Introduction

SAFRG is embarking on creating a Virtual Fundraising Academy in India. This is a model that will fully meet the needs of the Voluntary Sector and make it professional, accountable, credible and optimally deliver to the country. In fact this is the only way of making the sector sustainable and independent. Civil Society Organisations (CSO) are starved of funds. It is ironic that this is so in an environment of plenty. CSOs do not have the wherewithal to access the pie.

Most, if not all, Civil Society Organisations (CSO) are dependent on foreign funding, government funding and only some raise funds locally. CSOs were therefore pursuing agendas of others and became dependent and have not developed their own visions and goals. The main reason for this was - NO fundraising training facility available in the country.

Fundraising Abroad

Billions of dollars are raised each year by the Not for Profit sector in the west. This has been made possible by very professional fundraisers accessing these resources in a very professional manner. The fundraising faculty there is very advanced and we reckon we are about 25 years behind the west in this area.

Current India Potential

In India about $ 500 million are raised every year by CSOs but the potential is assessed at $ 10 Billion and this is increasing rapidly. There is no dearth of wealth and donors but there is an extreme shortage of professionally trained fundraisers. For example there are over a million high net worth individuals in India but they are not being accessed at all. Fundraising in India is in its infancy.

Looking at the vast unaddressed potential most International NGOs have started raising resources within India. The latest to join this activity is UNICEF. They can do it as they get manpower from abroad and have the resources to invest in such start-up operations.

Indian CSOs fall shy because the do not have the manpower and do not know how to invest in fundraising. There is a growing demand for capacity building of young graduates to be fundraisers with a qualification. Capacity building of fundraisers has now become the priority objective of SAFRG. This alone can make a base for promoting fundraising.

This has led to the view of creating a fundraising Academy which can deliver a well conceived, all encompassing curriculum, and provide quality education by well trained faculty. This course will be practical, with specified learning outcomes and also certified.

The need

There are over one million NGOs in India. Regrettably only fractions of 1% of these have a fundraiser. Most CSOs rely on grants and do not have a fundraising agenda due to lack of professional fundraisers in the sector.

The government has acknowledged the increasing role CSOs has played in meeting the existing need and for future development. The sector has done exceedingly well with little resources but has numerous possibilities if they can raise more resources.

In the past decade the number of CSOs has also increased exponentially. All are seeking to raise more and more resources to meet the increasing demands of quantity and quality service to the beneficiaries. But how? They want to but lack the ability.

While the number of CSOs has been increasing there is a huge shortage of professionally trained and experienced fundraisers. This has led a situation where organisations have become dependent on government and foreign funds. They are not sustainable and are dependent.

Observing this Montek Singh Ahluwalia Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission in his address at the Voluntary Agencies Network of India meeting in Sep 06 emphasised “the need for NGOs to stop relying on government funds and raise their respect by raising their own funds from individuals and corporate by being professional, transparent, accountable, self reliant and sustainable.”

World over NGOs/Charities have their own fundraising agenda and the credibility of NGOs is evaluated by the number of ‘Individual Supporters.’

Past Practices

Training which was mostly in the shape of workshops was intermittent, not systematic nor sustained. The trainers were also inadequate and this resulted in variable quality. This did not produce fundraisers of quality and lacked professionalism. The main reasons for this gross inadequacy was:

Lack of understanding at senior level
No Investment in fundraising
No fundraising training facility
No trainers
No fundraisers
Over dependence on government and foreign funding
 Fundraising was not viewed as a career option

The frequent disasters also brought in much resource from government and abroad and kept organisations afloat and drove them to complacency. The fundraising ability of CSO s has been ignored for far too long that this can be now done only at our own peril. The lack of professionalism in fundraising creates problems for CSO credibility.

The need is for a quality benchmark in fundraising standards that is accessible yet affordable and is recognised. The training process will lead to individual and organisational development leading to enhancing our ability to reach our potential. This has now to be addressed on priority in the best possible manner. The training should lead to certification and this will attract investment and support for causes.

There is considerable interest in seeing a quality foundation course and qualification delivered in a professional manner to raise confidence of the donor community and CSOs. With nearly 20 years experience in providing fundraising training SAFRG has both the national reach and credibility to be able to offer this.

About SAFRG

SAFRG has been undertaking training programmes, annual workshops and mini workshops since 1989 and is eminently capable of launching major programmes. The successful conduct of 17 SAFRW in Sep 06 amply demonstrates this ability.

The Solution- A 20 Days Course

We have a bank of smart, enterprising numbers of graduates wanting to get a job and serve society. And there are NGOs wanting such talent. There is a need to increase the percentage of the donor’s money reaching the community. Thus the giving market has to be made to GROW as people want to give but do not know how to & where. There is thus an urgent need to create a cadre of fundraisers to enable NGOs to interact with potential donors and access funds directly and manage the donor’s money with high efficiency.

