Nothing for us

Without us
a Youth-led Development starter kit
prepared by the 540 delegates who attended the
World Youth Congress in Stirling, Scotland,
from 29th July to 8th August 2005
 Acknowledgements
By hosting the World Youth
Congress, Scotland has shown
its faith in, and commitment to,
young people all over the world.
Our thanks go out to the people
of Scotland for hosting us so well
and to all those individuals who
worked so tirelessly to ensure the
Congress was a success.

Thank you Scotland - we hope

the actions of those who use this
toolkit will repay your investment
in youth many times over!
- Editorial Team

Editorial Team
Alexa Gainsbury, UK - Editor
Francisco Pereira, Ecuador- Designer
Caroline Ang, USA - Congress Toolkit Coordinator

Lizzie Tubbs, UK
Pochi Tamba, Cameroon
Clare Moran, UK
Julia Siritona, Estonia
Mihir Chatterjee, India
Diana Plazas, Colombia

Editorial Advisors
Ray Bugg Eirwen Harbottle
David Woollcombe Erin Senff
Rosey Simonds James Wakefield

Prepared by
Peace Child International
The White House, Buntingford, Herts UK SG9 9AH
for
The Scottish Executive
Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ, Scotland

Copyright 2005 © Peace Child International & The Scottish Executive


Contents
PREFACE

Introduction by Kofi Annan,
Secretary-General of the United Nations 4
Introducing the 3rd World Youth Congress 5
Introduction to Youth-led Development 6
A Close Look 8

PREPARATION
Research — identifying priority needs 10
Planning — assessing the best action to take 12
The proposal — creating a project reality 17
A WYC successful project proposal 22

TAKE ACTION!
Sourcing resources 26
People management 32
Time management 34
Financial management 36
Networking 38

FOLLOW UP
The project manager’s report 43
The mentor’s report 48
The independent evaluator(s) report(s) 48
Media reporting 50
Sample press release 54

RESOURCES
Web links & other resources 56
Glossary 60
Index 65
Afterword 67
Millenium Development Goals 68


 U N I T E D N A T I O N S NAT I O N S U N I E S
THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations
At the World Summit for
Sustainable Development in
Johannesburg, the Youth Caucus
called on us to “see young people
as a resource, not a problem.”
How right they were. Young people
are the most precious resource
our planet possesses. That is why
I have worked to create initiatives
such as the Youth Employment
Network, set up to fight the tragic
waste of youth joblessness. Young
leaders of today are vital partners
in that effort, and in so many
others: eradicating the HIV/
AIDS pandemic and other deadly
diseases; achieving gender equality
and universal primary education
for all; and, most importantly,
eradicating extreme poverty
- the first of the Millennium
Development Goals.

In Africa, where I come from, half
the children go to bed hungry every
night. Many of them lack a bed,
some even a roof over their heads.
It is hard to imagine, if you have
never experienced it, what it is
like to be sick and have no doctor
to go to, to be hungry and have no
food to eat, to want a future but
no school to prepare you for it.
With the Millennium Development
Goals, the world’s governments
have committed themselves to
halving the number of people
living in extreme poverty by 2015.
It should be the commitment of
your generation to eradicate it
completely. It is never too early to
be active. If you start young, I am
confident that, by the time you are
my age, you will succeed. So I hope
you will make the best possible use
of this toolkit. Your generation can
Make Poverty History.
Kofi A. Annan
World Youth Congress,
Scotland 2005
The world’s most precious
resource: the Congress hosted
540 of them — the most talented
and energetic youth from an
impressive 120 countries united to
discuss how we can Make Poverty
History and achieve the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs).
The Congress was a real coming
together of minds, all dedicated,
determined and experienced in the
development field.
Over ten days delegates engaged in
discussions, expanded their minds
through workshops and developed
their ideas and skills on three-
day community action projects.
Together they shared solutions,
resources and networks that will
help us all go back to “Be the
Change” in our communities.
projects that will make a change in
your community.
One observer of the Congress
marvelled, “There are 500
celebrities here!” And we used
every minute to interview, quiz
and generally interrogate all the
delegates we could lay our hands
on. The result is this document:
a best practice guide to Youth-
led Development based on the
experience of those who have
been out there and done it. This
toolkit is filled with their wisdom
and advice on how we, together,
can create successful Youth-led
projects. This is our chance to “Be
the Change!”
Let’s use it.

And it does not end there. We want

the lessons learnt at the Congress
to be shared with everybody
determined to get out there and
make a difference. That is
why we have created this
toolkit— a step-by-
step guide
to how you,
together with
your friends,
can start


 What is Youth-led
Development
“Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be
that generation…”
What is Youth-led Development
(YLD)? Simply, YLD is community
projects devised and implemented by
young people under the age of 25.
They are generally grass-roots, small in
size, and carried out mostly, but not
exclusively, by youth volunteers.
And why do we think YLD so essen-
tial to achieving the MDGs? Because
nature dictates that youth have energy
to spare and the eagerness to use it.
Worldwide, young people are already
dedicated to addressing their commu-
nities’ needs. And, because we young
people are so keen to learn, we are
happy to take our wages in experience
rather than cash salaries. Thus, YLD
offers the most cost effective develop-
ment action.
YLD also massively benefits the youth
who do it. They learn invaluable project
management, fund-raising and lead-
ership skills, hugely boosting their
employability. Being part of a success-
ful project builds a young person’s con-
fidence and raises their self-esteem to
stratospheric levels. Also, communities

Nelson Mandela
celebrate and rejoice in YLD success!
As they enjoy the new library you have
re-furbished and equipped, or benefit
from the new well you have dug, they
will be so proud that other members
of the community will be inspired — or
shamed — into doing things too! And
so the enthusiasm — the change YOU
started! — will grow and grow, inspiring
new people throughout your com-
munity, town and nation. That is what
we want to see: every young citizen of
every country engaged in building its
prosperity and shaping its future.
But we also want so much more than
that. As you complete fantastic proj-
ects, your successes will prove to gov-
ernments and large NGOs that youth is
an untapped resource essential to the
development effort. That is why we
have called this book Nothing for us,
Without us because we believe young
people have to be seen as partners and
not just beneficiaries in the global fight
for the MDGs. And this book is de-
signed to help us all prove that we are
worthy and capable of being the most
excellent partners.

I know that as young people we can do
amazing things – I met hundreds doing
just that in Scotland. I know that many
thousands – millions! — more young
people can, with a little guidance and
support, do projects just like them.
So those of you who want to be the
change yourselves — get your hands
dirty and do a project that helps your
community. Read on!
Alexa Gainsbury
This Toolkit focuses on do-
ing YLD community improvement
projects. If you are interested in
advocacy or lobbying your gov-
ernments to achieve the MDGs,
then check out “Only With Your
Voice” — the lobbying toolkit
created by Global Youth Action
Network and TakingITGlobal. It’s
available at —
www.millenniumcampaign.org
How well do you know the MDGs?
we list them on the Inside back
cover. Also read ‘Youth and the
MDGs White Paper’ available at —
www.takingitglobal.org/themes/
mdg/youthinpolicy.html
The 3rd WYC is my first global event
and also my turning point where I’ve
learnt so many things, learnt how
to believe in a dream; to trust and
love others deep from your heart; to
stand up and “Be the Change!”
Tran Luu Ha Anh, 19, Vietnam
“Its pretty clear, if we all work to-
gether and share ideas and
experiences we as young people can
lead the change. And why can Youth-
led Development succeed? Determi-
nation, Discipline, Dreams...”
Sara Darr, 18, England
“Decision-makers will come to
realise just how crucially instru-
mental the youth contribution is to
building a better world for genera-
tions to come.”
Bernise Ang, 25, Singapore
“We want to motivate, motivate,
motivate and prove that Youth-led
Development is not just a dream.”
Sergey Atliyev, 20, Turkmenistan
“Youth-led projects are the key for
true development. It is investing in
the present and future of our global
community.”
Fabrizio Scrollini, 23, Uruguay
“The toolkit will help youth under-
stand how to turn their ideas into
real life solutions, empowering them
with the confidence to lead tangible
change in their communities.”
Shasheen Jayaweera, 21, Australia

 A Closer Look
We know we can “Be the Change.”
But to do so, we need the right tools.
And what better place to find them
than in a toolkit! This guide takes you
through, step-by-step, exactly how
you can plan, run and complete a
successful project in your community.
Start at the beginning: Preparation
recommends tips on research meth-
ods, planning your project and writing
successful project proposals.
Once you are prepared and ready to
get stuck into your project, Take
Action! offers advice on all the areas
of successful project management
from recruiting volunteers to manag-
ing money. It also encourages effec-
tive networking: we want this book to
help create a global family, working
together for a better world.
Follow Up focuses on evaluation and
encourages you all to take this task
seriously, offering guidelines and
templates that will help you produce
fantastic reports providing proof you,
and YLD, can be a com-
plete success. And for
the show-off in all of
us, there are tips on
approaching
the media and
securing that

well deserved high profile feature.
Finally, to learn more, check out our
Resources section. This lists useful
web links for your project and further
avenues to explore.
The way you use this toolkit will differ
depending on your country and situ-
ation. If you are living in one of the
world’s less developed countries or
a deprived part of any country, use
this guide to get out and research the
needs of your community and devise
a project that addresses those needs
effectively.
And if you are a young person living
in the developed world, you can help
provide essential resources for your
brothers and sisters by starting proj-
ects to help raise funds, gather books,
computers and other equipment.
Most importantly, we want you to use
this toolkit to take action – in what-
ever form that might be. It does not
belong on the shelves of libraries but
in the back packs of ac-
tivists, covered in the
stains of your proj-
ects. It is for people
who do.
Is that you?
PREPARATION
 preparation
You know you want to do something and you have an idea in
your head about what that might be. Before you do anything
else, you need to develop three things to turn that idea into a
reality:

identify make a write a

1 a need 2 plan 3 proposal

1 Research: identifying a need

Before you begin planning your project, it is essential you
thoroughly research both your subject area and the people who
will be changed by your project. Good research can help you
make sure you tackle the right issue effectively and efficiently.

Start with your own knowledge:
You probably already know what you
would like your project to tackle. Use
your local knowledge as the basis of
your research of both your com-
munity and subject area. List exactly
what you know and the issues you
believe need to be addressed.
To plan a fantastic project, write
down anything that you would like to
find out — but don’t be too specific
at this stage. Your research may un-
cover new ideas. Don’t limit yourself.
However, by clarifying a broad idea
of the area and people you would
like to work with, you have a far bet-
ter starting point for your research.
Use what you already know to iden-
tify the people you should be talking
to, to find out more.
Talk to your community: From your
own experiences, you have identi-
fied where you would like to do your
project and some of the ideas it may
tackle. Now it is time to learn from
the people this project should hope-
fully benefit. What do they think will
improve their community?

