Civic Europe gives the winning ideas a funding opportunity and comprehensive non-monetary support from the end of 2021 until the end of 2022: The Civic Europe Idea Challenge supports up to 20 ideas with grants of up to €35,000 each. Moreover, and more importantly, following the idea of systems thinking, the CE Idea Challenge doesn’t… [Read More]
How NGOs can avoid falling for phishing emails?
Phishing emails are one of the most common ways to dupe NGOs with false promises of grant money offered by unknown individuals. Here are some tips on how NGOs can avoid falling into phishing email traps. Do not expose your email: Online scammers hunt for your emails everywhere. Unfortunately, these scammers even pay some individuals… [Read More]
What are the challenges and problems in writing proposals for raising funds for my NGO?
Problems in Writing Proposals The following are the common problems we face while trying to write a proposal: Confused about the format? There are as many proposal formats as there are a number of donors and each donor as a different format. Although the basic information requested by various donors is generally the same, yet… [Read More]
How can NGOs apply and get grants from Bilateral Donor Agencies?
Bilateral donor funding refers to the donor country’s Government aid to recipient country in a Government-to-Government or a Government-to-NGO/Civil Society partnership. It is part of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) policies of the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) which are working towards economic progress and trade. They play a… [Read More]
How can I write a fundraising strategy for my NGO?
A fundraising strategy helps you to identify financial needs of your organization and accordingly outline the activities required to meet those needs. It typically helps you to plan the fundraising process for a period of 3-5 years by setting necessary deadlines and responsibilities. The primary purpose of a fundraising strategy is to prioritize activities to… [Read More]
How can NGOs ensure that they achieve programmatic sustainability?
Below are some steps for achieving programmatic sustainability Community involvement: involving the community is the key to have long term impacts from any projects. Make sure that your project involves the community at various stages, this will give them ownership of the project and there are high chances that they may continue with some project… [Read More]
What are some ideas for developing organizational sustainability for my NGO?
The one ingredient that is essential for your organization to create long lasting impact is Sustainability. The term sustainability has gained significant popularity in policy-oriented research, business development and social sector over the last few decades. Sustainability, a word frequently used across several disciplines, has become part of our everyday lexis. Origin of the word… [Read More]
What are the three phases to organising a Donor Visit?
The steps to organising a donor visit can be divided into three phases. The overall duration of the three phases can be depending upon how intensive the visit is. Normally, this overall duration could be of about a month and a half. Phase 1- Pre-visit This is about a month duration or so, depending upon… [Read More]
What is a Non-Governmental Organization?
Historical records suggest that the term Non- Governmental Organizations (NGOs) came in to use in 1945. The term was coined during one of the conferences of The United Nations, as a measure to distinguish organizations from inter-governmental and member organizations. Though the term NGO received recognition only after 1945, studies suggest that several organizations were… [Read More]
What should one keep in mind while managing NGO finances?
Below are some of the standard systems followed and mentioned in the financial policy manual: Bank Receipts a) All receipts are to be acknowledged by issuing an official receipt. The date of receipt, its accounting and the date of deposit of the check/draft to the bank account should be the same. The relaxation can be… [Read More]
How to Create a Communications Plan for Your NGO?
What Is a Communications Plan? A communications plan is a document that guides the external communications efforts of an organization. It helps an NGO strategically focus its communication and outreach efforts around a certain set of goals – usually the mission and objectives of an organization. A communications plan is necessary to help an NGO… [Read More]
How to develop Bye-laws for my NGO?
By-law is a rule established by an organization to regulate its activities and manage internal affairs. Well defined and clear set of by-laws provide a clear structure to the NGOs and facilitates in smooth functioning. Along with providing consistency in working, by-laws also help in developing networks with local organizations and government entities. It is… [Read More]
What are the tips to boost funding efforts?
Most often fundraising efforts of organizations go futile because of improper planning and lack of effective fundraising strategies. No matter how effectual an organization is in implementing field projects, they generally have to struggle when it comes to raising funds. Section 1: Tips for enhancing conventional methods of fundraising Plan well in advance: Planning is… [Read More]
What is an NGO?
The term “Non-Governmental Organization” (NGO) first came in to use in the year 1945. The term was coined during one of the conferences of The United Nations, as a measure to distinguish organizations from inter-governmental and member organizations. Though the term NGO received recognition only after 1945, studies suggest that several organizations were actively engaged… [Read More]
I want to scale up fundraising, may I know of any crowdfunding campaign that will help me to achieve the same?
Yes, there is a virtual training program and crowdfunding campaign named ‘The GlobalGiving Accelerator’ that will help to take fundraising to the next level. Following an optional one-week training curriculum, applicants’ will be entered into an Accelerator campaign where they’ll raise at least $5,000 total from a minimum of 40 different donors in order to… [Read More]
What exactly does the Young Edmonton Grants Program support?
The Young Edmonton Grants Program provides local youth with funding to turn their ideas into reality. ECF supports a wide range of sectors, community needs, organizational needs, and types of projects and programs. Each application will be evaluated holistically on its own merits, considering whether the applicant has demonstrated: Likelihood of a benefit to the… [Read More]
What do funders look for in a grantee?
