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...] about 10 Things to Remember About Donors
How to develop the “Leadership Succession Plan” for an NGO?
A “Leadership Succession Plan” may sound irrelevant for many NGOs in developing countries because these organizations do not visualize their future beyond projects. But now as time moves ahead and first generation leaders have to hand over responsibilities to the second generation for continuing the services of the organization, it is important to have a “Leadership Succession Plan.” … [Read more...] about How to develop the “Leadership Succession Plan” for an NGO?
How to create the Perfect Market Survey for a Social Enterprise?
For any enterprise established at the local level or at the national level, it is essential to understand the market and the customers. To discover potential customers and understand the needs of existing customers set achievable targets for business growth and latest product developments, a market survey is a tool to make well-informed market decisions about one’s services and develop effective strategies. It not only helps one to determine the size of business but also a simple component … [Read more...] about How to create the Perfect Market Survey for a Social Enterprise?
What are Unsolicited Proposals?
As the name indicates, Unsolicited Proposals imply to those proposals that are submitted to a donor without them asking for it. In other words, an unsolicited proposal is initiated by the applicant and is submitted to the donor. Just like a solicited proposal, an unsolicited proposal is also a written document and contains all the essential components of a proposal. You will have to devote the same effort and time that you would have devoted for writing a solicited proposal, the only … [Read more...] about What are Unsolicited Proposals?
How to Plan, Prepare and Respond to a USAID Call for Proposals?
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is one of the largest state-sponsored aid agency in the world. It is funded by the United States Government and it has an independent administrative body and uses its financial and human resources to assist developing nations to grow economically and technically. USAID actively involves NGOs in program development and implementation processes. It keeps seeking applications from them under a wide range of solicitations. This … [Read more...] about How to Plan, Prepare and Respond to a USAID Call for Proposals?
How will Donor Funding Strategies change in 2021?
The New Year started with the introduction of the Covid-19 vaccine in many countries and cautiously we are moving back to normal life. However, the rapid changes of 2020 have modified our way of working and we know the world is not the same anymore. NGOs and donor agencies also went through the shock and are now introspecting new ways to work for the communities. In fact, their responsibilities have now increased more than ever as they need to address the unexpected challenges arising out of … [Read more...] about How will Donor Funding Strategies change in 2021?
How NGOs can write a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for their projects?
A Standing Operating Procedure (SOP) can be defined as a document providing an approach describing all the required activities that are essential to complete a task in accordance with the regulatory aspects, in a standard way or according to the operations of the organization that all the employees shall comply and work. SOPs are effective and powerful mechanisms that are created to control workflow procedures effectively. They go on to specify the key details to create a difference in the … [Read more...] about How NGOs can write a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for their projects?
What is the best way to raise unrestricted income for staff and overheads?
The issue of raising money to support operating costs and staffing has always been challenging for NGOs. If you are applying for funding to a grant-maker, it is important to not under-estimate the hidden costs which should also be included in the budget. For example, rent, rates, IT, utilities, support staff etc. For staff whose salary is to be supported by the grant, then it would be expected that you consider a level of effort for certain roles and budget for these. This video will … [Read more...] about What is the best way to raise unrestricted income for staff and overheads?
What is the most important thing to remember when raising funds from individual donors?
Building trust is very important. If your donors don't trust that their donation is being spent wisely and for the projects they support they are likely to not only stop funding you but also tell others not to fund you. The way you can build trust is to keep in touch with donors regularly and keep them informed of progress and how their money is being spent. … [Read more...] about What is the most important thing to remember when raising funds from individual donors?
What is Donor Management System?
Donor Management System (DMS) is not-for-profit’s customer relationship management (CRM) system and is a means to compile, organise, analyse and strategically implement communication strategy so as to maintain and grow the relationship with the donor. In other words, it’s a tool to maintain all the donor-related information so that the same could be used for the fundraising strategy. For a not-for-profit, the donor is the key as the organisation is dependent on his/ her support for its … [Read more...] about What is Donor Management System?
