NGOs' and Futurist Thinking - Resource Mobilization and Fundraisng

Resource mobilization is a valuable component for strengthening an NGO. Unfortunately, there is a lot of competition for donor resources and in many cases, for an organization to secure resources it depends on how well it can compete with other organizations to raise funds; and on how good it is at exploring other ways to source for resources.

A common mistake that local NGOs make is to become over-dependent on a single source of funding.

When that source reduces or dries up the organization struggles to generate new funding when it is too late, hence programs are compromised or terminated. Therefore, the task facing NGOs currently and in the future is and will be to explore additional mechanisms to boost financial stability without sacrificing the mission of their organizations.

Definition Resource Mobilization and Fundraising

• 1.       Resource mobilization is a process whereby resources both financial and non-financial resources are mobilized either externally or internally to support organization activities.
• 2.       Fundraising is the act of persuading people or organizations to raise money for a cause. Fund-raising is the activity of collecting money to support a charity or political campaign or organization.

Fundraising means that funds are elsewhere and approaches need to be explored to access the funds. Resource mobilization has additional two concepts; one is that non‐financial resources are crucial and secondly some resources can be generated by the organization internally rather than sourced from others.

Sources for Funding or Resources: There are two categories for sourcing of funds or resources

• -        Conventional- Individual philanthropy, Private foundations, corporate agencies, government and foreign development agencies
• -        NonConventional - Means Membership fees, businesses, income generating activities/projects, Prizes/Awards;

It is important for organizations to understand funding sources within categories that they have not fully explored and design mechanisms of accessing them. There are three ways to mobilize resources as follows;

• -        Accessing existing resources through private and public sources,
• -        Generating new wealth
• -        Capitalizing on non-financial resources.

The concept of Sustainability of Organizations:  There is a lot of talk and literature on what, how and whys of organization sustainability. Many organizational leaders are striving to understand and explore ways to build a sustainable organization that will ensure they are making a positive impact on the society and the environment in which it works.

There is evidence in the literature that shows that organizations are struggling to grow consistently over years. Many local NGOs in South Africa are smaller, privately-owned, group owned or family-owned and are short-lived as they are unable to achieve long-term, consistent growth or improve performance.  

For many local NGOs, there is a high rate of senior management turnover, internal wrangles caused by power structures, poor financial reporting and the intense scrutiny of financial expenditures by funders or sponsors hence management focus remains biased on short-term performance. This happens because the reward systems do not recognize and value performance in the long term and this means these organizations have objectives which were never intended to be sustainable in the long-run.

Founder Syndrome: Many local organizations’ leadership face this syndrome. This is whereby the founder or founders tend to control and manage the affairs of the organization with minimal participation from other members.

Governance: many NGOs do not have effective governance structures and where a board exists, they are rarely effective in providing strategic leadership in ensuring resources are mobilized.

Minimal Communication and Branding: Many NGOs are not able to communicate effectively who they are, what they do, and their achievements. This inability to communicate means the visibility of the organization is poor and they are not able to effectively market their programs. This eventually affects their capacity to mobilize resources.

Inadequate Awareness on Available Opportunities: There are windows of opportunities that exist within countries that sometimes NGOs fail to exploit due to lack of awareness that the opportunities exist.

This scenario makes one conclude that the way organizations are managed is quite “unsustainable” and unfortunately, has an impact on how an organization mobilizes and manages resources. It is vital for organizations to consider sustainability in a new more comprehensive way if they are to succeed in the future. Sustainability is not only linked to how an organization is able to mobilize and generate ongoing resources required to sustaining its mission and undertaking quality work but also there is a link between quality and sustainability. The quality of services is often one of the critical ingredients in achieving an organization’s sustainability.

SOLUTION:

Developing Social Enterprise: Using the Social Business Model which involves solving a social problem by using business methods which include creation and sale of products and services. In starting a social business, one does not start with a focus on the business, but identifies a social problem and then tries to address it by incorporating a business solution for it.

I believe this is an interesting area that NGOs can explore that will help them address a social need but have income that will ensure the projects is sustainable. The advice is to start a social business one needs to identify a need and match it with the capabilities and talents. An organization needs to clarify the objective of the business and make sure they get the desired result from the project then come up with a product or service to serve as a vehicle for achieving this objective.

In conclusion, an important part of planning for an NGO is increasing financial security and becoming independent of donors. There is no right or wrong answer and therefore it is up to each organization to review the options available and to choose the most appropriate mechanism for resource mobilization and move from only focusing on mobilizing financial resources.

Organizations as they pursue resources from donors and others sources they need to recognize that sustainability is not only about getting resources/funds but also requires a solid organization, strong programs that determine which project activities and implementation strategies are most appropriate to achieve an organization’s mission and objectives and ensure it remains relevant year after year.

An organization cannot market itself and what it does unless it has good programs. On the other hand, if no one wants to invest in an organization’s programs, they have little chance of benefiting society and being sustained.

Reference:

• 1 Beverly Otieno, Strapola Mala, Hazel Mumbo, Fredrick Aila and Odhiambo Odera (2012) Factors affecting mobilization of Kenyan resources for health and development. International Journal Social Science and Education (2012) Volume 3: Issue 1
• 2 Mavoko Kapyepye (2013), Resource mobilization for NGOs in the developing world. London. Adonis and Abbet Publishers Limited
• 3 Muhammad Yunus (2010) Building social business. New York. Public Affairs
• 4 Rehema C. Batti. Challenges Facing Local NGOs in Resource Mobilization. Humanities and Social Sciences. Vol. 2, No. 3, 2014, pp. 57-64. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20140203.12