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Take forward your Fundraising Mission: Apply to GlobalGiving Today

Deadline: 24 April 2015

GlobalGiving is an online fundraising platform that gives social entrepreneurs and nonprofits from anywhere in the world a chance to raise the money they need to improve their communities. It offers a secure and trusted platform to receive donations; connects you with new individual and corporate donors around the world; and provides non-profits with the tools, trainings, and resources they need to upgrade their fundraising.

Non-profits and Social Entrepreneurs will have to mobilize supporters to raise $5,000 from at least 40 unique donors during this time. Then the project will get an opportunity to earn an ongoing spot on the GlobalGiving website. There will be additional awards for the projects that raise the most funds and from the most donors.

Cash Prizes

  1. Top three (3)projects that raise the most funds will also receive supplementary cash bonuses from GlobalGiving of $3,000, $2,000, and $1,000 respectively.
  2. The project with the greatest number of unique donors will be awarded a bonus of $2,000.
  3. For at least one day during the Challenge all donations of $25 or more (up to $1000 each) will be matched at 15% till the total matching grant of $5000 on each day is used up.
  4. The matching funds will not count towards to the $5000 threshold. Also, the project with the most unique donors at 11:59pm EST on Bonus Day will receive an additional $500 prize. The project with the most funds raised on Bonus Day will also receive a $500 prize.

Benefits of Participating in the Global Giving Challenge.

  1. Exposure to a new community of online donors: The GlobalGiving website is a destination for online donors interested in furthering causes and communities all around the world. If your project earns an ongoing spot on the GlobalGiving website, there is high chance that your project will be exposed to the donors around the globe. Other benefits are Opportunity to participate in regular/ongoing marketing and fundraising campaigns and challenges, many of which offer matching funds or bounty awards, opportunity to engage your donors in different ways, and much more!
  2. Training from GlobalGiving’s expert online fundraising team: The experts will provide training, tools and tips during the challenge to help you learn how to harness the power of crowdsourcing and online fundraising to further your cause.
  3. Full online giving capability and fundraising tools: Your project will have a personalized landing page, viral communication tools, personalized widgets, email templates, and the ability to communicate directly with donors through the GlobalGiving website.

Eligibility Criteria

  • Applicant organization must be a registered non-profit organization (charity, nonprofit, or NGO that is implementing programs) in the US [i.e. 501(c)3] or its home country.
  • The organization should be committed to updating donors at least every three months on the progress of the project it lists.
  • The organization’s staff must have the ability to communicate with GlobalGiving in English, including translating documents. All organizational documents must be provided in English.
  • The organization should not discriminate in selecting its beneficiaries.
  • Organization should have ability to mobilize online supporters to raise funds for its work.

Application Procedure

If the organization is registered outside United States, following documents should be ready to upload in application

  1. Program materials
  2. Letter of reference
  3. Certificate of government registration
  4. Founding document (with dissolution clause) such as Constitution, Articles of Association, Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Charter, By-Laws, Trust Deed
  5. Financial documents (2 years of financial statements and a current year budget)
  6. Disbursement information
  7. Names of senior staff and board members

Applicant should review and indicate agreement to each of these items – GlobalGiving Terms & Conditions, Anti-terror Certification, Non-discrimination Policy, and Due Diligence Affidavit.

If the applicant organization is registered in the United States, information should be uploaded in the application

  1. IRS Employer Identification Number (EIN)
  2. Program materials
  3. Disbursement information
  4. Names of senior staff and board members

Applicant should review and indicate your agreement to each of these items – GlobalGiving Terms & Conditions, Anti-terror Certification and Non-discrimination Policy.

For more information, please visit GlobalGiving Open Challenge.

Global Giving

Global Giving is a charity fundraising web site that gives social entrepreneurs and non-profits from anywhere in the world a chance to raise the money that they need to improve their communities. Since 2002, Global Giving has raised $169,634,755 from 429,598 donors who have supported 11,939 projects.

Thematic areas

  • Education
  • Women and girls
  • Health
  • Economic development

Geographic focus: Global

Eligibility: non-profit organizations worldwide within focused themes.