All grant making organisations have their own ways of working, but almost all of them approach the grant making decision process in a relatively similar way. All funding organisations want to know certain pieces of information such as how your organisations values align with theirs, your track record and the impact that your proposed project… [Read More]
What are the ways to achieve Institutional and Organizational Sustainability?
Explore new opportunities: Keep a flexible approach while looking for new opportunities you may have to modify your priorities to adopt to changes. Develop new partnerships: To develop a sustainable organization you should develop new partnerships. These partnerships will make you stable and will also help you in taking your mission ahead. Boost existing relations:… [Read More]
What are the main features of an NGO?
NGOs are diverse entities and their features are mostly shaped by the socio-economic, cultural, political and legal situation of a country. However, generally speaking, we can list out the following features that are common among NGOs in most of the countries around the world. Non-Profit in functioning: An NGO is not meant for making profit… [Read More]
What to do if your grant proposal is rejected?
Grant proposal writing is the “Go big or go home” of the fundraising world. When successful it can regenerate entire organisations and communities. When it goes wrong you have potential lost hundreds of hours of work and investment with very little to show for it. Our experience actually shows that in some cases receiving a… [Read More]
How can I form an NGO Board?
Board members play a crucial role in the functioning of an NGO, and therefore, one should be careful while appointing them. It is a good practice to develop a systematic process for their appointment and selection. The board recruitment plan should clearly indicate the following: Number of board members Criteria for selection of Board members… [Read More]
How can I use Project Activities to prepare my project’s budget?
As project activities influence the budgeting of your project, it is important to gain greater clarity about them. If you know the specifications of your project activities, then budgets can be developed more easily and more frequently. We will understand this from the following example. Let us say that you, as an NGO in Nepal,… [Read More]
How do I Write a Master Proposal?
You can draft the proposal using this template and then customize it to suit donor guidelines. For helping you develop your proposal, suitable examples have been used to describe the content of each section. Title Page: The title page typically contains the project title, along with contact details of the organization and the donor. Remember… [Read More]
How can I start developing a project budget?
A project proposal has several components such as project goals, objectives, results, strategies and activities. With so many sections, how and from where you can start the process of developing a project budget. An ideal way of starting to develop a project budget is to look at your project activities. Although the project development process… [Read More]
How to build long-term relationship with donors?
This article we will help you learn the basics of Donor Relation Management. What is Donor Relationship Management? Donor relationship management (DRM) is the process in which an organization strengthens the relationship with donors to enhance donor engagement and donor retention. DRM is a comprehensive approach that considers a lot of factors, taking note of… [Read More]
How can NGOs participate in Crowdfunding?
Here is a short and simple guide about the process and steps to plan one: Planning the campaign: Every successful activity has undergone meticulous planning first. So plan your campaign well in advance to make it successful. Plan the campaign timing, duration, and other details. Plan for human resource, which would mean both picking a team… [Read More]
How NGOs can form a strategic plan?
Here is how to form a strategic plan for your NGO: Decide who will facilitate the discussions and who will participate. Ensure all key stakeholders participate in the process, as that is the best way possible to devise a strategic plan. The analysis must begin with an attempt towards understanding the internal environment, which means… [Read More]
What is a Concept Note and why NGOs are required to develop it?
A concept note is the shortest expression of your project idea on a paper. It is a brief written note, giving an introduction to your project and your organization. If your NGO is seeking to raise funds for a project, then the first thing you would do is develop a short note of this project,… [Read More]
How will you ensure financial sustainability?
Develop a financial plan outlining the various options available for expanding your resource stream. You may have to undertake proper research to understand about the various options that can be used to maintain a steady flow of funds. Also this will help you to understand your potential donors and their priority areas. Some of the… [Read More]
How to manage an NGO in the time of COVID-19
In these unprecedented times when COVID-19 continues to spread and to impact almost every individual and organization across the world directly or indirectly, non-profit organizations or non-government organizations (NGOs) are also deeply affected now and in the times to come. As it is not yet clear what the current pandemic situation holds in future, it… [Read More]
What goes into the content of a Concept Note?
If you are submitting a concept note to an organization as per the call for proposals or if it is a solicited concept note, they will have their templates to be used. If not, you can use the outline and sample template given in this book. But in either case, the outline and template given… [Read More]
How to easily Write the Various Elements of Your Project Proposal?
Proposals are lengthy documents with various components, comprising of the background information, current situation analysis and the future projections. NGOs are expected to write every part of the proposal carefully with in-depth research, knowledge and detailed planning. In this free guide, we cover information about the various elements of a standard proposal to help NGOs… [Read More]
What are the some of the common signs of a scam to trap NGOs?
Online fake offers of grants and similar scams are widespread across the NGO sector around the world. With so much information reaching them from all sides, it is often difficult for NGOs to identify the genuine grant offers from the fake ones.Below, we are providing important tips that NGOs can use to identify whether a… [Read More]
What can NGOs do if they come across a scam?