The web is full of sites offering information about development priorities. Try doing a
web search using key phrases or check out some of these online research centres.
eb
W

!
www.idrc.ca www.eldis.org
www.id21.org www.odi.org.uk
www.developmentgoals.org www.unmillenniumproject.org
www.wri.org www.un.org

10

What are their attitudes toward the
problem you wish to tackle — is it an
issue that will engage them or is it of
comparatively low importance? Al-
ways talk to your peers: your project
may not be aimed at young people,
but it should definitely be done by
them. So find out what is on their
minds, and how they think they can
affect change.
Talk to the people who will be most
helped by your project. If you plan
to run a soup kitchen for the home-
less, talk to the homeless about
their needs. Do not worry about
formal questioning at this stage. It is
important to get a general feel for
the community so you know where
to direct your energy and who to
contact in the future.
Hit the books: Now that you have
a broad idea of what the commu-
nity needs it is time to back up your
knowledge with facts. Research the
issues faced by your community so
you can become an expert on the
problem. When looking for funding
it is incredibly useful to be able to
quote statistics and hard facts, so
take the time to collect some that
suggest there is a real need for your
project. Think literacy rates, HIV-AIDS
infection rates, school enrollment
rates – all of these statistics should be
available at your local UNDP office.
PREPARATION
Cult u ra l a n d Et h i c a l
Con s i d e rat i o n s
How well do you know the people
affected by your project? If they are
part of your community, you probably
know them pretty well and you don’t
have to worry; their norms of behaviour
will be your norms. But if you are from
the middle-class part of town and are
interviewing people in the poorer areas,
be aware that culture and norms may be
very different. The same applies if you are
planning to take part in a project abroad.
It is essential to get to grips with differ-
ences of culture to prevent misunder-
standings from damaging your work. Try
getting in touch with local people or or-
ganisations and ask for guidance before
you go to areas. Think about taking on a
local person as a cultural mentor who can
advise you on any issues that may affect
your project and relationship with the
community. Here also are a few points to
consider:
• Rules for clothing: Is that skirt too short?
Do men and women need to cover up?
• Language: Could your words be misin-
terpreted to mean something different?
• Rural areas: Remember rural areas can
be more conservative and protective
than urban areas in the same country.
• Religion and beliefs: Are there certain
times for prayer when you shouldn’t
disturb? Be aware of any clashes between
your project and the local religion and
prepare solutions to tackle this. 11
 Explore what have others done be-
fore you and how can you learn from
this. Does their research highlight
anything you hadn’t thought of?
Think about the issue on a local and
national level. What, for example,
is being done locally and globally
to tackle the AIDS pandemic? Are
there groups and organisations on
both levels that could help or work
with you on your project? Or are you
duplicating the work of another and
would it be best to tackle an alterna-
tive problem or another angle? Check
out groups registered in your local
area and surf the internet to find
national programmes of research and
action.
Streamline your ideas through
detailed questioning: You now know
the issue you would like to tackle
inside and out. Use your new knowl-
edge to go back into the community
and ask the key questions that will
help you identify exactly how this
issue can be tackled in this specific
area. Your earlier contact with the
community should have given you
an idea of the key people to go back
and talk to. From your research you
should have an idea of exactly what
you need to ask. Check out pages
14 and 15 for tips on interviews and
questionnaires.

2 Setting your goals: making a plan

Getting a project idea: Once you are well informed on the issues and feelings
of the community, you can confidently start planning your project. To do this,
you need a workable and achievable idea. There is no best way to generate a
project idea, but there are steps that will make sure your idea is a good one.

Get help: Having more than one per-
son thinking about a problem leads
to better solutions. Build a team of
like-minded people. Bounce issues
and suggestions off one another.
Try not to be too upset if someone
identifies a major flaw in your idea
— better to raise a problem now than
later after you have put a lot of work
into an idea.

Interaction: Talking with others Idea generating: Expect to have a

almost always generates new sug-
gestions. Your team will help you
measure how good an idea really is.
Constantly invite feedback — take on
both positive and negative criticism,
and use it to develop your idea.
few failed ideas before you get one
that is really good. Turn to page 16
for an effective method of
generating ideas.

12

Prioritising your needs: Next try to
prioritise your ideas according to the
needs of your community. Have your
team vote on this — it will help them
feel “ownership” of the decision-
making process. Write up the needs
highlighted by your research then
prioritise them in order of urgency -
i.e. What is the thing that absolutely
has to be addressed immediately?
Once you have identified your prior-
ity need, it’s time to get creative!
Think about how youth can solve the
problem or at least how you can
make the effects of it more bearable
for the people in your community.
Consider ideas from your research.
Think laterally across a problem
— come at it from different angles.
What are YOU going to do about it?
If you absolutely cannot think of
an achievable project that can help
address the first priority need, then
S.W.O.T Analysis
IP
T
S! To help you figure out if your project is going to work or not, do a S.W.O.T. analysis.
This will allow you to measure your project’s -
Strengths: The people, skills, facilities
and equipment that you have.
Weaknesses: What limits your actions
(e.g. lack of skills, equipment, local
facilities)
By getting your team to write down the S.W.O.Ts of your idea/organisation, you can
get a clearer idea of where you are now and whether your project idea is realistic
and acheivable.
PREPARATION
move on to the next need — or the
next — until you find one that you
all think you can usefully address.
Don’t give up!
What makes a good project idea:
Achievability: Make sure your project
ideas are within your powers to
complete successfully. If you feel
an idea can’t be done, then try a
different approach. For example, if
your priority need is for electricity,
building a power station is probably
beyond your competence. However,
you could build a wind generator
hooked up to batteries. That’s an
achievable project goal!
Relevance: It essential that your
project’s main goal will address a
priority need. A common mistake
is to start a project that is exciting
without clearly thinking how it will
help improve your community.
Opportunities: Possible ways to build or
add strengths and lessen weaknesses.
Threats: Possible events that could
weaken your organisation and so
should be avoided.
13
 Make sure you are able to give a clear
step-by-step explanation of how
your project will address the need.
A web-based educational group,
for example, may be more exciting
to set up than community classes.
However, it would not be of any use
in a community with limited internet
access.
Originality: Be prepared to think of
new ideas. While an idea must first
be relevant and achievable, it helps
to be bold and inspiring, especially
for catching the attention of funders
and development professionals. So
try to think of ideas that are differ-
ent and innovative.
Having said this, tried and tested
means can sometimes be a safer
method. You may be able to com-
bine the two by being the first
in your area to use an idea from
abroad. Do what is right for you, and
don’t be afraid to be different.
Questionnaires
IP
T
S! When you are designing a questionnaire, think about:
Simplicity: Ask straightforward ques-
tions. Avoid undefined time definitions
such as ‘sometimes’ or ‘usually’. Different
perceptions will confuse your answers.
Instead stick to defined time frames
such as ‘everyday’.
Avoid leading questions: Keep ques-
tions neutral. Remember you are trying
to find out the views of the participants,
not trying to impose your views on
them
14
Fleshing out the project: So you
have an idea! It is your “Project”! Well
done! Now break it down into all of
its component parts to build a work-
able programme. You can use these
pointers to help you: each of them
will be explored further in the Take
Action and Follow-up sections:
• Your Team: Who, what roles and
where will responsibility lie?
• Your resources: Why are you col-
lectively capable of taking on this
project?
• Your supporters: Who in your com-
munity can offer assistance in the
form of finance, goods in kind, expe-
rience or ideological support?
• Estimated time frame: How much
time do you have to complete the
project?
• Estimated costs: How much will this
project cost?
• Evaluation method: How will you
record and measure your project’s
success?
Clarity: Try and focus your question
on a specific issue rather than general
ideas. if you make your questions too
broad, different issues will get lumped
together and will be impossible to break
up.
Relevance: Don’t ask questions just
because they might be interesting. Stick
to the issues you wish to tackle.

Setting milestones
Now breakdown your project idea
into a set of realistic goals. Divide the
goals into short-, medium- and long-
term SMART Targets. Your targets
should be practical, step-by-step and
allow you to focus on one thing at
a time. Use your SMART targets to
make a clear plan of action, scaling
down from your overall goal and
highlighting pitfalls and obstacles.
This will give you an overview of the
entire project.
Creating SMART Targets
SMART targets are:
• Specific – Precisely state what is to
be acheived.
• Measurable – Have clear criteria for
completion.
• Achievable – Have all the resources
to complete the task.
• Realistic – Can be completed within
the time-frame and budget.
• Time related – Have a clear date/
deadline for completion.
PREPARATION
Example: Digging a well. A bad
target is: “We will dig a hole.” A
SMART Target is: “We will have dig a
2m diameter wide, 1m deep hole by
the 12th October.” This SMART target
specifically states what is to be done,
how it can be measured and when it
will be completed. How achievable it
is depends on whether you have suf-
ficient resources and personnel to do
the job within the time-frame. Always
think about the time frame when you
are setting the target dates.
Evaluation
Also, be sure to set up a process to
evaluate your progress and see how
far you have progressed every step
along the way.

Interviews
Think about the following tips when you are conducting interviews:
• Be Confidential
• Be personal, friendly and place the interviewee at ease
• Allow the interviewees to fully express their views

Make sure you record the interview or take notes so you have
information to refer back to later. Try to end the interview on
a light note and always remember to thank your inter-
viewees. It will leave them feeling valued and useful.
Remember, you may want to engage their help on
your project in the future!

15
 IP A method to get project ideas:

T
Mind Mapping S!

Write down everyone’s ideas. Seem- Mind mapping is one popular

ingly silly ideas can often spark better method of generating ideas. It can
ones and the more ideas you have be done alone or with a team and
the more opportunities you have to
is an excellent tool to help you put
create a great project. You can always
your thoughts in order.
discount the irrelevant ones later.

Use other people’s ideas as inspiration Take a whiteboard or large piece of

for your own. Feel free to develop, or
make points based on another’s idea.
Encourage participation from
everyone — everybody will think of
different things, which will lead to an
eclectic and well developed mind map.
Documentation
For your organisation’s future, it is
extremely important to learn how to
document every step. Keeping a record
is useful when tracing the progress of a
project, and keeping a log of who said
and did what is invaluable when conflicts
or confusions arise. Try to keep track of
the following:
paper. In the centre, write the main
point you want to address and circle
it. As you have a thought about the
issue, draw a line out from the circle
and write it down. This thought
might be an idea about how to solve
the problem or an observation about
the problem. If you have a point
about this new thought, then draw
a line out and write down this new
thought and circle that too. As the
map grows you will be able to see
lots of ideas and how they relate to
your central issue.
Example of mind map

• Finance: budget and financial report

form
• Receipts and invoices
Idea 1
• Correspondence: copies of all letters
& faxes; a summary of all phone calls
• People management: Work schedule
• Networking: names & contact
Main Idea
numbers
• Research: interview notes; your team
member’s observation notes
• Legal agreements: contracts signed

Idea 2

Idea 3

16
 PREPARATION
3 The Proposal: writing a proposal

Now you have thought how to turn you idea into a practical project it is time
to write it all down in a proposal. Every project needs a written proposal — it
is the only way you are going to gather the people and the resources you
need to do a project. A project proposal is a living document — something
that can be translated into real money, real resources and real improvements.

Every funding agency has a different funding procedure, often with enor-
mously long and complicated forms, but they all ask broadly the same ques-
tions. The Be the Change! YLD programme uses a 10-point application which
you can use to give you an idea of what to expect. As you will see from the
sample on page 22, it can be filled out simply and it provides funders with all
the information a funder needs to know about a project. The points are:

1. Title of Project: make it catchy think you will succeed? What have
— ten words or less! you done before that is similar?

2. The Context: a description of your 7. The Mentor: identify an older

community/region and the major
issues you face;
3. The Need: the specific need you
have chose to address and why it is
important;
4. The Project: describe the actions
you are going to take to tackle the
need (described at 3 above) and
devise a schedule of when you are
going to do each action;
5. The Budget: how much each action
will cost. Estimate as precisely as
possible;
6. You and Your Team: who are you?
what are your qualifications for do-
ing these actions and why do you
person with skills and experience in
your project area who is prepared
to support and guide you;
8. The Evaluator(s): aim for one
older and one younger person, not
involved with the project, who can
give an objective evaluation on its
success.
9. Handling the Money: who is going
to handle the money? give bank
details.
10. Sustainability: how are you going to
make sure that the impact of your
actions lasts? What plans do you
have for follow-up and continuing
funding?

