Summary
Villagers in Mkundi area (near Morogoro) were destroying their environment by cutting down trees for charcoal making. CONASU persuaded them to switch to an alternative source of income: beekeeping, an occupation with great potential for job creation and a healthy and biodiverse environment.
Local fundraising skills, gained during the Change the Game Academy training, gave the team enough confidence to put the lessons learned into practice to make the project a reality. The fundraising activity organised was a fundraising dinner.
In identifying participants CONASU included 11 organisation members who committed to contribute too. Also, they identified some influential members of society such as the former deputy mayor of Morogoro and the secretary of the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). The two agreed to mobilise other people to join up.
CONASU conducted a fundraising dinner on 15th February 2019. A total of 35 people attended. The attendees included a counselor, business owners in timber and shops who were well informed on the purpose of fundraising. As a way of showing commitment CONASU members led the way by contributing TSH 150,000 ($68) each.
Tips and lessons learned
1. It is very important to develop an action plan which outlines how to go about organising your fundraising activity.
2. It works really well to involve the members of your organisation in the activity and persuade them to set an example by donating first. After that the other guests cannot do anything else than contribute too.
3. After your first fundraising attempt, sit down and evaluate the event and decide how you can use the momentum gained to set up further fundraising activities.
Review by Wilde Ganzen Foundation
CONASU’s plan to have 500 beehives to benefit more people is not a lofty ambition, as the recent fundraising efforts, which have enabled them to buy and distribute 30 beehives, have shown. A strong point was the involvement of organisation members, who contributed first. This encouraged others guests to follow suit. The team has exhibited vigor, passion and consistency in putting the skills they gained through training to good use by organising more local resource mobilisation activities to keep this project on course for the future.
Details
Short description of the organisation the funds were raised for
Morogoro Township in Morogoro region is home of a grassroots organisation which has become a stellar example of how local resource local mobilisation can be effectively done. The organisation is working in conservation and preservation of environment and is known as CONASU, an abbreviation for Conservation of Nature for Survival. This is one of the organisations which took part in a capacity building training in local resource mobilisation co-organised and run by Foundation for Civil Society (FCS) and Change the Game Academy. The team at CONASU has put into practice what they learned during the training sessions on local fundraising. This example tells you how their efforts have come into fruition.
Short description of the project or programme the funds were raised for
It all started when CONASU discovered that villagers in Mkundi area (about 10 kilometers from Morogoro Township) were destroying environment mainly by cutting down trees haphazardly for charcoal making. The organisation's keenness in environmental protection encouraged them to contemplate what could be done to reverse looming deforestation.
They developed an idea of giving the villagers in Mkundi an environmental friendly economic activity as alternative source of income to charcoal making. The team decided beekeeping was ideal, given the potential for job creation and a healthy and biodiverse environment.
The biggest challenge, however, was to try and find the necessary funds to turn this plan into a reality, as many sources of financing looked far beyond their reach. To start off they were in need of 30 beehives which could cost around TSH 3,000,000 ($1360).
Summary of fundraising action
Local fundraising skills gained gave the team confidence to put the lessons learned into practice hence making the project a reality. The fundraising activity organised by CONASU was a fundraising dinner. Project Coordinator Mr Yusuph Mgooho Commented: ‘‘We developed an action plan which outlined how we would go about organising the dinner. In identifying participants we included 11 organisation members who committed to contribute too. Also, we identified some influential members of society such as the former deputy mayor of Morogoro and the secretary of the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). The two agreed to mobilise other people to join up.’’
CONASU managed to conduct a fundraising dinner on 15th February 2019. A total of 35 people attended. The attendees included a counselor, business owners in timber and shop owners who were well informed on the purpose of fundraising. As a way of showing commitment CONASU members led the way by each contributing TSH 150,000 ($68).
Objectives
1. Raising awareness of deforestation impacts from charcoal production.
2. Promotion of beekeeping as a profitable alternative source of income.
3. Raise enough funds to purchase the first 30 beehives.
Targeted donors
Local business and shop owners, influential members of society
Results
| Cost/benefit |
National currency (TSH |
Euro |
| Total amount raised |
3,900,000 |
1,772 |
| (-) Total amount invested |
230,000 |
100 |
| Net amount raised |
3,670,000 |
1,672 |
Result comments
During the fundraising dinner a total of TSH 3,900,000 (USD 1,772) was raised, which was not a small feat as the action plan put down a target of TSH 4,200,000 (USD 1,909). The funds raised represent 93% of the target set and have enabled CONASU to get 30 beehives which have been installed and are in use at the bee farm in Mkundi area.
It was a successful event given the fact that they used a total of TSH 230,000 (USD 100) for buying food and light drinks such as soda and water, and hiring a small hall.
Follow up: Donor appreciation and acknowledgement
Creatively CONASU has used their success in organising a fundraising dinner to undertake another fundraising initiative. With help of social media platforms such as Facebook the staffs are in contact with overseas friends who have an interest in environmental conservation projects.
CONASU official Mr. Leonard Kitindi says: 'Through these contacts we identified potential philanthropists in the USA with whom we now have close interaction. Some of them have visited CONASU's office, where beehives were labelled with their names as a way of appreciating their friendship.'
As a gesture of appreciation some of them have reciprocated by promising to contribute to this project. For example one of these friends has committed to donate about 5,000 USD.
