 |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Course Helps NGOs
Get Funds Closer to Home
(September 9, 2003) |
|
| |
A
special training course for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
aims to help them raise local funding for themselves. Catholic
Relief Services (CRS) held two of the training courses recently,
one in Dili and one in the district capital of Baucau. Representatives
from 18 NGOs around the country attended the sessions.
The CRS course helps NGOs develop opportunities to raise funds
and support from local businesses, civic organizations, individuals,
and the government. By increasing the proportion of local resources
in their budgets, NGOs will become less dependent on international
donors. Such a strategy also strengthens their ties to the community. |
|
|
| |
Photo caption:
Two members of the Fokupers organization with examples of handicraft
items for sale
Photo by CRS Dili
|
|
|
Participants learned
about two basic resource-gathering techniques: soliciting monetary
or in-kind donations and generating income through NGO-run enterprises.
Among the potential monetary or in-kind donors in East Timor, CRS
expects that solicitations from individual members of the community
and local businesses will be the most successful. Various levels
of government are more likely to be able to offer in-kind support,
such as use of buildings or property.
Small-scale enterprises also may offer NGOs a steady, sustainable
income. Among the examples offered by CRS are:
· AVR, a veteran's organization that prints handbooks,
pamphlets, and other small publications on its printing press
and has rented out simultaneous translation equipment
· Perkumpulan Hak, a civil and human rights association
that rents out its vehicles and space in its offices for training
courses, and contracts its specialist staff to international
organizations, including UNICEF and UNOPS
· Fokupers, the Women's Communication Forum that provides
training space and also has a retail sales operation for handicrafts.
The funding course is part of CRS's two-year Engaging Civil Society
Project. Funded in part by USAID, the project targets four national
NGOs and their district-level partners to strengthen their relationships
with their communities, improve their organizational skills, and
increase their effectiveness as they interact with the government.
Printer Friendly Version
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
