telling the story of your organisation and its accomplishments to a range of audiences. Or to use marketing language – it is a missed opportunity to build and support your brand.

A well-designed Annual Report is so much more than a list of your accomplishments for the year. It is the means by which you can inspire new donors, motivate current ones, encourage beneficiaries, enthuse employees and pay tribute to partner organisations. Annual Reports are golden opportunities to describe what you are doing, how well you are doing it and the difference that your organisation makes in the world.

But in order to use your Annual Report to do all of the above there may have to be some re-thinking about what should be included in the report and what it should look like. For example:

• Is your Annual Report merely a published list of the things that have happened in your organisation over the past year that is used primarily as a ‘memory’ tool for your organisation in the years to come? Or is it a confident communication instrument that advertises who you are, underlines your value and demonstrates the close relationship between your accomplishments and your mission, your success and your vision?
• Do you tell your readers about how you raised money? Or do you tell your readers what you did with the money you raised? Nonprofits are expected to raise funds for their activities. Consequently this shouldn’t be a priority highlight. When reporting on fundraising the emphasis should be on how the money was used, not the detail of how it was raised. This does not mean that fundraising events, donors and sponsors should not be mentioned, but rather that it be done in ways that tie the donor(s) with the activities that their money has supported rather than seeing fundraising as a solitary and separate activity.
• Do you present general summaries of your work? Or do you tell real stories about real people?
• Do you have masses of tables and numerical comparisons? Or do you humanise your statistics with individual profiles and examples from ‘the field’?
• Do you compile your Annual Report by putting together short pieces about the past year written in a variety of forms and tones from each individual programme convenor, supervisor or departmental head? Or do you choose a thematic focus for the year and write a powerful, easily readable narrative that links and integrates your accomplishments, strategies and outcomes into a page-turner?
• Are your financial statements explained in a paragraph or two of plain language? Not everyone is able to read a set of complex financial statements. A simple short narrative that explains the source, expenditure, and investment of your funds and, if necessary, the reasons for a surplus or deficit will ensure that everyone who reads your report is able to get an accurate snapshot of your financial status.
• Does the content of your Annual Report tell people things about your organisation and its accomplishments that would not generally be known or is it an inventory of activities? As important as internal activities may be to you e.g. a successful two-day strategic planning session with all staff is of little interest to people outside your organisation. Your donors, your board, and other professional partners would expect you to engage in planning activities. It doesn’t have to be a paragraph in your annual report.
• Instead talk about your programmes and their benefit to individuals, groups, or other organisations. Tell the personal stories. Illustrate your value in the communities that you serve.
• Is your report professionally designed and printed? Do not make the mistake of thinking that a couple of photocopied pages stapled to your financial audit sends the message that you are a frugal organisation that doesn’t spend money frivolously. Your organisation is more likely to be seen as an attractive investment if you publish a modest, appealing and professional annual report. It is the difference between presenting your organisation as one that is in need as opposed to one that successfully provides solutions to need.
• It is said that a picture paints a thousand words. Are the photographs and illustrations in your Annual Report chosen carefully to support the overall message and theme of your communication? Are you using captions to their full advantage? Photograph captions should not only state who or what is in the photograph but can be used to link images to accomplishments and future plans. Remember the photographs and their captions are frequently the only parts of the report that people will read. Make sure they count.
• Do you make it easy for your donor or reader to help you? If you have used your Annual Report as a successful tool to inspire support, tell people how they can help. Give them information on how to contact you, your website address, a telephone number, an easy option to sign up to a mailing list, access to a discussion group, etc. Your Annual Report is certainly not an appeal – but it should have clear directions as to where interested people can go to find out more, get involved or even just talk to someone.
• Does the letter from your executive director or chairperson of the board invite the reader to be part of your organisation? Do they talk about the personal experiences and/or reasons why they are part of your organisation? People are encouraged to support, join or volunteer for an organisation because other people’s experiences resonate with something inside them. Use your director or chairperson’s letter as an opportunity for readers to put the human touch to the work that you do.
• Are you creative about how you publish your Annual Report? Do you have print copies? Is it available online? Do you include everyone with whom your organisation has contact in the distribution list? Is it available in a variety of forms e.g. the online versions could package the report in sections designated by programme so that someone could look at something that might be of particular interest to him or her without having to download the entire report. Are some of your pictures or illustrations available as screensavers?

Even though nonprofit organisations are not required to produce an annual report there is enormous value in producing one. A professionally presented, well-designed Annual Report can be a relatively inexpensive but nonetheless far-reaching showcase for your organisation and the people who benefit from your activities.

- Gillian Mitchell is an associate at Inyathelo – The South African Institute for Advancement. This article is republished here with the permission of Inyathelo, a NGO assisting institutions and organisations to develop a professional approach to raising the donor investment required to advance their objectives, refer to: www.inyathelo.co.za.