Remember to include your contact details: your name, address, phone and,
most importantly, your e-mail address.

17
 If you have followed our advice and planned well, you should be able to an-
swer 1-4 pretty easily. Follow these pointers to help you with the rest...

 Drawing up a budget: the budget should include absolutely everything

you might need, with each cost carefully researched and verified. People
often fail to break down their budget: don’t just give a general overview but
make sure you think of every detail! Think materials, transport, food & drink
during working days, rent and administration costs, to name but a few. If you
need a skilled tradesperson or materials — put the costs in the budget even
if later you can persuade them to donate their time or resources.

 The Schedule: what is going to be done and by when? A common

problem in YLD is that projects never seem to get finished. Good project
managers nip that problem in the bud by setting a firm, realistic schedule
early on with tasks and monthly targets.

You will see later on how the budget becomes the mechanism by which you
do the financial reporting — showing what you thought you would spend on
each item and comparing it with what you actually spent. Have a column for
little notes to explain the variations. You do exactly the same with the sched-
ule when you come to write your report: show the schedule you planned to
follow and place alongside it the schedule you were actually able to follow,
explaining any variations with little notes; (‘The materials were delivered
late...’ etc.)

The Team: who do you actually need to do this project? List all the
names of the people in your team, their assets and skills and assign roles to
them — including a role for yourself. In good people management, the team
will be present as you discuss and determine everyone’s roles so that they
are a part of the decision-making process. Again this gives them a feeling of
ownership of the project which is essential to motivation, especially when
there is no salary motive for doing the work.

It is also educational for every one to be present during these discussions

as all can learn from each other, and the benefits of doing the project will
be spread as widely as possible. Check out page 32 for good team work and
people management tips.

18
 PREPARATION
Identifying a Good Mentor: Many funders will insist upon projects
securing an adult mentor. A good mentor almost always is the reason that
some YLD projects are more successful than others.

The individual should be dictated by the nature of the project. If you are set-
ting up an IT training centre, you may want to approach a local IT professional
and so on. However, always try to find a multi-talented individual who really
wants to help you succeed and is not trying to re-live his or her life through
you! Even worse are mentors who use youth to push their own agenda.

A bad mentor can be worse than having no mentor at all. We have known
some dishonest ones who run off with the money! So be very cautious. Think
through your friends, family and business contacts. It is good to have some-
one who you trust. But before you get Mum to do it just because she will,
make sure she has the skills to provide and support you need.

Identify Good Evaluator(s): Remember, whether your project is a huge

success or a howling failure, you will unquestionably learn from the experi-
ence. And, to make sure you learn all the lessons you can learn from this
project, it is incredibly important to have an impartial, objective evaluator. It
is preferable to have TWO evaluators: an older person who will represent the
interests of the older members of the community; and a younger person,
close to your age who will tell you honestly if your project has improved the
lives and opportunities for young people in the community.

Do NOT get friends to be your evaluator — just because you think they will
give you a favorable report. That doesn’t do anyone any good — least of all
you who will miss out on the opportunity to learn important lessons from the
project. The independent evaluators’ report are the major things that funders
look at to see if their money has been wisely spent.

Often, a good choice for the adult evaluator is a teacher or a journalist: if you
get a journalist interested, he or she may write about your project in the local
paper. Finding a local independent youth evaluator shouldn’t be hard: think
about approaching community groups such as religious congregations, guide
or scout associations.

19
 Handling money: This is very important! Sponsors know there is corrup-
tion in some countries and are very worried about their money going astray.
With good reason! All of us have heard stories of young project managers
receiving money for a project then spending it on something totally unrelat-
ed. It is therefore necessary to impress upon potential funders how you are
going to protect the money they give you and ensure that it is spent on the
budget and nothing else. This usually involves getting a local school, NGO or
church to allow their bank account to be used for money transfers.

Take the financial part of your project very seriously. By doing this bit right,
you will learn an invaluable skill. Do it in a sloppy way and you may well make
it difficult for anyone to trust or employ you in the future!

Sustainability: This is often the hardest question to answer! How will

your project survive after the money given to you is all used up? If it is an in-
come-generating project, chances are you will be selling goods so you will be
able to demonstrate that a funder’s investment will have a long-term impact.
However, it is also perfectly possible to argue that a one-off event — like an
HIV-AIDS awareness performance or an environmental clean-up — will make a
life-changing impact on all who take part and therefore is worth doing.

Basically, you just have to make the case that the impact of your project is
going to last. It is not enough to say, as many do, that “We trust in God to
provide...” You might, but it is unwise to assume that funders will feel the
same! Also, it is not good to simply say, “We plan to carry on fundraising and
hope to get more money…” This indicates that you are going to be depen-
dent on soft-money gifts forever. That doesn’t impress any funders. So think
about how you will sustain your project and develop a careful argument.

Sustainability
IP
T

S! Allow your community to feel own-
ership of your project. In your research,
define exactly what they need and then
involve them in it. If you build a school,
for example, let the children paint it.
Involve a local government or NGO to
ensure other structures are interested in
your project’s continuation.
Delegate power. If you give people
responsibility and ownership, they will
nurture the project and care about its
continuation.
Train and educate the next generation
of young people. This will help them
continue your good work into the
future.

20
 PREPARATION
Troubleshooting for project proposals
We asked a young person who sits on a youth funding board to tell us the
most common mistakes made by youth applicants. Read carefully and learn
from them.

COMPLETE THE CRITERIA: Know the RISK AWARENESS:

FORM: An obvious aims of your funding Do you need a criminal
but very common board and make sure record check? Do you
mistake! Every ques- you are applying to the need to request legal
tion is there for a right people! A board permission for any land
reason so answer all whose remit is to em- you use? If working
of them! Any unan- power young women with children do you
swered questions is not about to fund a need the permis-
allow the funder project involving sion from parents or
to turn down your only men! schools? Is insurance
project immediately. necessary for your
project? All risks and
INNOVATION: Funders permissions need to be
PRESENTATION: have to read through considered before the
Your form is likely hundreds of applica- application stage and
to photocopied tions. You need to included on the form.
and read by many show them why your In most cases, the
people. If possible project is the best and issue will need to be
type it. If not, make why they should fund resolved before apply-
sure your handwrit- yours above others. Be ing for funding. Check
ing is legible. innovative! out page 31 for help.

CONTENT: State SUCCESS STORIES AND IMAGES: An example of a

the obvious! similar project working in the past will add gravitas
Remember the fund- to your application. A picture also speaks a thousand
ing board probably words! Good images that illustrate a need is very valu-
knows nothing about able and will help get funders on your side.
you, your project or
your community’s
needs. You must REFERENCES: References are essential to an appli-
make sure your cation form and referees need to be chosen care-
writing is clear and fully. As a rule, referees cannot be a family member
detailed, explaining or an individual already involved in the project/with a
exactly what you vested interest in the project’s success.
hope to achieve and
why it is necessary. A referee should be a respected person with a level of
interest regarding the project and issues it tackles.

21
 Successful project proposals!
Below is a sample proposal that successfully secured funding at the World
Youth Congress. From this proposal the project manager, 24-year-old Maeve
Wadge, now has the resources to make a real change in the lives of her local
community in Bangalore. A well thought proposal will help you achieve the
same.

Project Title: Screen Printing and Paper

Production Cooperative

The Context: There are huge communities of

migrant workers in Bangalore, living in tem-
porary, tent-like accommodation. In the more
developed parts, these have built up into slums
and more permanent housing, but conditions
are still very poor.

Most of the inhabitants of these areas are migrant workers

from neighbouring Tamil Nadu, the majority of whom do not
speak the local language, Kannada. The only opportunity to
work is on the building sites – hard, physical labour which is
extremely poorly paid, or other menial jobs which leave people
open to exploitation. It is often only the man in the family who
takes up this work, which means women are left to bring up the
children on a very tight budget. They are completely dependent
on their husbands, and as the work can be quite unpredictable,
are often left with nothing.

The Need: The project aims to address the issue of exploita-

tion and social and financial insecurity in these communities of
migrant workers. We wish to establish a cooperative of young
people, particularly women, and train them in screen painting
and the manufacture of products from recycled and hand made
paper. We will market products, such as business cards and pa-
per bags, to local shops. We will also prepare products, such as
greeting cards, gift bags and books, for the export market.

22
 PREPARATION
Your Team:

Project Manager: Maeve Wadge: 24, member of local NGO

Arivu/Peace Child India. Recruitment of members for coopera-
tive marketing of products internationally and – locally – for
training, coordination and overseeing work.

Raju: 18, Team leader. Training new members, coordinating

work load and marketing of products locally.

Laksmi: 24, Screen printer and paper product manufacturer.

Shivagarmi: 25, screen printer and paper product manufactur-

er.

This team consists of members of the pilot cooperative, who

have received initial training and have been working as a unit
for the past four months. They have proved to be hard working,
resourceful and skilled.

After the cooperative has become sustainable and we are receiv-

ing enough orders and demand for the products, we will expand
the members of the cooperative to include at least five to ten
people. However, we want to start small to ensure that the prod-
uct becomes sustainable and the funds are not wasted.

The Mentor:

Prabhu MC: member of local NGO Arivu. Prabhu is trained in

screen painting and the manufacture of local products, such
as gift bags and books. He has a number of local contacts who
can provide support and business for the cooperative. Having
grown up in very poor conditions, he has many self-taught skills
that make him able to understand the social background of the
co-operative members and communicate with them in their own
languages. e-mail: email@email.com

23
 The Evaluator(s):

Bernadette Raj: 52, Bernadette is the president of a small NGO.

She has been involved in development work for the past 20
years. e-mail: email@email.com

Venkatesh: 30. Venkatesh has worked for the association for the
promotion of social action for the last five years. He has experi-
ence running their screen painting unit – training Dalit youth in
printing and running the unit as a commercial enterprise.
e-mail: email@email.com

Handling Money: The cooperative will be overseen by Arivu,

an Indian registered local NGO who work with young people
from marginalized communities. The accounts and financial
report will be conducted by it. Members of Arivu will be involved
in the setting up of the cooperative and then in the training,
marketing and monitoring the progress of the cooperative.

Bank Account Name: Arivu

Address: 123 Peace Avenue, Chamarajpet, Bangalore, 1234567
Email: email@email.com
Contact: Jagan Devaraj
A/c Number: 123456789
Bank Sort Code and other details: 1234567890

Sustainability: After the initial set-up period, the project will

become sustainable by receiving orders from local businesses
and selling products overseas. The sales of products will cover
all material costs and staff wages as well as replacing wear and
tear of tools and materials for screen painting.

24
TAKE ACTION!
 take action
You have done your research, identified the needs and
planned a project to tackle that need. Now it is time for the
fun part — time to take action! Just keep a few things in mind
to keep your project on track.

Project management for success

The main skill you need to learn to become a successful leader of your project
is “project management.” No matter what career you choose to pursue in
later life, project management will always be an invaluable skill to possess. The
main components of project management are:

• Sourcing the resources — fund-raising and sourcing goods in kind;

• Legal issues — dealing with the law and getting the necessary permissions;
• People management — team leadership and motivation skills;
• Time and goal management — getting the job done on time;
• Financial management — maintaining cash flow;
• Networking — spreading the load and sharing resources.

