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 effectively promote its work in the public and donors eyes. Communications plans help NGOs accomplish this in a number of ways. First, a plan assists … [Read more...]
Featured Articles: Fundraising, Proposal Writing & NGO Management
Featured Articles to help you learn about Fundraising, NGO Management and Proposal Writing.
Sample Project Background for India
Writing a project background is a crucial part of the Proposal. A donor should know beforehand of the general situation of the area before going through all the projects plans and strategies. It helps the donors to picture well of project area and about the importance of the project. In order to make your proposal stronger and realistic, the reliable data and information helps donor to be clear with the reasoning of your project idea. You also show that all the assumptions you make about your … [Read more...]
How (Not) to Impress a Donor?
When you contact or meet a donor for the first time, what are easiest ways to ruin your shot at getting funded? First impressions count, and avoiding these mistakes will help you put your best foot forward. Mistake #1: Not introducing yourself Do not send an email to a donor without any introduction. Donors see many emails that only contain a funding request similar to this one: “Can you fund our work with children in Uganda?” Without so much as an introduction or explanation. Explaining … [Read more...]
Why Do Donors Hate Me?
Many small, grassroots, and start-up NGOs eagerly look for their first grant to grow their program. But after sending out dozens of request for funding by post and email to scores of donors they either never hear back or are rejected. Why is this? Does the donor not like small NGOs? Are they only interested in funding large well-established NGOs? Our research indicates that this is not necessarily the case. When we reviewed US foundation grants going to Tanzania from 2003 to 2015, Nearly … [Read more...]
12 Tips to Build Great NGO Partnerships for Donor Funding Applications
By Erik Detiger Introduction There are many good reasons for NGOs to work together to reach a common goal. When each partner brings its own expertise and resources to a program the impact can be multiplied. The sum total of the partnership is worth more than what each NGO can achieve on its own. Donors know this and often promote or require NGO partnerships for this very reason. Joint donor applications by a group of NGOs, also called a consortium, are becoming more common. In a consortium, … [Read more...]
Infographic: 7 Steps for NGOs to Build a Network
Here are 7 steps for NGOs for building a network: 7 Steps for NGOs to Build a Network from FUNDSFORNGOS.ORG … [Read more...]
5 Steps to Fundraising Success for Small and Grassroots NGOs
By Erik Detiger All NGOs need to fundraise. But for new, small, and grassroots NGOs who do not yet have fundraising systems in place fundraising can be particularly challenging. Here are our steps to get on the path to fundraising success. Step 1: Know your organization’s needs Before you even begin to research donors and apply for funding, start by examining your own wants and needs. You can’t ask for help before you know what you need help within reviewing your own organization, make sure … [Read more...]
How NGOs can Work Remotely More Effectively
An Interview with Peter Ivanov Over the last 20 years, Peter Ivanov - Keynote Speaker and Executive coach, Athletic Champion and father of five girls - is leading international virtual NGO teams across Europe, Asia and Africa to show them how to deliver projects quicker, reduce cost and develop their NGOs for the future. Today, Peter is sharing his advice on effective leadership and collaboration within virtual NGO teams. How can NGO companies achieve extraordinary results … [Read more...]
10 Things to Remember About Donors
Asking a donor for funding can be both difficult and stressful. Merely getting a response from donors can be difficult and it is easy to get discouraged. Approaching a new donor can feel very impersonal; it is hard to picture the person on the other end who will receive your message. Even after you make a contact, maintaining that contact takes a lot of work. To successfully build and maintain relationships with donors, it is very important to get into their shoes and understand their … [Read more...]
US Foreign Aid Budget Cuts – What Next?
In early March 2017, the new Trump administration published a budget proposal which, among other things, called for a 28% cut to United States spending abroad including the State Department and USAID for fiscal year 2018. This is a troubling prospect for many international organizations relying on the US government for funding. So what does this mean and what can we expect going forward? Here we have answered some of the questions currently on the mind of every NGO. What is the current US … [Read more...]