This resource guide is available in downloadable PDF format for our Premium Members. If you are a premium member, you can download the PDF version here. If you are not a premium member, Sign Up Now. Not interested? Continue reading…

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Water invites you to become the Fundraiser to Provide Safe Water to those in Need

Deadline: 30 September 2014

One of the most critical problems in developing world (rural and urban area) is lack of access to safe water. Around the world 2.5 billion people have no sanitary facilities and 1 billion people defecate in the open. If you are an NGO supporting Water and Sanitation projects, you can make your fundraising easy partnering with Water and if you are an individual who care for health & hygiene of people around the globe, this is your fight against world poverty. You have the potential to save people, you have the platform to prove your capacity. Don’t wait!

Your Participation is crucial because–

  1. Every 21 seconds, a child dies from a water-related illness
  2. Women spend 200 million hours a day collecting water
  3. More than 2.5x more people lack water than live in the United States
  4. The majority of illness is caused by fecal matter
  5. More people have a mobile than a toilet
  6. Lack of community involvement causes 50% of other projects to fail

Water.org approaches to Programs

  • Local Partnership to find a solution tailored to the needs of each community, instead of a technological fix the community has no way of maintaining.
  • Community Ownership in every stage and level.
  • Appropriate Technology in selecting the technology, designing local technology, constructing water projects, using community members solution methodologies in maintenance and repair.
  • Addressing Sanitation and Hygiene
  • Measuring and Monitoring Success
  • The WaterCredit Initiative – catalyzing small loans to individuals and communities in developing countries

The process is

Join Water in facebook and twitter and proceed!

For more information, please visit Change Lives with Water.

9. Businesses for NGOs

Businesses run by NGOs are part of the non-conventional funding sources for NGOs themselves. The first and the foremost question about NGOs running businesses is that whether it is ethical to do so since they have been emerged from the spirit of nonprofit-ism. If nonprofits become profit-oriented, then the very basic values are challenged. In this context, one should note that organizations also have their own expenses. Usually, small and medium-sized organizations are not supported by any internal corpus and in some cases, they begin operating with zero amounts. And when they get funds from donors, they operate until the funding remains and then they again face the same question of un-sustainability. Therefore, one should look upon the profit ventures as the only option for survival. Because, if people start arguing against it, then they may not be in the field for long. NGOs have undertaken businesses and they have found enormous success in many parts of the developing world. There are also new kinds of services that have been recognized the world over as the new tools for sustainable development and the examples have proved it. Microfinance is just one of them that has not only converted NGOs into profit-making companies, but also reduced the dependence on external donor funding. NGOs can operate businesses initially and some profit is acceptable even legally in most countries. However, if the NGOs start making excessive profits out of their services, it is only then that other people may start questioning. But at such times, organizations have grown to such an extent that they can form a separate company for covering these activities and this company can fund the NGO’s developmental interventions as a corporate social responsibility.

10. Cost-Recovery for NGOs

NGOs need to be more professional when they are managing businesses. The idea of cost recovery is critical for this. While operating donor-funded projects, this may not really be of much concern for organizations, but while they are investing financial and human resources into a project so that businesses are operated for the benefits of the community and also for the sustainability of the organizations, the first thing they need to think about is covering the costs incurred by the organizations.

Some of the examples for undertaking profitable business ventures could include microfinance projects where NGOs can directly lend money to the community members and earn profits out of the interest rates charged to them; NGOs can also partner with local banks for raising capital to provide loans to the community members and in return, both banks and NGOs are able to share profits through the interests charged. It is important that the interests fixed are in line with the local situation. It will be highly impractical if the rate of interest is high and the poor community is unable to repay the loans. The other form of business could be community-based tourism if the NGOs and their communities are based in a strategic location. The resources available can be optimized for the sustainability of both the NGO as well as the community. Microenterprises and micro-insurance are other potential forms of business for organizations.

