18TH EASTERN AFRICA RESOURCE MOBILIZATION WORKSHOP - 1
The Fundraising Makeover: “4 days to Financial Heaven”
4 Mini-courses – 10 Fundraising Workshops!
The Fundraising Makeover is a great course for those who want to move their organization to a higher level of resource mobilization. If your fundraising strategies do not seem to be bringing home the bacon, and stress seems to be synonymous with your job, this may be the course for you. Delivered by experienced resource mobilisers, the course will be a great opportunity to “Rethink”, “Restructure” and Re-energize” your resource mobilization activities. The course will be delivered through 10 workshops spread over 4 days. It will be a great participatory course, backed by case studies and analysis tools such as Social, Technological, Economic, Social (STEP) Analysis, Boston Consulting Group Matrix and Porters Five Forces Model. The learning will be further reinforced by case studies.
To facilitate sharing with friends and working colleagues, you get all the workshop sessions on a CD. The workshop will run from Tuesday 6th to 9th December, 2011
The Course will consist of 4 mini-courses and 10 fundraising workshops It has been spread over 4 days to ensure that you enjoy every session.
Mini-Course 1: First Amongst Equals. Becoming the Best.
This mini-course will take place on day one and will be the curtain raiser for the entire forum. It will consist of 2 workshops.
Workshop 1: Working Miracles: Developing The Midas Touch
Resource mobilisation, like many other professions, has its miracle workers. These are people who can mobilise resources from the most unlikely of sources. Everything they touch literally turns to gold! These fundraisers, though talented, are flesh and blood beings like you and I. They have however perfected the art of mobilising resources in ways that leave many of us gaping with open mouths! The session seeks to set you on your own path of fundraising success. It will highlight the skills, tactics and tricks that they use to make fundraising magic. The workshop will show you how to develop the skills, competencies and abilities that are based on your own strengths and talents. It will help you begin to discover your own “Midas Touch” so that everything you touch, turns to gold.
Workshop 2: Friend Raising: Building Your Fundraising Network
Many fundraisers find themselves working alone in organizations that cannot afford to get them help. The funding needs keep on increasing and the pressure can be unbearable when nothing seems to work. Every fundraiser needs to have a fundraising acquaintance that they can consult with – bounce ideas, concepts, get information, seek advice and gain encouragement when the “seam of gold” seems to have run out
A fundraising network is a key asset for any fundraising guru. The friend raising session will widen and strengthen your network over a cup of coffee, tea or a glass of juice, courteousy of the workshop. By the end of it, you would have added professional fundraisers from other organizations and several countries to your fundraising team. Like the roots of a tree, you will never have to feel lonely again!
Mini-Course 2: The Road Less Traveled: Rethinking Fundraising
Workshop 1: Learning to Conquer: Reviewing Your Resource Mobilisation Strategy/Approach
The success or failure of an organisation in mobilising the resources that it requires hinges on its resource mobilisation strategy or approach. It does not matter whether this strategy or approach is documented or not -- every organisation has a strategy even if it erratic or unplanned. Learning from your activities, whether they have been successful or not, is key to “continuous improvement”.
The workshop will guide you in reviewing the strategies and tactics that you use in mobilising funds and assess their effectiveness. You will be able to think about the merits and demerits of each. It will also enable you review your resource mobilisation situation in order to establish whether it is desirable, acceptable or in crisis. The skills that you learn from the process will be key in enabling you lay a foundation for successful resource mobilisation.
Workshop 2: The Eye of an Eagle: Identifying Fundraising Trends, Opportunities and Challenges
Understanding your operating environment is key to the development of an effective strategy. The ability to correctly identify and assess trends, opportunities and challenges underpins the development and implementation of any successful resource mobilisation. Just like an eagle that soars the skies and assesses the terrain for emerging opportunities, the fundraising Guru is always scanning the environment for emerging opportunities and threats. The workshop will equip you with some of the techniques you can use to do this. It will capitalise on tools such as STEP, six forces amongst others to strengthen your ability to monitor your operating environment.
Workshop 3: Eagles and Vultures: Identifying Donors, Partners, Allies and the Competition
Resource mobilization entails the careful identification of ideal donors who are likely to be sympathetic to your cause and who may want to partner with you. It will at times require joint proposals and programs with “partners” who share your values and mission and can bring on board the credibility and experience required to win competitively advertised resources. Allies are critical in supporting your resource mobilization efforts as well as project implementation. Having an armada of allies is a key asset in any fundraising drive. The competition will always exist, whether visible or not. Being able to outmanoeuvre the competition for scarce resources will ensure that you become the first amongst equals. This workshop will enable you make sense of the variety of organizations that you meet in the fundraising market place and strategically determine your allies and foes. It will enable you develop strategies for leveraging these organizations and their strengths against your own in strengthening your fundraising capacity and success.