Rethinking Video Content For Your NGO
I’d just like you to take a moment think back to a time your perception of the world was changed, a moment where all that you believed in was challenged and you felt motivated to change the world. When you think back to these moments, there’s most likely a familiar thread - you either watched something incredibly thought-provoking or maybe you were in the field and witnessed something with your own eyes.I’d just like you to take a moment think back to a time your perception of the world was … [Read more...]
Thomson Reuters Foundation’s TrustLaw: Free Legal Services for NGOs
TrustLaw is the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s global pro bono legal programme. It connects the best law firms and corporate legal teams around the world with high-impact NGOs and social enterprises working to create social and environmental change. It produces groundbreaking legal research, and offer innovative training courses worldwide. Through TrustLaw, over 100,000 lawyers offer their time and knowledge to help organisations achieve their social mission for free. This means NGOs and social … [Read more...]
How to organize special events to raise funds for your NGO
Fundraising strategies that were effective a decade back cannot be put to use today, and therefore NGOs should update themselves to cope with changing fundraising techniques and methods. As an NGO practitioner you might be well accustomed to raising funds through proposal writing, door to door collections, corporate partnerships, direct calls etc., but these days there is a growing trend to organize special events for fundraising. This guide will help you in organizing special events to raise … [Read more...]
View Top 12 Tips for Building Sustainability Here!
The top 12 tips that will help NGOs in building sustainability are mentioned below: 1.Review your current practices Before discussing sustainability with an existing or potential recipient of funding, review your current practices and make improvements. Does your (online) application form include anything on sustainability? Are you clearly communicating what it is you expect in this area? Did you ever ask for feedback from earlier recipients and make improvements based on this feedback? A … [Read more...]
How Donors Can Build Sustainable NGOs – 12 Tips
Introduction There is an oft-used saying that applies especially to the field of international development field: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime". Perhaps the only piece missing is that the man might also need a quality fishing rod! As a long-time program manager and fundraiser I have seen many donors interested in ‘teaching to fish’ but not as many willing to supply the tools, or the ‘quality fishing rod’. In this guide we … [Read more...]
How to Write a Master Proposal Template
Introduction Writing proposals for funding is one of the most crucial aspects for any NGO. Proposals are important for any organization, as they decide the success or failure of an organization. No matter how big or small your organization is you cannot get away from writing a project proposal. As an NGO staff you might be aware that the primary purpose of a project proposal is to convince the donor agency to fund your project. It is thus important for you to write a proposal that is … [Read more...]
Leadership qualities essential for modern NGO professionals
NGO and development sector professionals work in difficult and challenging circumstances. With limited resources and constantly changing, complex and dynamic situations, an NGO professional has to be on toes all the time to adapt to the environment. Working in this sector demands dynamic personalities, leadership qualities and management aptitude and skills. Do you have it in you to be a coolheaded, agile, highly professional and motivating leader? A leader can be a leader in his/ her own … [Read more...]
How can your Volunteers help you in raising funds?
As a non-profit organization, you might have come across many passionate individuals, ardent supporters and advocates for your cause, who have supported or continue to support your organization. These people devote their time, knowledge and passion for your cause as ‘volunteers’. Volunteers have been instrumental in achieving many organizational goals, by helping an organization do good for the underprivileged communities. You might have involved volunteers for various purposes, like … [Read more...]
How to develop a Budget for your Project Proposal?
Developing budgets for your project or for even your organization is one of the most time-consuming tasks. Often we think that a budget is a simple format attached to a project proposal and you need to fill it according to the activities and strategies proposed in the project. However, when you start opening up a proposal backwards, you will realize that the budget is a critical component of the project. We have decided to develop a project proposal because we have understood and realized that … [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 major role in providing development funding to Governments and Civil Society mostly in developing … [Read more...]