Now we will look at the tried and tested techniques that make for successful
project management in all these fields. For though we hope that all members
of your team will read this toolkit and share responsibility and ownership for
the project with you, final responsibility has to lie somewhere. And, if you are
taking on the role of Project Manager, that responsibility lies with you!

Sourcing your resources

Funding is usually the first resource that comes to mind. Money, or lack of it,
is always the problem. We have already looked at writing successful project
proposals, which offers one solution to the problem of finding funding. An-
other method, which we will explore in this section, is approaching companies
for sponsorship.

26
 TAKE ACTION!
But first think, is it necessary to look at our resources only in terms of money?
Is it the single most important factor in getting what we want? No! Many
resources can be gained without spending anything! Make a list of what you
actually need and think about different ways of getting just that. You may
find getting resources by means other than money a far easier task.

People as resources: Never under- funders for money, devise a list of

estimate the importance of human
skills as a valuable resource and one
that does not necessarily need pay-
ing for! When approaching compa-
nies and individuals for support, con-
sider how they may be able to help
you by providing skills as well as, or
as an alternative to, money. Ask for
both, as many will be more willing to
offer labour, time and talent. This will
help to reduce your project costs.
Volunteering their time over money
will also give funders a greater at-
tachment to the project; as a result,
they are more willing to give their all
to help it succeed.
Funds in-kind: Raising funds in-kind
is a great alternative to raising cash.
Rather than approaching potential
what you need the money for and
see whether anyone can provide
the actual goods. If, for example,
you’re setting up an office, you will
probably find it much easier to find
a company willing to donate an old
computer rather than raising the
cash to buy a new one at very high
cost. The same is true for almost any
project. We met youth activ-
ists who had not only run a
successful rock
concert based
almost entirely
on in-kind
funding but
had even
managed to
make a profit
from it!

27
 Approaching corporate sponsors:Whether you are asking for financial sup-
port or goods in-kind, you need to plan your approach to sponsors carefully.
Use the networks you have formed and your newly acquired research skills to
identify your best possible chances. Here are a few points to consider that will
help you tailor your approach:
1. Will your project benefit your
sponsor? You will be more suc-
cessful if it is relevant to their own
aims. Would it, for example, be a
good Public Relations exercise or
will it benefit their community? Is
their brand related to your goals?
Try to present a good motive for
this particular company to sup-
port your project by considering
the synergy between project and
brand. Microsoft, for example, is
probably more likely to support
an IT project than a project raising
goats!
2. Are you a good investment? You
need to show you are capable
of making your project and their
money or resources work. We keep
IP
Top tips for sponsorship success
T
S!
Get informed: Do your research and
find out who is the best person to talk
to so you don’t waste time targeting
the wrong people. Try to get the advice
and input of people with experience in
assessing proposals.
Show you are somebody: Give yourself
authenticity by including support let-
ters in your application from as many
responsible organisations as possible.
Endorsements from other business lead-
28
on saying it, but it is essential to
present clearly set REALISTIC goals.
These goals should be quantifiable
and easy to understand.
Don’t say: “We want to stop the
spread of HIV/AIDS in Bangalore.”
Instead argue “We plan to take
workshops into five schools in Ban-
galore in order to educate children
about the dangers of HIV/AIDS...”
This shows potential sponsors how
you are going to make a change
and exactly who will benefit. CSR
officers are likely to be considering
your project against many others;
quantifiable benefits will make your
project stand out.
ers are especially valuable as it shows
a professional thinks you are a good
investment. Demonstrate previous suc-
cess. Enthusiasm combined with actual
results is much more appealing!
Show commitment and persevere!
It is rare to receive funding after your
first attempt so don’t give up! If you
are committed to your idea, then your
enthusiasm will show and eventually
influence others to believe in you.

3. Do you have you got accurate ac-
counts and records to prove your
reliability? Potential funders need
project managers to be account-
able for every penny they spend
to ensure their money is not being
wasted or misused. Your budget
must show funders exactly how
you plan to spend every cent of
their money.
4. Is the company in a position to in-
vest? Have they just invested a lot
of money in another project or are
they in known financial trouble? Do
your research on the company to
ensure that they are in a position
to invest. It’s best, for example, to
avoid approaching companies that
are downsizing or in the middle of
a employee reshuffle. Find out the
Get personal: If you can, use a con-
tact in the company and always try to
organise a face-to-face meeting where
you can explain the importance of your
project. This always creates a greater
impact than a letter. If you do send a
letter, always make a follow-up phone
call to ensure that they received it.
Think visual: Presentation is key to
looking professional. Dress smartly and
present your proposal as well as you can
TAKE ACTION!
budget period of companies and
try to approach them while they
are planning their charitable invest-
ments for the following year.
5. Are you diluting your ideologies?
Be aware of the company’s behav-
iour and ethos. You may want to
ensure that the company is genu-
inely ethical and responsible. Make
sure that it supports, or at least
doesn’t undermine, your values in
the area of, for example, gender
equity or environmental sustain-
ability. Do not dilute your message,
or take on someone else’s, for
the sake of cash. Be aware that
some businesses use examples of
donations and community work
to divert attention from their own
unjust practices.
with the resources you have. If you have
the chance, create a Power Point presen-
tation and try your hardest to borrow a
computer and type your proposal.
Thank supporters. If you get a grant,
prepare a ‘thank you’ gift or organise a
formal occasion together with company
representatives. Recognition of their
support will increase the chances of
them supporting you again.
29
 Sample sponsorship letter
In no area is the project manager’s responsibility more serious and stress-
ful than the challenge of raising funds. Don’t agonise over your sponsorship
letters. Just make them as good as you can, make sure there are no spelling
mistakes then get them out!

Letterhead makes
a letter look profes-
sional and adds
legitimacy to your
organisation

Clearly define the

purpose and aims of
your project

Clearly define stages

Co rp orate E ndorsements and and a time frame
Co rp orate S o cial Resp onsibilit y

A lot of companies have finally started to

Think about the
think seriously about responsibilities towards possibilityofrequesting
sustainable development and take their “Cor- services over money
porate Social Responsibility” (CSR) seriously.
As part of their CSR, many companies look for
projects to fund and support. This is fantastic Highlight the benefits of
news for activists who can make use of grow- sponsoring your project
ing CSR to ask for project support.

However, before approaching a company.

there are several questions you should ask
Make sure you write
yourself. Does getting involved with this
your contact details
company make you feel uneasy or somehow
dilute your message? We cannot tell you who
you should and should not seek partner-
ship with, but what we can tell you is to be Let the recipient
aware and THINK before blindly accepting know who you are
cash from what could be a dubious source.
Consider this before you write a letter.

30
 TAKE ACTION!
Telf: + 22 000 000 000
Fax: + 22 000 000 001
w w w. a n t i m M D . c o m

September 05 2005

Mr. Ali Oruntak

General Manager
Dedeman Grand Hotel, Kishinev

Co-operation Letter

The National Association of Young Managers of Moldova (ANTiM) in collaboration with

Canadian Business Incubators and The Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova is
organising the “Business Plan Competition for Initiative Young People”.

The goal of this contest is to support and promote young people’s initiative towards pro-
gressive business ideas and to offer them the possibility for the development and
application of these ideas.

The competition will proceed in four stages. Each completed stage has thus far been very
successful.

The stages of the Business Plan Competition are as follows:

1. Participants’ sign-up period (1st Selection): July 1, 2005 – August 15, 2005
2. Training period: August 25 – September 1, 2005
3. Elaboration of the business plans (2nd Selection): September 1 – October 1, 2005
4. The final stage (3rd Selection): October 16, 2005

We would like to invite you to support and encourage today’s young people by helping to
sustain this project. As partner in this project, we would like to ask Dedeman Grand Ho-
tel to grant a conference hall for the final stage of the Business Plan Competition which
is the Awards Ceremony.

ANTiM, on its behalf, would like to offer Dedeman Grand Hotel free advertising through
the period of the project’s activity with our media partners in the Business Plan Competi-
tion are: Kiss FM, Hit FM, Timpul, Curierul Economic, and Logos Press.

We would like you to consider this offer and ask you that you meet with ANTiM in order
to discuss all further issues. To arrange a meeting or for any further information, please
do not hesitate to call me on 0123456789.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Respectfully,
Aurelia Bragua
President of ANTiM

31
 Legal Issues

This, again, is another serious and stressful part of the project manager’s
responsibility. It is impossible to review every legal aspect that you may run
into, but it is essential you take it seriously. Research, plan, talk to the relevant
authorities, and be sure to initiate all the necessary procedures to keep well
within the law.

Risk Assessment: If someone gets A risk assessment is only worthwhile

injured due to your negligence, you
are liable. Hopefully, your project will
not carry many risks with it. However,
you should always conduct a full Risk
Assessment by quantifying and writ-
ing down exactly what risks young
people may be facing by working on
your project. If you are doing practi-
cal work, have a first aid kit handy.
Make sure all participants have the
correct safety equipment. Take pre-
cautions and
plan ahead
to minimise
unpleasant
surprises.
if you then use it to plan and imple-
ment ways to mitigate or manage
those risks acceptably. You may for
example ask volunteers to sign a
document acknowledging that they
have been trained on how to use
tools safely or the haz-
ards associated with a
specific location or
environment.

32
Permissions: Does your project af-
fect or use property? If so, you need
to get the necessary permissions
from the owners.
If you are holding a big open-air
event, you must get the necessary
licences or letters of permission from
the owners to use the venue. If you
want to dig a garden in school or
municipal grounds, you need a letter
of permission from the owner of the
property. Your permissions need to
be formal - not just a nod or infor-
mal verbal agreement. Go over each
part of your project in your mind and
ask yourself: do I have to get permis-
sion from someone to do this? If the
answer is “Yes!” — or a suspicion of
a “Yes!” — don’t go ahead and do
anything until you have that
permission — in writing!
Minors: Another legal issue you may
have to deal with is the issue of
over-18s working with under-18s or
those defined as ‘minors.’ In many
countries, local authorities require
that everyone working with minors
have to undergo a background check
by the police to make sure they do
not have a record of inappropriate
behaviour. In the UK, for example,
you would not be able to work un-
supervised with under-18s without a
police check on every single mem-
ber of your team. This rule will vary
among countries, so make sure you
are aware of local regulations con-
cerning minors.
33
 People management
Recruiting volunteers: A good
team of volunteers working on your
project is essential for its success. In
poorer areas especially, motivating
volunteers to participate in projects
can be a problem. Many are not
inclined, or simply cannot afford to
give their time for free.
Therefore, whilst you are unlikely
to be able to pay, try to make sure
you offer something in return for
people’s services: think food, travel,
board, or simply a fun environment
in which to make friends. Also, of-
fering certificates to volunteers who
complete the project, costs you little
and is a valuable, career-boosting
incentive to young people.
Public speaking
IP
T
S! Often you will be required to speak about your project in public. Here are
some tips to help you deliver those inspiring speeches!
Be prepared. Obvious but essential!
Know the main ideas and practice. Get
somebody to listen to your speech, so
you get used to delivering to a crowd.
This also gives you the chance to
troubleshoot for any words that may
cause you to stumble.
Use any nerves to your
advantage! Nerves cre-
ate adrenaline which
makes your heart beat
quicker and your brain
think faster, turning you
into an immediate genius!
34
Task Distribution: Now you have
recruited a team of volunteers, you
need to make sure they are utilised
well! Write down all the tasks and
discuss with your group who is best
suited to each. In most cases, you
will find that the variety of talents in
your group means tasks will naturally
fall to the appropriate member. This
is great because if your team volun-
teers for roles, rather than having
them assigned, they will feel more
attached and this will help keep
them motivated!
Only if you feel seriously doubtful
about someone taking on a task,
should you step in and assert your
authority.
Don’t be afraid to improvise. Speak-
ing naturally is far more engaging than
a scripted speech — and, if it means
you occasionally need to improvise,
then go for it. As long as you are pre-
pared, words should flow.
Remember YOU are the expert. So
speak like one! Don’t deliver your
words unsurely or apologetically. You
know you are right, and if others see
that, you will convince them.