8. Communication for Local Fundraising

We know how as organizations we struggle to put ideas on paper while preparing proposals. We also try to present our organizational work in the most attractive manner through publicity material. We also try to present all these ideas in a relatively foreign language, which is usually English and which is one of the most accepted languages for donor agencies across the world. But many native speakers have problems in writing or expressing themselves in English. In fact, in many developing countries, NGOs fail to reach the right donor in spite of their best endeavors because they are unfamiliar with the language. Some end up hiring expensive consultants to translate the ideas into the English language and present it to donors. A substantial part of our effort goes towards the struggle to express in this language. But thought this is important, we emphasize less upon local language communication. This is a critical part that we need to notice if we are engaging n local fundraising in our own country. There may be local businesses and local individuals, who are willing to donate, but if they are unaware about the activities of the organization, then they cannot really help anyone. In order to mobilize local resources, it is important to develop the organizational communication material in the local language. Apart from developing the communication material, there is also the need to interact with them and inform them about the work that is being carried out. Interactions can be held through member-based associations, forums, youth clubs promoted at the local-level.

6. The Alternatives

If NGOs start thinking about lessening their expectations from foreign donor support, their first question would likely be, “Then, what is the alternative?”

Of course, there are alternatives. NGOs can exist without foreign donor support. But this kind of existence not only means sacrifice, but also some creativity and effort involved in the way of doing the work. NGOs can always welcome foreign aid, but should avoid depending upon it all the time. Alternatively, they can seek non-conventional ways of mobilizing resources like becoming more service-oriented and looking upon the communities as potential clients who can pay for the services received. In this manner, the situation can be sustainable from both the sides. Also, NGOs can access local resources through individuals, institutions, businesses and even governments for supporting their programs. This may not be an easy job, but it is still more sustainable than remaining over-dependent upon foreign donors. The other area of local support that NGOs can think of is also mobilizing youth volunteers, who can considerably contribute to development services.

7. Non-Financial Resources for NGOs

If carefully planned and managed, NGOs can benefit tremendously from the non-financial resources. But what are the non-financial resources? They are many. There is volunteer time, first of all. If NGOs look around, there will be many supporters who are ready to keenly provide their services. They can be sought among friends and other known people. Students who wish to gain some valuable experience can be involved in volunteer service. Volunteer skilled service may also be required by NGOs. For example, if the organization is implementing a health project, it can seek the support of a medical doctor for a certain number of hours in a day. Organizations can also visit other offices and businesses for getting goods and material donated to them. There could be old computers, books, office furniture etc, which can be used by the NGOs.

5. The Dangers of Foreign Funding

Foreign funding to NGOs has been one of the most controversial issues for governments in many countries. Often the governments try to introduce new policies to scan and restrict these funds to the detriment of the very survival of the NGOs. But governments are not the only obstacle between NGOs and foreign assistance. There are also activists and other types of organizations continuously opposing foreign aid for a variety of reasons. Foreign aid is mostly determined by trade and international relations, so often the donors do not really consider the developmental factors while giving out funds to NGOs. Also, the foreign aid policies of many developed countries are contentious. For every dollar spent for developmental support, the developed countries ensure that at least 40% of it returns back through international volunteering and consultancy, which actually means only 60% of the total funds reach organizations. Foreign funding has also been the source of corruption at both the governmental as well as the non-governmental level. Also, it has been observed that increasing presence of foreign-supported organizations fail to mobilize local support for their initiatives. There is less and less of local resource mobilization practices. Also, foreign support contradicts the self-reliance concepts. The more foreign assistance reaches the NGO, they become less dependent on themselves for sustaining their work.

4. Unsustainable Funding Support

Most of the NGOs in most of the developing countries are now aware what unsustainable funding support is. Every organization, small or big, at one point of time or another has encountered the problem of unsustainable funds. The over-dependence of NGOs on foreign funding has been the biggest factor for un-sustainability. The foreign funding and donations are determined by certain factors that are beyond the control of the NGOs. The twenty-first century has witnessed some unprecedented challenges like the September 11 attack on World Trade Center, the War against Terrorism and the global recession, which have subsequently affected the flow of funds from the North to South. Suddenly, now the international foundations have withdrawn and bilateral agencies have revived their policies of development assistance, as a result of which there is a huge funding gap. The NGOs have suddenly found themselves vulnerable because of these global events.