Summary
ADC wished to decrease their dependency on foreign donations and decided to take a classroom course offered by Kenyan Change the Game partner KCDF, to learn how to raise more funds locally. Having completed the course, they set up a local fundraising action for the payment of school fees and scholastic materials, to help orphans and vulnerable children complete their secondary education. In 2017 funds were needed for a total of 130 pupils.
Tips and lessons learned
1. It is important to diversify your sources of income as an organisation. ADC realised that relying on one potential donor is too risky. In case this donor withdraws its support all activities will be paralysed. Having different sources of income means that even if one donor stops supporting, you still have an alternative source of income while you look for a replacement. You can diversify your sources of income by seeking the support of local, national and international donors. This may include civil society organisations. corporates and even government sources.
2. Dare to ask. Always communicate your message clearly and match your story to the donors story.
3. Every member of the community is a potential donor. There may be community members who are unable to give you a monetary contribution, but are willing to volunteer. Others may just help in coordinating activities to bring about positive change in the community. An example? During the construction of classrooms in ADC schools parents came to volunteer their time or skill to help construct a classroom. Other community members gave in kind contributions, such as eggs, chickens, bananas or farm produce, since these are readily available and can be converted into cash to support community programmes. Community members feel appreciated when they are part of the project irrespective of their financial status.
4. Having a supportive leadership and an enthusiastic team that identifies with the cause is very crucial for a successful fundraising event. If the team loses interest at any given moment, then the fundraising project just dies.
Review by Wilde Ganzen Foundation
It is always an excellent idea to diversify your sources of income in order to become less dependent on any one of your donors. A strong point of this particular fundraising action is that ADC, being a faith-based organisation, was in a position to mobilise the church leaders and through them the church members. Everyone was given a target and many succeeded in meeting it. If you are planning a local fundraising action, it may be a good idea to involve the churches. ADC moreover decided to start building a relationship with local corporates. They approached two banks and several local business people. Finally they approached the Constituency Development Fund to persuade them to consider more orphans and vulnerable children while allocating scholarships.
Details
Short description of the organisation the funds were raised for
The Bishop Chabuga Foundation is a local organisation in Hamisi, Vihiga sub county. It was founded by the African Divine Church in 2015. Its major objective is reaching out to community members and empowering the youth and marginalised community through provision of basic needs like education, health care, HIV/AIDS awareness and offering vocational training to the youth living around the community.
The organisation manages several primary schools operating from class one to eight. The school enrolls pupils who come from the surrounding local community and are from poor backgrounds. The institution also has a feeding programme where the pupils can get their meals in order to focus on their education. It also has a vocational training centre that offers tailoring and carpentry courses for youth. ADC also has a dispensary that enables the local community to access basic health care.
Short description of the project or programme the funds were raised for
African Divine Church (ADC) is a faith-based organisation, based in Vihiga County. Their aim is to support rural communities to strengthen community development. They focus mainly on youth and children. ADC formed the Bishop Chabuga Foundation that promotes access to education for orphans and vulnerable children through provision of scholastic materials and school fees. With time the number of children qualifying for support is increasing, hence there is a need to mobilise more resources to support these children through school. ADC is therefore working on a project called "Masomo kwa wote" (Education for all) that aims to raise KES 4.002.000 to support 130 children through school in 2017.
Objectives
1. To raise funds to support the school fees for secondary education of 130 orphans and vulnerable children.
2. To create awareness on the need and importance of local fundraising.
3. To network and develop partnerships, looking for CSR opportunities.
4. To diversify ADC's resource base, by engaging corporates, government and civil society organisations within Vihiga county.
Targeted donors
1. ADC local community members, corporates and government.
2. Guardians of beneficiaries and ADC community members.
3. Corporates such as Equity and KCB Bank.
Results
| Cost/benefit |
National currency (KES |
Euro |
| Total amount raised |
5,424,000 |
49,288 |
| (-) Total amount invested |
80,000 |
727 |
| Net amount raised |
5,344,000 |
48,561 |
Description of preparatory work
ADC jointly developed a fundraising action plan with the parents of beneficiaries and community members, having first discussed the current financial status and the need to change from relying on an international donor. The fundraising action plan and event plan were presented to the organisation’s leadership for approval.
A fundraising team of 6 people was set up to implement the project.
Resources totallling KES 80.000 were set aside for the implementation of the plan.
Mapping of potential donors and matching was done. This included corporates, business people and the ADC community.
An executive meeting was then called for the leadership of the ADC community. A total of 1000 leaders attended. This acted as a sensitisation meeting for all leaders on local fundraising. The leaders shared the information with members of their local ADC community within Vihiga county. Each ADC member was requested to support the Masomo kwa wote project with as little as 20 shillings, or whatever they could miss.
Description of implementation
A fundraising strategy was identified as follows:
• Community contribution: Every ADC leader was given a target of KES 5.000. Approximately 500 leaders were able to raise this amount, through the support of their community members who gave 20 shillings each.
• Corporate fundraising, done by the ADC leadership: They approached corporates like Equity and KCB Bank Vihiga branch.
• The organisation also pitched to different business people within Vihiga county.
• Finally ADC approached the leadership of Vihiga county, that is the governor and the Constituency D0evelopment Fund officers to consider orphans and vulnerable children during bursary allocations.
Follow up: Donor appreciation and acknowledgement
ADC sent letters of appreciation and made phone calls to the donors appreciating them. They also keep their donors updated on the progress of the project they funded by sending them progress reports on the change they have been able to make through their support.
Plans to repeat the action
Yes, another local fundraising action has already been planned.