However, if you feel someone is tak-
ing on a task beyond their compe-
tence, you must step in. Not only
would it be bad news for your proj-
ect, but learning through the disillu-
sion of failure is not very motivating
to your team and should be avoided
at all costs.
Leading your team: Good leadership
is essential to the success of your
team. Everyone develops their own
style: from the quiet and methodical
to the flamboyant and magisterial!
Leadership skills
There is no one way to manage a team well, but here are a few tips to help you
along the right way!
Give lots of praise. Celebrate
achievements big and small. Words are
free and offer great motivation.
Learn to compromise. Stand up for
what you feel strongly about but be
prepared to let go of less important is-
sues. People will be a lot more accept-
ing of your view if you are not always
dogmatic about it.
Communication is at the heart of ev-
ery good team! Hold regular meetings
and ensure that everyone, no matter
how small their role, is informed and
valued as a key team member.
TAKE ACTION!
All leaders, however, need a certain
fire to be able to say “Follow me!”
and know your team will do so hap-
pily and gladly. You also need to be
sensitive to people’s needs and mo-
tivations. An authoritarian, dictatorial
style of leadership will make you lose
sight of that. So look for a horizontal
style that invites everyone to give
their opinion and lends ownership of
the project to all.
Create a comfortable work set-
ting. Aim for an atmosphere in which
feelings and ideas can be openly
expressed and disagreements worked
through.
Remember that you want your
volunteers to come back! So have
fun together and organise outings or
socials outside of your project.
Don’t get possessive. This may well
be you brainchild, but you need others
to make it work. If you get too precious
or controlling you will not find a willing
team to make your dream a reality.
35
 Time management

Keep to the schedule: “Punctuality is transportation failures, or delays in

the courtesy of kings,” but it is rarely
the norm in YLD projects. Volunteers
tend to sleep superbly and turn
up groggy-eyed and late for every
scheduled start time.
You will have to decide yourself how
you are going to deal with this peren-
nial problem. One way is to shout and
scream and cancel lunch! Other, po-
tentially more effective ways, are to
schedule extended hours at the end
of the day to make up for time lost
in the morning, or plan a long lunch
that can absorb early delays.
More critical for time management
is how to deal with days lost to rain,
material delivery. Too many setbacks
such as these can leave a gaping hole
between your schedule and real-
ity. So prepare for it. Give yourself a
buffer zone within your time-table to
prevent setbacks from being disas-
trous. The trick is to know when it’s
the right time to be strict and when
it is OK to be a little more lax.
The best thing is to get every team
member on the same page with
the schedule — who is doing what
by when, and when the absolute
drop-dead deadlines are for delivery.
We did that at the Congress and in
preparing this booklet, thus:

Task When Final Responsi- Priority Complet-

Deadline bility ed?
Planning Toolkit 20/7/2005 Caroline Medium 18/7/2005
themed timeline and Orsi
discus-
sions
Journalist Toolkit 20/7/2005 Lex Medium 20/7/2005
brief/in- timeline
structions
Team Pre- 22/7/2005 Caroline High 20/7/2005
leader Congress
briefings
Presenta- Pre- 14/7/2005 Lex and High 14/7/2005
tion and Congress Caroline
equipment
order
Toolkit Pre- 14/7/2005 Lex High 12/7/2005
timeline Congress

36

Goal management
Getting the job done: In the prepa-
ration section, we recommended
that you set “milestones” in the
schedule for the project so that you
can register achievements along the
way. This is an excellent way of moti-
vating and inspiring your team.
If you are involved in
a long-term project,
you need to break it
up - by setting
achievable goals
within do-able
time spans.
Your job as
manager is to
steer the team
toward the next milestone. Keep
the focus on that, rather than leave
them wondering how on earth they
are going to achieve the broad, end-
goals of the project.
Between milestones, you can invent
targets for the days — for the morn-
ing and afternoon sessions, even for
individual hours or short breakout
sessions. This way, the whole project
will become results- or goal-oriented.
And that makes your project easier
to report as each day you will be able
to acknowledge a goal achieved, a
target reached. Check out page 14
again for tips on goal setting.
TAKE ACTION!
Cam b o d i a n M o t i vat i o n
I find my motivation through fo-
cusing on dreams - high achieve-
ment takes place in the framework
of high expectation and dreams
offer the highest expectations of
all. Dreams give us hope and when
they come true, joy and happiness.
When you have a dream inside
you, listen, really listen, and work
towards it coming true,
First, figure out what your dreams
are. Listen to yourself and what
you really want. It doesn’t matter
if you think it is silly or can’t come
true.
What do you need to do to reach
your dream. Write out the steps
towards it and break them down
into baby steps: a phone call to
make or letter to send. Make these
small steps.
Hold onto your dream. Try to
always be gentle and kind with
yourself. When you do something,
anything, celebrate it, notice it
and realise you’re coming closer
to your dream. Feel the joy and
wonder of that.
So reach for your dreams. Follow
them. Believe in them. Get others
to believe in them, and they can
come true.
Chariya Ear, 23, Cambodia
37
 Financial management
Cash flow — having the money at the right time to pay the bills — is the big-
gest challenge faced by every businessperson and project manager, young
and old. The way you will handle your cash flow will depend on the size and
time span of your project. If you are completing a small project, with one
main objective, digging a well for example, then the main piece of advice is
this: Do not start your project until all the money you need is in the bank.

If you are conducting a larger project
that involves a series of tasks over
time, then it is acceptable to rely on
a schedule of payments, deposited
in your bank at agreed times. Again,
however, make sure these payments
are guaranteed and contracted in
writing before you start your project.
It’s not what you want to hear, but it
really is the best way. Unless you are
100% sure of your funds, this is the
only way to avoid getting stung.
dealing with small amounts, but it is
still very necessary. Small amounts
add up to large ones and if you have
unidentified gaps in your expendi-
ture no one will take you seriously.
It is often wise to appoint one team
member to be the treasurer to look
after the accounts. However, as proj-
ect manager you should always be
acutely aware of your finances and
the exact state of your balance sheet
from one day to the next.

Financial management is also a

matter of keeping and demanding
receipts and evidence of expendi-
ture from everyone on your team.
This can be very hard when you are

Corruption
Most development professionals agree that corruption is the second biggest obstacle
to development after all-out war. Everywhere, it takes different forms,and unfortunately
there is no universal answer on how best to tackle it. But face it: many of you inevitably
will be vulnerable so here are a few pointers to help activists to avoid corruption.

Stick to your morals. You are the
future! If you don’t kill corruption, who
will? Encourage all your team members
to join you on the moral high ground.
Holding up positive values today makes
people more likely to do so tomorrow.
Once our generation become Ministers
and senior officers in companies and
public institutions, the positive values
we learn on these projects will become
the norm and we will finally be able to
break this appalling cycle of corruption.

38
Balance Sheets
Not sure what a balance sheet should look like? Look below. Your balance
sheet should show the amount of money in the bank (in credit) set against
the amount of money you have to pay out (the debit) . If your finances are
healthy the resulting number should always be a plus!

A. Fixed Assets
Balance Sheet Example
Tangible assets: Items bought for the proj-
ect that still have a value; give a rough idea A. Fixed Assets
of their value on the second hand market.
2 Computers @ £400 each £800
B. Current Assets
1) Debtors:outstanding bills and invoices B. Current Assets
that you still have to pay. 1. Debtors (£70)
2) Cash in bank: any money that you still
have left in the bank. 2. Cash at the bank £189
3) Creditors: any money owed to you. 3. Creditors £40
C. Net Current Assets £159
C. Net Current Assets
This is what you have (2) + what people D. Net Assets £959
owe you (3) less what you owe others(1) Plans for use of Net Assets: donate 0
computers to the school(£800) and
D. Net Assets spend cash assets to purchase ad-
Your net current assets (C) + your fixed ditional software(£159).
assets (A)

E . Plans for Disposal

At the end of a project, your balance sheet should show zero net
assets. If you have been able to save funds during the project by,
for example, getting materials donated, you have to explain to the
sponsor what you are going to do with it or they may ask for the
balance back. So use it to expand or continue your project.

Be Aware. Don’t be naïve or in de- Know your con-

nial about what goes on. If you are text. Be aware of
aware of corruption, then it is easier clan/tribe struc-
to take steps to avoid it. tures and how
this helps/defines
Avoid Gifts. Don’t give or receive people.
gifts as it is impossible to draw a
firm line between a gift and a bribe.
The giving or receiving of any gift
could compromise your position.

39
 Networking
Networks remind you that you are
not alone in the world. There are
many others out there who have
been here before you and who are
often very happy and eager to help.
Learning from others and exchanging
knowledge is incredibly useful when
looking for direction. Use existing
online networks, local community
networks and personal contacts to
gain advice from experienced activ-
ists and subject specialists.
Through networks, you can also find
everything you could possibly want
for your project — from finding a
mentor or evaluator, to raising funds
and recruiting volunteers.
And rather than just use networks,
be part of them! Encourage the
development of local and inter-
personal networks between friends.
We want to see a network of global
youth that acts as a family: sharing
the load and supporting fellow mem-
bers. Networks are the basic human
safety net. Find them, cherish
them and use them!
40
Community networks: Community
networking helps raise project aware-
ness amongst those it is affecting.
It is also incredibly useful for gaining
the hands-on support your project
needs. Through community networks
it may be possible to find free labour,
resources and advice. It will help cre-
ate a sense of community ownership
of your project. Think about who
you, or your friends and family, are
connected to. A great way to do this
is to put yourself in the middle of
a pictorial web and spread out the
lines through your family and friends.
Ask each to give you five useful
names and watch your web grow!
Professional networks: The support
of a large organisation in your field
may help your project gain recog-
nition and credence. Professional
guidance can also be invaluable in
helping a project remain sustainable.
An established organisation’s support
adds legitimacy to your work and can
be useful in getting round obstacles
such as legal loopholes. Network
with these people, create strategic
alliances and, with their blessing, use
their voice and established position
to your advantage.

