Summary
Visionary Community Care Program (VICOCAP) took part in the Local Fundraising course offered by Change the Game Academy in 2017 and has been raising funds locally ever since. This year they decided to organise a day hike in the lovely Ngong Hills, just outside Nairobi. Among the participants were various persons with disabilities. An important objective of the climb was to raise funds for a poultry project to improve the income of persons with disabilities. But equally important was creating awareness of climbing for people with disabilities and to promote a savings culture and the advantages of a revolving fund for persons with disabilities in rural areas. The climb was a big success and generated the majority of the amount VICOCAP hopes to raise locally in 2021.
Tips and lessons learned
1. Preparing & implementing – Lesson learned: Fundraising is about friendship. Exercising accountability for previous funds raised and giving feedback reports to donors enhances chances for repeat donations.
2. Challenges overcome – Challenge faced: People failing to honour their pledges during this hard economic times. We addressed this by creating a social platform where contributions were done in instalments and people were updated on weekly basis.
3. Tips to share with others – Lesson learned: Receiving donations prior to the material day motivates participants to attend and avoids committing the planned funds in other activities. This means that you are sure of the success or failure of the event before the material day.
Review by Wilde Ganzen Foundation
The project itself is already worthy of an honourable mention: start with a modest donation of 2 hens and encourage people to expand their poultry business by saving and investing. But the fundraising activity is an excellent example of a 'multipurpose' event as well. Not only did VICOCAP raise a significant sum for the Wezesha poultry project, but they also managed to promote the savings culture and revolving fund that is such an important element of the project. And they promoted the importance of exercise, also for people with disabilities.
Details
Short description of the organisation the funds were raised for
Visionary Community Care Program (VICOCAP) is a local Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) registered in Kenya. The NGO works in different programmes around livelihood, health, education and disability and inclusion, both in urban informal settlements and rural poor areas in Kenya. Its vision is “A transformed self-reliant society”. Its mission is that of improving livelihood of vulnerable communities through economic empowerment, education, community health and disability and inclusion empowerment. VICOCAP works with 211 poor and needy women in Kibera slum under economic livelihood and non-communicable diseases. In the rural areas, the NGO works with 184 persons with disability around livelihood empowerment and advocacy. The NGO is managed by 7 professional board of directors, composed of 3 women and 4 men. It has 6 paid staff, 3 casuals and 1 volunteer. The board has 1 member with disability, while 2 staffs are persons with disabilities.
Since 2017 when VICOCAP team was trained in local fundraising under Change the Game Academy, the NGO has organised yearly local fundraising events, like breakfast, luncheon, walk and climbing Ngong Hills being the last one. The funds raised from these events have supported programmes in livelihood, health and education of 7 orphans and vulnerable children in secondary schools in Kibera slum.
The NGO works with other local stakeholders that include the government, faith-based institutions, civil society organisations, women and self- help groups, local community members and family friends of VICOCAP. VICOCAP has implemented successful projects funded by donors and from local fundraising activities. This has created trust among the local philanthropists who are willing to support local fundraising activities that target to solve community problems.
Short description of the project or programme the funds were raised for
“Wezesha poultry project” aimed at giving 184 persons with disability 2 hens each and support the beneficiaries to do garden vegetable farming. The project is designed that the beneficiaries will generate regular incomes from sale of eggs, chicks and vegetables. The nutrition status will also be increased as the eggs, meat and green vegetables will be accessed by the beneficiaries and their families within the project. The sale of products will enable the beneficiaries’ access to food and income at the same time. This will increase their self-esteem and make them self-reliant. The end results will be reduction in dependency syndrome, as the beneficiaries will be able to meet basic needs for their families.
The project is symbiotic in nature as there is interdependence between the two. The chicken droppings are used as organic fertilizer in the vegetable gardens and the kales are used to feed the chickens.
VICOCAP operates a savings scheme where the beneficiaries will save 1 US dollar per week from the profits generated from poultry or garden vegetable farms. After 6 weeks, the beneficiaries will borrow a revolving loan at 1% per month to expand their income generating activities or start small businesses like selling confectionary, cereals or fresh farm produce depending on one’s disability.
Summary of fundraising action
In October 2020 there was a sensitisation forum for the family friends to make them embrace the idea and identify proposed families who could participate.
Out of the forum, 32 families pledged to support and participate in the climbing event. The families agreed to start contributing towards the end of January 2021. Most families agreed to raise the pledged money on an instalment basis, the mode of payment was either in cash or in kind,. Those paying in cash were through pay bill, cash in the bank or cash at the office.
The organisation created a social media platform (Whatsapp) inclusive of the all participants, where weekly collections were posted and updated. These updates motivated the families in clearing off their targets.
On the material day (14th March 2021) the families converged at an agreed venue, where they collected the pledge balance, reflected on the progress, encouraged one another and had a get-together lunch before departing for the climb. Half of the participating families were new donors.
Objectives
1. To create awareness on the importance of climbing for persons with disabilities.
2. To increase household income for persons with disabilities in rural areas.
3. To promote the savings culture and establish a revolving fund for persons with disabilities in rural areas.
Targeted donors
1. Family Friends of VICOCAP
2. High end families & friends of high end families
Results
| Cost/benefit |
National currency (KES |
Euro |
| Total amount raised |
229,000 |
1,740 |
| (-) Total amount invested |
80,000 |
608 |
| Net amount raised |
149,000 |
1,132 |
Accounting details
Costs:
Transport to and from Ngong kshs 7,500
Water during the climbing kshs 1,000
Luncheon lunch kshs 8,000
Donation material day costs kshs 10,000
Pre-planning meeting costs kshs 10,000
Stationery kshs 500
Airtime for communication kshs 500
Transport for guests search kshs 2,500
Hall hire kshs 1,000
Printing of T-Shirts kshs 39,000
Total kshs 80,000
Outstanding pledges: kshs 23,000
Result comments
- Bringing stakeholders together in championing a greater cause in the community.
- All stakeholders owning the project by fully understanding and embracing what needs to be addressed in the community.
- Creation of networks and partnerships.
- Family bonding.
- Increase in organisation’s visibility.
Description of preparatory work
• Idea conceptualisation by the resource mobilization team
• Board inputs and approval
• Identification of activities to be carried out
• Donor mapping
• Conduct awareness amongst participants (donors)
• Signing of the pledge banners.
• Designing terms of repayment and collection
• Agreeing on the modes of payment
• Review of the weekly collections process
• Invitation of participants to the event activities
• Creation of a platform for the participants to exchange and share ideas on the event and its progress
• Conducting a funds drive and a get-together lunch
• Climbing of the hills
Description of implementation
In October 2020 there was a sensitisation forum for the family friends to make them embrace the idea and identify proposed families who could participate.
Out of the forum, 32 families pledged to support and participate in the climbing event. The families agreed to start contributing towards the end of January 2021. Most families agreed to raise the pledged money on an instalment basis, the mode of payment was either in cash or in kind,. Those paying in cash were through pay bill, cash in the bank or cash at the office.
The organisation created a social media platform (Whatsapp) inclusive of the all participants, where weekly collections were posted and updated. These updates motivated the families in clearing off their targets.
On the material day (14th March 2021) the families converged at an agreed venue, where they collected the pledge balance, reflected on the progress, encouraged one another and had a get-together lunch before departing for the climb. Half of the participating families were new donors.
Follow up: Donor appreciation and acknowledgement
The organisation usually appreciates donors from the onset and after the drives.
Plans to repeat the action
Yes. Since local fundraising has become a yearly event.