Below are the steps you need to take if you think you have come across a scam. Never Ever respond back to a Scam email As fraudsters send millions of email messages, they want to make sure if the email addresses they are sending to are real and active. If you respond back even with… [Read More]
How does USAID support NGOs?
USAID has field offices in many developing countries for providing technical and financial aid for above stated purposes. So, it follows a decentralized approach for tackling the development issues globally. Partnering with NGOs: USAID partners with NGOs to achieve its strategic goals and objectives for providing assistance across the world. It partners with international and… [Read More]
How Social Media is helpful to Enhance NGO Visibility?
Over the last few years, social media has emerged as an important medium of communication globally for reaching out to a vast audience. Currently there is a plethora of social media sites and applications that are being used by diverse organisations. The main purpose of using social media is to connect to a large audience… [Read More]
How to create successful partnerships with NGOs
So here are a few tips for creating successful partnerships with NGOs: Find the ‘cause’ your company is going to support and then choose: In your boardroom discussions, your company’s strategies are decided, and CSR strategies are no different. Once you are clear about what cause aligns with your business values, do your research and… [Read More]
How to Identify, Manage and Motivate Fundraisers for Your Organization?
Fundraising is one of the most important tasks for an NGO. Donors’ funding will ensure that your planned activities take place and that your organisation can pursue its main long-term goals. As such, to select the right candidates for a fundraising team is of utter importance. The main aim of this short guide is to… [Read More]
What areas of work will attract Large Funding for NGOs?
Here is what the sector experts and trends as observed over the last few years reflect. Sectors attracting more funding: With global changes taking place around the social, political and environmental issues, and giving preferences of individuals and donor agencies, the sectors that attracted more funding over the years are bound to shift. The last… [Read More]
What are some online and offline fundraising tips for NGOs?
Here is a video that offers some tips that have worked for some organizations and will surely help you to maximize your funding efforts. To help you in various methods of fundraising we have divided the guide into two sections; the first section deals with tips to help with conventional fundraising methods while section two… [Read More]
What is Donor Relation Management?
Donor relationship management (DRM) is the process in which an organization strengthens the relationship with donors to enhance donor engagement and donor retention. Most often NGOs hire fundraising officers or consultants to take care of resource mobilization, but neglect the area of donor retention or relation building. You don’t have to hire any expert to… [Read More]
What is Succession Planning?
Non-profits have so much to worry about these days, like finding funds, acquiring and retaining donors, core work, projects and activities. Being occupied with so many things at once does not let the non-profit organizations ‘think’ like an organization sometimes. People working at non-profits end up feeling that they have much more to look for… [Read More]
Why are the concepts of transparency and accountability important for NGOs?
Transparency and accountability are core values deeply embedded in an NGO. Since NGOs exist for carrying out voluntary work, it is expected that their actions demonstrate honesty, responsibility and answerability. According to Transparency International, “Transparency is about shedding light on rules, plans, processes and actions. It is knowing why, how, what, and how much. Transparency… [Read More]
Can you give me a list of management policies used by NGOs?
Here is a checklist of policies and other management systems necessary for NGOs to run effective organizations and mobilize resources for development work. Organizational Chart for your NGO Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Statement in NGOs Leadership Succession Plan for your NGO Human Resource Management System for NGOs Job Descriptions for NGO Staff Personnel… [Read More]
How to Get Core Funding?
What is core funding? Core funding is usually defined as financial support that covers basic “core” organizational and administrative costs of an NGO, including salaries of non-project staff, rent, equipment, utilities, and communications. Why is core funding important? Core funding is important for the long term financial sustainability of an NGO and its effective functioning…. [Read More]
How to research ideas before writing the Concept Note?
Before developing your program idea into a concept note, it is worthwhile to invest time and energy into conducting proper research. Research plays a vital role in enriching your concept note and brings depth to your writing too. Typically, you might need to put in some research on the following aspects: Context setting and needs… [Read More]
How Marketing and Communication Strategies can help NGOs achieve Fundraising Success?
Marketing mix is used as a tool by the managers to design marketing plans and to achieve desired results. It comprises of 4 Ps: Product, Place, Price, and Promotion. Drawing a parallel with NGOs: The Product for an NGO is the cause or idea it supports or a core programme or project. Price is the… [Read More]
How to establish Effective Governance in Your NGO?
The principles of good governance hold true in the dynamic environment the NGOs face today as the issues of accountability, transparency, responsibility, disclosure practices and organizational relationships among the board and stakeholders have come to the forefront in the case of NGOs. It is thus advisable for NGOs to follow good governance practices, to strengthen… [Read More]
What steps do NGOs need to follow to remain sustainable?
Sustainability, a word frequently used across several disciplines, has become part of our everyday lexis. Origin of the word Sustain dates back several centuries, from two latin words sus which means- up and tenere meaning to hold. The current use of the word implies something that continues for a long time. Steps to sustainability Before… [Read More]
What type of Project Titles Could impress a Donor?
Significance of a great project title: It gives a glimpse of the project described in the proposal It informs the donor about the project aim, location, focus and beneficiary (or need) A great title captures the donors’ attention with its uniqueness It makes your proposal memorable and keeps it on the top of donors’/ selectors’… [Read More]