Adult Advocates: Often embassy
officials, government members
and celebrities can act as power-
ful endorsers to a project. Network
with these people to attract much
needed attention to your project.
But be careful. Make sure media
interest in some teen sensation does
not detract and overshadow your
actual cause. Remember this is your
project, not their promotional tour!
Online networking and youth net-
works: The internet is an enormous
and fantastically useful resource for
youth-led development. There are
a number of websites and networks
devoted to this subject. These are in-
valuable for getting hints and tips for
TAKE ACTION!
project management from success-
fully completed projects. But don’t
just look for success stories - some-
times it is even more helpful to re-
view projects that went wrong. These
stories are hard to find as youth,like
everyone else, do not like the stigma
of failure. And remember, once you
have finished your project, you can
contribute to this spirit of coop-
eration by telling your experience,
including mistakes, fully and honestly
in your reports. Remember we are in
this fight together! It may be too late
for you to learn from your mistakes,
but others can so share mistakes to
prevent others from repeating them.
Check out some of the great online
youth networks listed on page 58.
41
 Do what you say you’re going to do!!
Everybody faces times when their
project seems nothing but an uphill
struggle. And when times get challeng-
ing, many of you may be tempted to
give up... Don’t!
It is very normal for you to go through a
difficult stage in your project. You need
to persevere and face up to whatever
challenge is thrown at you.
Think about the amount you have
already invested and the obstacles you
have already overcome. If you give
up, all of that will be wasted. But if you
keep at it, push for one goal at a time,
you will learn and grow and your final
success will be even more rewarding.
Another essential in YLD is keeping
your word. Make sure you always do
exactly what you say you are going to
do. If you are not sure if you will be able
to do something, don’t commit to it!
42
If we are honest, that is the major
concern that governments and big
organisations have about YLD. They
think we are unreliable and will give up
at the first sign of a problem. That is not
true! To change opinions of YLD, we
need to show a very high success rate
and prove that not only are youth are
the biggest bang for the development
investor’s buck, but that we are a very
low risk, safe investment too.
To date, we have pretty much achieved
a 100% success rate, often exceeding
our own and other’s expectations.
Now it is time for you to join this happy
tradition. By persevering you, too, can
prove that YLD truly works. And, if
things go wrong and you face insuper-
able obstacles, just remember: DON’T
YOU DARE GIVE UP!!
Keep the faith and Do What You Say
You’re Going To Do!
FOLLOW-UP
 Follow-up
Your project is coming to a close, but it is not quite time to
relax! Follow-up is vital to achieving success in the field of
YLD. And whilst you will traditionally write your evaluation
at the end of your project, it is extremely important for each
project manager to think about the evaluation and reporting
part of the project at every stage.

Evaluation & reporting:

Evaluation has many purposes and provides many benefits both to the proj-
ect and you as an individual far beyond helping the project continue into the
future. Good evaluations give you and your funders -

1. A strong idea of where your not have to repeat them.

personal strengths lie. This is an
invaluable reference for you!
2. Vital feedback to funders and
supporters of your project. An
evaluation can prove to sponsors
that they were right to invest in
you and will encourage them to
invest in you again in future. If
you fail to report your funders will
feel uninvolved and unvalued.
3. Provide a source of information.
At the start of your project you
researched experts in your field.
Now you are the expert so share
your knowledge! And whilst we
want all projects to be a suc-
cess, problems do happen and
it is vital we learn from them. So
don’t be afraid to admit mistakes.
We all make them! It is a sign of
strength to admit them and pass
on their lessons so that others do
4. Evaluations of successful projects
give us the evidence we need
to prove to government and aid
agencies that YLD WORKS! If we
expect people to take notice we
have to provide them with hard
evidence of what we can do. If
we do not produce reports, our
message will never be heard by
the those capable of making
policy changes.
5. Young people are generally not
fans of evaluating - we enjoy the
action too much to sit behind
a desk and write it all down in
a dreary report. But this has to
change. Reports don’t have to
be dull - they can be colourful,
will illustrated with photographs,
entertainingly written. And with
these in hand, we know we can
change attitudes towards YLD.

44

Project Manager Report
Your personal diary
of the project
Photographs
Your personal diary of the project:
This is what you felt about the proj-
ect’s progress on each day. Sponsors
have really liked a highly personal
story of the project.
Performance reports: This is written
in a similar format to an evaluator’s
report. The performance reports
should be your professional take on
the success of your team and your
strategy. Check out the template
overleaf to see what your perfor-
mance report should include.
Project photographs: It is really
astonishing the difference a good
or bad photograph can make to a
report. So many of the photographs
we get from YLD projects are useless!
Stupid, cheesy close-ups, meaning-
less group photos, far away, indis-
tinct views. What we need are good
action shots, images showing results,
FOLLOW UP
Formal performance
reports of your team,
methodologies and
outcomes
Financial report
and shots of the team engaged in
doing something good. These are
invaluable and tell the story better
than words. Think carefully about
what pictures you need to tell the
most positive story about your proj-
ect. We need them for the website!
Financial report: Have you kept your
accounts in order at all times? It
is incredibly important that spon-
sors can see their money was spent
responsibly and has been accounted
for. That is not to say your actual
spending should be exactly as you
proposed in your budget - changes
are a fact of life. But a good financial
report means that you have properly
documented all expenditures and
noted any changes and explain dis-
crepancies between your proposed
budget and the actual spending. See
the sample report on page 46 to get
an idea of how to present this.
45
 Young project manager’s performance report

It is very important that your performance reports follow a similar pattern.

That way, we can compare each project with another and build up a coherent
picture of what is happening in the field. Below is a generic template for a
project manager’s performance report. Use it to help us achieve consistency.

Project Name

Name

2 Organisation in Charge

Name Name of the organisation.

Address Postal Address - street address and PO Box No.

Contact’s
Name

Email Phone

3 Project Summary

State the project goals as defined by the initial project proposal.

4 Evaluation

Project Set the scene - regionally and/or nationally.

Describe social, economic or political factors that
Context you feel have affected your project.

46
 FOLLOW UP
Methodology How did you carry out your evaluation and what tools
did you use? Did you, for example, use surveys,
Used interviews or a mixture of both?

Project Did you achieve the goals outlined in question 3?

Analysis
according What other goals did you achieve aside from your main
one? What hopes did you have aside from your goals;
to the community involvement, training, project expansion?
goals Were these realised?

Why do you think things did or didn’t go well? Indicate

what specific activities were done to try to achieve
your goals, how it went, the circumstances that helped
or hindered their success and the effect it had on your
overall plan.

If appropriate, you may choose to present some of your

analysis through graphs and visual aids that show the
effects of your project. This is often a good way of
making your report more visually appealing to funders.

Human Evaluate your adult mentor’s assistance (If you had

resource more than one, do a separate section for each)
analysis Did they provide you with the guidance and assistance
you needed?

Were any problems encountered? How did they assist you?

Could they have been more effective?

Your How well did you team work together? Did each person
Team work well within their defined role? Be very honest and
try to include positive and negative comments.

Include in this section an HONEST evaluation of your-

self. How well do you feel you performed as a project
leader? How much work was involved and what mistakes
did you make? When things went wrong, how did you
handle it?

Highlighting shortfalls will not be your favourite job

but remember it is ESSENTIAL if you are ever going to
learn from the experience.

The effect To what extent did the community get involved in the
on the ben- project? Was this positive? How could they have been
involved further?
eficiaries

47
 5 Media Reaction and Local Awareness

How many times did your project appear in the media?

Was all coverage positive? What could have been done to
increase media interest?

Did you project attract community interest? In what

ways? Could this have been improved upon?

6 Evaluation

Considering all the above assessments, what is your

overall assessment of the project?

What would you identify as your strengths and weak-

nesses?

What lessons will you take forward from this project?

What recommendations would you make to future project

managers?

7 Next Steps

Now the official project has finished, what will you do

next?

Are there plans for expansion/continuation?

48
 FOLLOW UP
Taking Photographs
It is very important to have a visual reference of your project so that you can
document your progress with it. Make sure that you take several shots, you
will because you will only a few ones that are good.

A good photo will show what actions

the people in your team did every
day! We like this photo because it
shows young people actually doing
something - planting a tree.

A common mistake is that the photos

are taken with a poor camera and
comes out over- or under-exposed

If you take photographs in a hurry,

you will sometimes shake the camera
and get photographs that are blurry.

Another very common mistake we

see is a close up of interesting people
that fails to show what they are actu-
ally doing. Remember: what you are
reporting on is what they are doing
not their faces, however beautiful
those faces may be!

49
 Financial reports

Sponsors are always very impressed when they receive a professionally written
financial report. These do not have to be long, wordy documents. If you have
kept proper receipts and got your documentation right, the facts and figures
should speak for themselves. Just makes sure you include all expenditure and
explain any variations from the proposed budget in an attached sheet. The
report below is for a 3-month AIDS awareness drama programme in Kenya:

PROPOSED ACTUAL
ITEM
BUDGET BUDGET VARIANCE

USD USD
1. Office 3 months @ 6000/- = $80 per month. 240.00 240.00 0.00
2. Hire of hall for rehearsal for 10 days @ 750/- 100.00 90.00 10.00
= $10 per day
4. Programme officer transport and meal allow- 184.55 195.21 (10.66)
ance for 35 days @ 400/- = $5.33 per day
5. Drama director transport and meals allowance 100.00 98.36 1.64
for 25 days @ 300/- = $4 per day
6. Phone, email and 1st mailing 91.80 77.64 14.16
7. Rehearsal allowance for 12 actors x 10 days 320.04 314.75 5.29
@ 2000/- = $26.67 each for the full period
8. Purchase and printing of banner 45.00 45.90 (0.90)

9. Purchase and printing of T-shirts @ 400/- = 202.54 189.34 13.20

$5.33 each x 38 units
10. Hire of video and photography services 131.15 141.64 (10.49)
11. Performance allowance for 12 actors x 10 320.04 314.75 5.29
days @ 2000/- = $26.67 each for the full period
12. Lunch/food and refreshments @ 350/- = 65.38 84.26 (18.88)
$4.67 per person per day x 14 days
13. Transport for Dance troupe Waza Afrika 0.00 45.90 (45.90)

14. Evaluators’ costs 0.00 35.57 (35.57)

15. 2nd Mailing Final report 0.00 29.19 (29.19)

TOTAL COST OF RUNNING 1,800.50 1,902.51 (102.01)

THE PROJECT KSHS KSHS KSHS
135,0374.60 142,688.25 (7,650.75)

50
 FOLLOW UP
NOTES

1. The additional day allowance costs for both programme officer and drama
director were financed by Yiff. (Spell out what YIFF is!)

2. Our initial budget for the allowances for the actors was for ten but we
needed two additional actors to complete the cast. Again the extra costs
were financed by Yiff.

3. The cost of T-shirts and banners) were under estimated. Therefore, to

remain close to budget we reduced our initial order of fifty T-shirts and
printed one, instead of two, banners.

4. The budget did not account for these costs. However we were able to
cover the bill from savings made elsewhere (see point five).

5. We made a huge saving on evaluation costs by securing the service in

kind.

It is important to note that due to a fluctuating exchange rate, there was a

small variance between budget set and money received. The budget was set
at Kshs 75.21 per dollar, however the exchange rates at the point of receiving
funds was Kshs 76.25 per dollar, slightly less favorable.

Present the budget in the

currency you received the
If you rectified budget
funding
issues this is the place
to do it.

Cleary state and explain dif-

ferences between proposed
budget to actual spending.
Present your financial Report in the cur-
rency in which your sponsor sent you the
funding,translating all costs and figures
into that currency.
Break down unit costs

51
 Mentors’ report
It is useful, but not essential, to have a short report from your mentor. This
does not have to be long or excessively formal. It should just be an account
of the project from the Mentor’s general perspective. Ask for a 2-page report
on how s/he felt the project went, focusing specifically on their role and their
effect on the project. S/he should consider these points:

Your relationship with the project Team development: In your opin-

manager and team members:
How far were you able to guide
them? How willing were they to
consider your advice?
The role and importance of a
mentor: How did you presence
add or detract from the success of
the project. Do you think a men-
tor was essential to the project’s
success? Explain your answers.
ion, what did the team learn both
from you and from taking part
in the project. Do you think the
experience was valuable to the
youth involved. In what way?
Future of YLD: After taking part
in this project, how do you feel
about YLD and its future? What,
do you feel, should be the rela-
tionship between adults and YLD?

Evaluators’ report
Like the project manager’s report, it is infinitely more useful if both evalu-
ators’ reports, the young and the old, follow a similar pattern. We propose
each explain the following:

1 Contact details

Give your name, your profession, address, e-mail etc.