Workshop 4: Strategic Positioning: Determining Your Market Niche
Strategic positioning is key to successful resource mobilisation. Where in the market do you operate? Are you amongst the larger organisations that have budgets running into millions of dollars or the lower tier ones that expend a few thousand dollars? Do you operate on the partnership level or beneficiary one? Are you a localised, regional or aninternational player? Are you a CBO, NGO or INGO? Are you a provider, that is an organisation that provides products and services to beneficiaries, or a facilitator that works with other organisations to support its mission. Are you a donor or implementer? What kind of donors find you attractive? Are you aligned to European, American or Middle East based donors? Alternatively, do you fancy foundations, trusts, bilateral donors or multilateral donors? These are some of the questions that you need to consider when positioning yourself in the resource mobilisation market. Identifying your market niche and positioning yourself strategically will influence the degree of success in attracting donor funds.
Mini-Course 3: Becoming Strategic: Developing the Competitive Edge
Workshop 1: Pacesetter: Developing Innovative Products & Services
Whether you appreciate it or not, you are in the product and or service market. Every time you send out a proposal, you are seeking social investors for your products or services. Donors fund you because of your perceived ability to deliver or provide something that they want. Have you thought about the kind of products and/or services that you offer the market? Are they conventional everyday products and services or are they unique and innovative? Are they high value products and services or low value ones? The ability to innovate and develop innovative products and services will serve you in good stead with donors looking for something new. Products/services that can be replicated and delivered sustainably at low cost have greater chances of attracting support. This workshop will help you develop the kind of products and services that support your fundraising proposals and programs, thus attracting the donor partners and resources that you need.
Workshop 2: Milking The Cow: Establishing, Managing and Maximising on Donor Partnerships
What kind of donor portfolio do you maintain? Do you have many donors who provide small amounts or a few donors who provide large amounts of money? In short, is your donor portfolio full of Zebu or Holstein Frisian cows? Are you getting a cup of milk from your donor cow where you should be getting pails? Donors cost money to maintain through overheads – be they through staff time, reporting, communication amongst other costs. Some donors cost you more than meets the eye, and are in reality subsidized by other donors. There are donors whose package, be it cost sharing, limited funding or reporting conditions leave you worse off than you were. Other donors will be easy to work with, be flexible in funding and easy to report to. It is important to choose your donors wisely – something this workshop will help you do. It is also critical that the organization maximize the potential funding that it can attract from its donor partners. It is often easier to raise more from existing donors than recruit new ones. This workshop will enable you assess your donors and decide which ones can offer you more in terms of resources and support and those who have hit the ceiling. It will help you appreciate quality instead of quantity and enable you increase your returns of investment per donor.
Workshop 3: Leading the Pack: Learning from Initiatives, Developing Best Practice and Supporting Replication.
Many donors seek to support innovative programs that offer new solutions to development challenges and have the potential for up scaling and replication. They are on the look out for best practice – programs that offer new learning for the wider development practice. Unfortunately, many development organisations fail to capture the learning and success of their initiatives in ways that interest donors, development practitioners and the academic fraternity. It is often exploited by consultants and academics who take advantage to run off with the glory. Interesting initiatives that demonstrate the potential for best practice, replicability and sustainability are a great asset for any organisation seeking development resources. This workshop will equip you with the skills and know-how to develop and document best practice that aids your fundraising prospects.
Workshop 4: Becoming the Mountain: Establishing Your Brand Name
In the natural order of things, the mountains rule over the plains! In fundraising, those who are more visible and have high value brands dominate those who are hardly seen or unknown. As was noted in animal farm, all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. If your organisation is unknown and of little repute, its time to go back to the drawing board. A brand name that shows you to be credible, accountable and effective works wonders in attracting the funds that you seek. As the good book says, to those who have, more will be given, to those without, even the little they have will be taken away! This workshop is about enabling you become a mountain, in your chosen sector or scheme of work. It will give you tips on how to develop a formidable brand name that will attract money just like the mountain attracts the rain. If you want to stand up and get noticed, this workshop is for you.
Mini-Course 4: Money Matters
The Money Matters Mini-Course focuses on new opportunities for raising and managing money. It will have two workshops:
Workshop 1: Social Investment: Raising Money From the Market
When a community need is identified, the first option often considered is a financial grant. Yet many activities supported by development organisations can repay their initial investment if well planned. This workshop is about fundraising options available to development organisations, that go beyond grants. They look at fees, loans, shares, bonds amongst other forms of investment that allow you to meet needs, such as capital costs, that donors may be unwilling to cover.
Workshop 2: The New Order: The Emergence of the Social Enterprise
Many development organisations turn green with envy when they see the profit oriented enterprise next door, feted for its great achievements. Some of them have been able to make good returns by offering their products and services to the very people that non profits work with. For example, why do for profit oriented banks such as Kenya’s “Equity Bank” seem to achieve more than their non profit equivalents, who work with the same target groups? Why do organisations financed by investment capital as well as their own profits seem to outperform those that have been bankrolled by donors for ages? Are their lessons that “non profits” can learn from the “for profit sector?” A few non profits have also managed to make themselves self sustaining using an interesting variety of strategies. Are there lessons we can learn from them? The social enterprise is an increasingly popular phenomena that has emerged to challenge other development oriented organisations in certain sectors. This session explores social enterprises and the opportunities they provide.
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