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 … [Read more...]

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 … [Read more...]

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 … [Read more...]

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 … [Read more...]

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 … [Read more...]

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 … [Read more...]

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 … [Read more...]

Before we try to understand what different types of alternative resources are available for NGOs, we need to reflect a bit for what purposes do we need resources at the first place. Actually, we need funding to implement projects that would lead to the development of the communities. Determination of these projects as to what they should address and how they should be implemented mostly depends upon case-to-case. But overall, these projects conceptualized by different stakeholders need to be … [Read more...]

Let us examine the various sources of funding available for NGOs both at the conventional as well as non-conventional level. Conventional sources are those that are mostly existing and donor –based and non-conventional sources of funding are those that also include alternative fundraising for organizations. The bilateral and multilateral aid is one of the biggest sources of funding we have seen over the past fifty and more years. These originate either from the foreign offices of the developed … [Read more...]