2 How you got involved

What relationship do you have with the project

manager and the team members?

3 Methodology

How did you go about your evaluation? How many site

visits did you make, how many interviews did you carry
out and with whom?

52
 FOLLOW UP
General assessment

What appeared to work well on the project? What worked less well
and what, if anything, appeared to be a complete disaster?

5 Evaluation

Review the need expressed in the application form. In

Community your opinion, is it a genuine priority need in this
evaluation community? Did the project address the need in a posi-
tive way? Give a score out of ten as to how well the
project impacted the identified need and explain it
using evidence from the community.

Rate the project manager’s leadership style. How effec-

Project tive was s/he at getting the job done? Did s/he liaise
efficiently with members of the community? Did s/he work
manager well with the mentor? Rate his/her report on the proj-
evaluation ect. Is it fair and accurate? Did the project manager
grow and/or develop as a result of doing this project
and in what way?

Did the team work well together? Did any particular

Team member of the team catch your eye as a particularly
good, or troublesome, performer? If they did not work
Evaluation well together, where would you assign blame? Did you
notice team members growing and/or changing as a result
of the experience of working on the project and in
what way?

3 Financial report

Is the financial report accurate? Does it represent good

value for money?

4 Follow-up

What do you think the young people should do next? What

would be the best ways to capitalise on their achievements
in this project, or to rectify the mistakes that were
made?

4 General reflections about YLD

Having observed this project, what are your thoughts about

the idea of YLD. Does it have a future? Do you think
governments and aid agencies should invest more in YLD?
If so, what recommendations or thoughts would you offer
them as they start to plan those increased investments?

53
 Media reporting
The kinds of report that all sponsors like best are those published in news-
papers or magazines. Those are the ones that the general public get to see!
Do all you can to get a report in the media. We know that ways of doing this
differ from country to country and culture to culture. In many developing
countries, you have to pay the journalist and often the editor to cover your
event and get anything printed. We do not encourage this practice. If money
is to be spent, rather let it be spent to enhance the project and benefit the
community rather than line the pockets of corrupt journalists!

Remember: Media comes in many Contacting the media: As a rule,

forms: newspapers; magazines; radio;
TV; posters; brochures & hand-outs;
church news-sheets; school maga-
zines; community free papers etc.
All are good for different purposes. If
used effectively, the media can be a
powerful tool, providing a cost effec-
tive method of:
• Raising awareness
• Gaining mainstream support for
your cause and, if you’re lucky,
financial support
• Engaging communities and
encouraging participation
• Putting pressure for change on
governmental and higher bodies
But to be effective you need to take
it seriously:
• Appoint a media officer in your
team
• Plan a media strategy with media
invited to a pre-project announce-
ment and briefing; on-going events
and a post-project wrap-up and
evaluation
media centres are busy, quick-mov-
ing places. They want the best stories
out there in the quickest time. They
don’t waste time on anything that
does not immediately catch their
eye. So when you make contact, you
need to be aware that you will only
have one, very quick shot at selling
your story.
When you call a reporter, remember
that you’re only one of dozens of
people who will be pitching stories to
him or her that day. So be creative,
concise and informative, and stick
to your topic! Even if you’ve sent
material in advance, you can never
assume reporters know what you’re
talking about; so be prepared to
repeat information. The best way to
ensure that your pitch will be quick,
efficient and skillful is to practice it in
advance. Make sure you practice and
are prepared for different responses.
Be ready to answer any questions
that are fired at you!

54
 FOLLOW UP
How can you work your “hooks”?

In an attempt to promote Fair Trade ideals in their University and city,

students Lizzie and Alexis decided to organise a Fair Trade fashion
show. They convinced one of the fashion lecturers to join the project
and worked with their students’ union which agreed to host the show
as the title event of their “Fair Trade Fortnight.”

What angle did Lizzie and Alexis use to promote their event?

Fair Trade
University
The girls made sure other
As active members of the uni-
Fair Trade promoters such
versity, Lizzie and Alexis high-
as Oxfam and the Fair
lighted to the University press
Trade Foundation were on
office that they presented a
board with their event. The
good image of the univer-
presence of national advo-
sity. As a result they received
cates increased their media
positive internal media and the
kudos and ensured that
university pushed their story to
other organisations helped
the local media.
to promote the event.

Student Unions Fair Trade Week

Students in the UK media Lizzie and Alexis arranged their event
are often portrayed as lazy to fit in with a national campaign
and apathetic. The pair used week. This made the press more
this image and turned it open to any news about the issue.
around, portraying student
interest in Fair Trade as sym-
Students
bolic of a transformation.
Lizzie and Alexis used their status
They received national me-
as students to identify themselves
dia attention by highlighting
with a specific group. They received
a long-running issue and
student media attention by high-
screaming ‘look students
lighting what “fellow” students were
are getting engaged again!’
up to.

55
 Media DO’s and DONT’S!

Here are some tips to help you plan a slick and effective media campaign.

Really Identify
know your your hooks
target audience. and be aware of
Think about and what makes your
research the best ways story newsworthy. this
of reaching them. may not be obvious so
Know your think carefully and
media and what be innovative
interests them. If you and daring!
are targeting a specific
reporter, check out Be persistent.
Be prepared. his/her style and Media centres
Know your subject write your pitch are very busy
inside out. Have press accordingly. places and things
releases available to send get forgotten, so don’t
to them immediately Provide give up too soon. If a
any reporter pictures journalist said yes
expresses — especially when to you first time
interest. dealing with smaller — follow it up!
media which lack the
budget to obtain Get personal.
exciting pictures. Try to establish
Show your It may be the a link with a
passion. If you have image that specific person and
no confidence that secures always remember to
your project makes your story. be polite and friendly
an amazing story, Always make whilst exuding
who else will? sure your picture confidence.
is interesting and
of high quality. Small
or grainy images are
Keep of no use and will Be aware of
gathering make you look deadlines!
media contacts. If unprofessional. After introducing
one reporter is not yourself, your
interested, ask him/her first question should
to suggest others. be “Is this a good
time for you?”
56
 FOLLOW UP
Threaten Be sloppy.
them or get Make sure your
rude. Remember press release is a
they are not obligated tight piece of writing
to write anything. that doesn’t have
Forget local spelling mistakes or
and regional typing errors!
media! Local media is
far easier to get and has
the benefit of reaching Leave the
Don’t say the people of your subject line of
“thank you” as if local community. the e-mail blank.
the reporter did you Like your opening
a favour. Thank them for sentence on the phone,
doing a good job in Push it. “No” this is your chance
covering the story. means “No.” to gain attention.
Most reporters So use it!
will listen to you and
know how to say they
Get trampled don’t want your story.
on. If a reporter If you receive an Try to avoid
gives unfair or outright “no” sending your
negative media, call don’t persist press releases as
up and ask politely or pester. an attachment.Many
why? Then request Rather will not open
the right of reply. thank them attachments for
for their time, fear of viruses.
and ask if you can
write or call them again
in a few months if a new
Send a story “angle” comes Pitch to a
carbon copy up that might reporter on
of the e-mail to interest them. a deadline! You
a number of news are unlikely to get
agencies! They will not a positive response.
even look at it. Rather Give up! If
tailor your copy your approach
according to isn’t working, use
its target. a different angle or
approach alternative
forms of media.

57
 Press releases
Your press releases will vary dramatically depending on your project and the
media you are targeting. However, below is a well-presented and well-written
press release that should give you an idea of what you should be aiming for.

Use visual aids to

make your press MEDIA RELEASE
release look attrac-

Singapore Voice at World Youth Congress

10th August 2005
Start with an arrest-
ing Headline Singapore was represented at the recently concluded World Youth
Congress in Scotland by delegates Bernise Ang and Mahesh Rai.

The WYC Policy Document – a primary outcome of the Congress

By showing links to – was drafted by a drafting committee, on which Singaporean
delegate Bernise Ang served as a representative for Asia and
high profile events,
the Pacific.
you will add kudos
to your press release The WYC policy document will be presented at the upcoming UN
World Summit in New York next month, reviewing the Millen-
nium Development Goals (MDGs). Ms Ang emphasises, “The policy
document represents a voice of today’s global youth and ad-
dresses how youth can and should be a major force in strategies
for development.”

“As such, this document needs to be referred to when our country

Short paragraphs delegation addresses the UN Summit next month,” urges Ms Ang.
are more appealing
and help you keep “In Singapore, many of us have the luxury of economic privilege.
to the point. Let us use that privilege to join in the struggle to eliminate
abject poverty in other parts of the world.”

Ms Ang remarks on Singapore youth: “Our youth is the largest

untapped resource that has so much potential just waiting to
be unleashed. Programs such as the Youth Expedition Project of
the Singapore International Foundation have demonstrated the
capability of our youth to shine as leaders.”
Draw out links to
recent events the “Back home, the sheer volunteer strength in CDC initiatives
press my have such as the recent Taman Jurong Painting Competition reveals
reported on. the energy and desire of our youth to make a difference in our
communities.”

“The concept of youth participation can be so much more

meaningfully realised in structures where youth can be more
effectively involved not just in implementation (as
volunteers) or consultation, but also in significant
decision-making capacities.”

Provide contact
details.
Media enquiries:
Bernise Ang phone number, e-mail address
58
RESOURCES
 resources
We hope this book has taught you the essentials of running
your own project. But you can never know too much! And we
could not fit everything into one little book! So here is our list
of additional resources that we think you will find invaluable.

Youth Networks
Run by youth, for youth, these sites offer useful resources and information sharing
points. Use them also to build your youth networks and increase your global family

www.takingitglobal.org
TakingITGlobal (TIG). An online global net-
working resource connecting youth around
the world to find inspiration, information
and get involved in improving their local
and global communities.
www.youthlink.org
The Global Youth Action Network (GYAN) is
an alliance of thousands of
organisations working to create social
change. They work to increase youth
participation in global decision-making
and act as an incubator to global
partnerships. Membership is open to
youth-led, youth-serving and
youth-friendly organisations..
www.youthaidscoalition.org
Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS: A
global alliance of over 700 youth
leaders that encourages dialogue and facili-
tates capacity building amongst
youth affected by HIV/AIDS.
www.unitedgames.org
United Games of Nations International
www.youthactionforchange.org
Youth Action For Change. Inspires and
helps young people empower themselves
while tackling the issues affecting their
communities and the world at large.
They have developed a global network
of conscious and self-reliant youth in 83
countries worldwide.Their programmes, all
run provided free of charge, include online
courses, mentoring, youth-led programs
advice and guidance.
www.youthactionnet.org
Youth Action Net. Offers forums, resources
and toolkits to young activists.
www.wsisyouth.org
The Youth Caucus of the World Summit on
the Information Society (www.wsis.org). A
network of youth oriented and youth led
organisations in the Information society.

www.iearn.org
International Education and Resource Net-
work. Resources for teachers and youth.

60
 RESOURCES
Tool Kits
www.thusanang.org.za/ www.yearofthevolunteer.org/down-
Fundraising tools for youth loads/resources/resources_media_tool-
kit.pdf
www.mediachannel.org/getinvolved/ A media toolkit designed for volunteers.
journo
A media resource offering style guides and
journalism tips for a variety of regions.