What we need is quality training and fundraisers in large numbers.

20 Days Course in Fundraising & Communication

Experts have opined that a concentrated training of 160 hours can sufficiently convert fresh graduate into fundraisers. The curriculum has been designed in such a way that it is wide ranging yet covers all the essentials. Basically the curriculum has been divided into six modules.

Module I – Introduction to NGO environment
Module II – Getting started with Fundraising
Module III – Sources and Techniques of Fundraising
Module IV – Building relationships
Module V – Communication by NGOs for effect
Module VI – Creating a Plan that Works

The course will include India specific content. This includes material on the legal and tax environment, trends in the non-profit sector and specific case studies and work examples.

Our Special Features

The curriculum is specially designed and has the following unique features:

It is based on the environment obtaining in the country.
It is based on local experiences and case studies.
It is adapted from the best that is available internationally.
It has clear, specific and relevant content.
It is focused on clear objectives that can be quantified.
It is practical. It will give tools to a fresh graduate to start fundraising
     in an organisation. It will give jobs to young graduates.
It is very comprehensive yet incorporates step by step learning.
It caters for all strata of society, is cost effective and participants will be      given a certificate.

Specific Learning Outcomes

When completed, participants will:

Understand major trends in fundraising
Have specific knowledge and skills which they can apply  in planning,      strategising & implementing fundraising in their workplace.
Be able to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of an organisation’s      resource base and devise a plan on how to diversify it
Be able to identify main funding sources and appropriate techniques to      secure them
Understand the importance of communication in fundraising, and be able      to set up effective communication with donors

Delivery-The Virtual Fundraising Academy

The 20 Days Course will be delivered through a well coordinated structure where there will be comprehensive training, complete quality control and high professional competence.

Hub and Spoke Model

The idea is to create a central hub in Delhi consisting of:

Programme Director
 Marketing Department
Database management
Accounts management

This hub will be a training cum coordinating nerve center of the entire plan.

Regional Hubs

The Central hub shall create regional hubs based on the requirement of fundraisers in each region.Each Regional Hub shall consist of:

Chief Trainer (Trained extensively at the Central Hub)
Part Time faculty (Trained extensively at the Central Hub)

Each Hub shall conduct 8 courses every year of 20 days (160 hours) for each batch @ 25 students in each batch. Thus each Regional Hub shall train 200 fundraisers every year.

The Initial Plan

We propose to start with creating the centre at Delhi and three regional hubs in India (East, West, South) in Year One. It will be possible to reach and train 800 young graduates into fundraisers in an year. Training will be subsidised. We shall also strategically align with a reputed management institute for certification and to spread our wings.

Training of Trainers

A part time faculty will be locally identified and trained to achieve the highest standards. Including the Chief Trainer there will be five faculty in each hub. The faculty will be consulted and involved in the selection of learning materials (videos, coursework, study materials) and appropriate case studies.

There will be tests coursework assessed contributing to a final evaluation and grading. The learning will be practical and based on real practice. Both the training and coursework will be continually monitored and evaluated.

Those who pass the course will gain a SAFRG certificate of learning in fundraising. In order to achieve a qualification learners will have to demonstrate both a theoretical and practical knowledge of fundraising principles and techniques.

Selection of Participants Criteria

Graduate with 55% preferably B com, Eco, MBA or MSW
One year work experience-preferably in NGO
English in graduation
Good communication skills
 Computer literate
 Reco from last institution

Placement of Trained Fundraisers

SAFRG will organise placing those trained. As there will a big demand this will not be a major issue.

Outcome

With an investment of $1.6 million these trained fundraisers will raise
     $ 100 million a year in 4 to 5 years. This will keep increasing each year.
Donors contribution to this effort will make NGO sector come of age-
     more than any other effort.
The sector will be able to address all issues including poverty
      more effectively.
This will create ‘fundraising’ as a career.
More community involved with society resulting in transparency &
     credibility of the sector.
The donor will be seen to be making a HUGE difference in society.
This will create numerous jobs.

The Model

This could also include a hub for Pakistan and Bangladesh in Year 2
This could be a model for other developing countries

Sequence of Actions

   Raising of resources
   Creation of curriculum (already begun)
   Appointment of Director-6 months before commencement
   Appointment of Chief Trainers (3) and marketing manager-three
   months before commencement
   Selection of part time faculty. Selection of institutions & getting into MOUs
   Training of trainers and testing of syllabus
   Robust marketing activity
   Launch of Courses
   Conduct of Courses
   Monitoring
   Evaluation after 4 courses and later yearly evaluation

Conclusion

Our prime minister has remarked that “Nobody can stop an idea whose time has come”
And the time of fundraising has come. It is to be seen who supports the venture. We have to jointly translate the plan into action.