Gap Year Organisations

For those of you interested in volunteering abroad, check out these resources for alter-
native and ethical gap year projects and volunteer opportunities.
www.vso.org.uk www.idealist.org
Voluntary Services Overseas. US Listings of current volunteer and job
opportunities worldwide.
www.peacechild.org
Opportunities to Volunteer in the UK, India www.oneworld.net
and Peru. Offers both listings of current volunteer op-
portunities and informative links to partner
www.projecttrust.org.uk charities seeking volunteers.
A gap year organisation that sends school
leavers abroad for a year’s voluntary work. www.raleigh.org.uk
Worldwide travel & expeditions
www.gapyeardirectory.co.uk
A comprehensive directory of volunteer www.yearoutgroup.org
opportunities, placements and courses. Listings of current volunteer opportunities.

General
www.yesweb.org www.iyp.oxfam.org
The Youth Employment Summit website Oxfam International Youth Parliament

www.savetheworld.com.au www.ilo.org/public/english/employ-
A youth-run information site on world ment/strat/yen/
issues and guide to sustainable and ethical The Youth Employment Network
living.

61
 UN Related
www.un.org
The United Nations Homepage
www.unicef.org
The United Nations Children’s Fund
www.un.org.esa.socdev/unyin/
The United Nations Youth. The UN’s global
youth policy entitled World Programme of
Action for Youth is available at http://www.
un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/global.htm
www.unep.org/tunza
The United Nations Environmental
Programme’s Youth Branch
Media Networks & Directories
Use these specialised media networks and directories to help get the word out about
both your project and the issues affecting your community.
www.worldradioforum.org
The World Radio Forum. Broadcasters, Pro-
ducers, Journalists, Trainers and Facilitators
involved in radio programming made for,
with and by children and youth.
www.unicef.org/Magic
Young People’s Media Network. The United
Nations media resource for young people.
www.oxfam.org.uk/generationwhy/do-
something/takeaction/write_for_us/
Write for Generation Why. A new Oxfam’s
Generation Why (Oxfam’s youth website)
initiative. You can apply online to be one
of their young writers who will contribute
content to the site on a regular basis.
62
www.undp.org
The United Nations Development Pro-
gramme
www.unv.org
The United Nations Volunteers webpage
www.who.org
The World Health Organisation
www.unfpa.org
The United Nations Population Fund
www.fao.org
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the
United Nations
www.newslink.org
Directory of links to newspapers and news
magazines worldwide.
www.mondotimes.com
Worldwide media guide with over 15000
media outlets. Local media by country and
major media by topic.
www.freechild.org/national_media_
outlets.htm
Names, links and addresses of publish-
ers worldwide that publish youth-written
poetry, stories, research and more.

Foundations & Funding Resources
The best place to start looking for funds is through local churches & religious foundations,
UN institutions and foreign embassies. But the imaginative fund-raiser finds all sorts of dif-
ferent ways of finding money – bazaars, competitions, selling things, selling services! And
you are never too young to become an imaginative fund-raiser and social entrepreneur.
www.fundraisingideas.com
Different fund-raising ideas + links to other similar
sites which get you thinking about different ap-
proaches to selling things, holding contests etc. to
raise funds locally;
www.access-funds.co.uk
Provides the latest funding information from
Central Government, National Lottery, devolved
governing bodies, EU and quangos. Access Funds
has email services, training courses, directories of
funding programmes and guides to funding.
www.worldbank.org/smallgrantspro-
gram
Since 1983, the World Bank has run a Small Grants
Programme to support NGOs and - sometimes!
- youth!! Check the website – and then go talk to
your local World Bank office. And remember, they
take 6-12 months before you get the funding.
www.worldbank.org/rmc/jsdf
The Japan Social Development Fund run by the
World Bank supports innovative programs which
directly respond to the needs of the poorest and
most vulnerable groups in society.
www.fundingagents.com
A great source book for UK fund-seekers.
RESOURCES
www.developmentmarketplace.org
This the World Bank’s Development Market place:
worth a look.
europa.eu.int/comm/youth/program/in-
dex_en.html
This is the European Commission’s home page
– portal to masses of youth action project funding.
It takes time to get money out of Brussels, but they
have a lot of it, and they are incredibly committed
to youth programmes.Visit your local EU Represen-
tative office and talk to them first.
www.globalfundforchildren.org
Funds small grassroots organizations that
improve the lives of children. Not Youth-led
development but good for $5,000 - $10,000
if you have a good programme for disad-
vantaged children.
www.globalfundforwomen.org
US-based charity that funds serious proj-
ects run by and for women.
www.peacefund.org
The Peace Development Fund. Gives grants
to organisations and projects working to
achieve peaceful, just and interdependent
relationships among people and nations.
the Americas. Grants range in size from
$500 - $10 000.
63
 Glossary
Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR): A company’s obligation and
responsibility to aim for sustainable
development in not just economic
dimensions but also within the social
and environmental sphere. CSR usu-
ally represents a company’s aware-
ness and acceptance that it needs to
develop socially and environmentally
aware policies.
Corruption: Dishonest, unlawful or
improper use of power, influence
and other means for personal gain.
All governments are susceptible in
practice to political corruption; the
misuse of public office for private
gain. Degrees of corruption vary
greatly, from minor uses of influence
and patronage in return favours, to
institutionalised bribery and serious
fraud.
Delegate: A person chosen to at-
tend or represent an organisation at
a meeting, conference or conven-
tion.
Local UNDP Office: The United
Nations Development Programme’s
(the UN’s global development
network) country headquarters.
Provides local information and data
about issues, projects and the MDGs.
Find your country’s UNDP office by
visiting www.undp.org/countries.
The Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs): Eight goals decided
in 2000 and agreed upon by all 191
64
United Nations member states to
try and achieve by 2015. The goals
represent a global responsibility and
dedication towards achieving the
targets which range from halving
poverty to halting the spread of HIV/
AIDS and providing universal primary
education.
They were introduced to encour-
age the international community to
stop talking about making a differ-
ence in the developing world and
join forces to start doing something
about it. For more information about
the MDGs and the role of youth visit
www.millenniumcampaign.org/youth
Non Governmental Organisation
(NGO): Broadly speaking, an NGO
is any organisation that is neither
government nor business. However it
generally refers to non-profit organi-
sations involved in environmental,
social or development issues, includ-
ing most charities.

Peace Child International: PCI is
said to be the largest network of
Youth-led Development organisa-
tions in consultative status with the
United Nations. Peace Child Interna-
tional empowers young people to
inform themselves and take action
on major world issues through their
network, publications and their series
of World Youth Congresses. Peace
Child’s headquarters is near Cam-
bridge in the UK and there are Peace
Child Field Offices and affiliates in
several countries. To get involved,
visit www.peacechild.org
Sustainable Development: Devel-
opment that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet
their own needs. Sustainable devel-
opment causes little or no damage
to the environment and is therefore
able to continue over a long time
without causing harm now or in the
future.
RESOURCES
achieve their development targets?”
Delegates were chosen through ap-
plication and were invited to attend
according to their previous role in
Youth-led projects. The next World
Youth Congress will be held in Que-
bec in 2008. For more information
visit www.peacechild.org.
The UN - United Nations: A global
inter-governmental organisation
established in 1945 that aims to
promote worldwide peace, security
and economic development. There
are currently 191 member nations
and the UN’s headquarters are based
in New York, USA.
Youth-led Development (YLD):
Projects and initiatives run and
largely implemented by under 25-
year olds.

World Youth Congress, Scotland

2005: The Third in the World Youth
Congress series following Hawaii in
1999 and Morocco in 2003. Scot-
land 2005 was designed to mobilise
young people behind the UN’s Mil-
lennium Goal campaign by stimu-
lating a large number of Youth-led
Development projects across and
tackling the question “What is
the most effective way for young
people to support their governments

65
 Index

Aid agencies 44 Oxfam IYP 51, 61

Balance Sheet 39 Peace Child International 2, 17, 65

Be the Change 5 People Management 34
Budget 14, 17, 18, 51 Performance Reports 45
Photographs 45, 49
Cooperative 22-24 Poverty 4
Corporate Social Responsibility 29, 30-31, 64 Project Management 26
Corruption 38-39, 64
Questionnaires 14
Development Priorities 10
Research 10, 12, 32
Evaluation 14, 52-53, 19, 17 Risk 21, 33

Fair Trade 55 Scotland 2

Financial Management 38 Skills 26, 27
Financial Report 45, 50-51, 53 SMART Targets 15
Funding 11, 20, 26, 30-31, 63 Sponsorship 20, 29, 41
Sustainability 17, 20, 24, 68
Gap Year Organisations 61 Sustainable Development 4, 65, 68
Global Youth Action Network 7, 60 SWOT Analysis 13
Goal Management 12-13, 37
GYCA - Global Coalition AIDS 60 Taking IT Global 7, 60
Team 14, 18, 36
HIV/AIDs 4, 50, 68 Tiime Frame 14, 18, 36
Toolkits 8, 61
Idea Generating 12 Trouble-shooting 21
IEARN 60
India 22-24 United Nations 63, 65, 67
Inter-American Development Bank 67 University 55

Interviews 15 Volunteering 27

Leadership 35 World Bank 63, 67

Legal Issues 32-33 World Programme of Action for Youth 67
World Youth Congress 5, 58, 65
Make Poverty History 5, 67 WSIS Youth Caucus 60
Mandela, Nelson 6
Media 54, 56-57, 58, 62 Youth Action for Change 60
Mentors 17, 19, 52 Youth Action Net 60
Milestones 15 Youth Employment Network 4, 61
Millennium Development Goals 4, 7, 58, 67, 68 Youth Employment Summit 61
Mind-Mapping 16 Youth-led Development 5, 6, 36, 42, 44,
Motivation 37 52-53, 65, 67

Networking 40-41
NGOs 20, 24, 64

66

Afterword
2005 was an excellent year for the
fight against poverty in general, and
YLD in particular. The Make Poverty
History Campaign in the UK became
the best-known brand in the his-
tory of ODA (Overseas Development
Assistance.) The Live 8 Concerts on
July 2nd reached more than half
the world’s population (3 billion +
people) with a message to G-8 lead-
ers to eradicate extreme poverty.
In August, World Youth Congress
delegates produced a Framework for
Action to enable governments and
ODA agencies to engage the energy
and skills of youth in the effort to
achieve the MDGs. The young people
committed themselves to building
awareness of the MDGs while calling
on governments to do more research
on YLD, do more development edu-
cation at all levels, and to invest 0.7%
of ODA in YLD. [For the full text, see:
www.scotland2005.org]
In September, the Inter-American
Development Bank celebrated the
10th Anniversary of its YLD Depart-
ment – with an excellent review of
its multi-million dollar investments in
the youth field in Latin America. Two
blocks away, the World Bank started
work on the 2007 World Develop-
ment Report on Youth and Develop-
ment – the first time that any major
institution has reported on youth as
a sector of global society.
RESOURCES
Finally, in New York in October, the
UN General Assembly (GA) endorsed
a revised World Programme of Action
for Youth with 2 very helpful Paras:
Para. 3: Calls upon governments to de-
velop strong partnerships to scale up
investments in youth and to encour-
age youth-led contributions to achiev-
ing the internationally agreed develop-
ment goals, in particular the MDGs.
Para. 14: Requests the Secretariat to
establish a broad set of indicators
related to youth which governments
may use to measure progress toward
the implementation of the WPAY.
This means that UN member states
now require the UN Secretariat to
disaggregate data to identify youth
development indicators. It also en-
courages governments and all of us
to develop ‘strong partnerships’ and
scale up ‘investments in youth’ and
‘youth-led contributions to achiev-
ing the MDGs.’ This is exactly the
language we need to persuade our
governments and all development
agencies to review their policies in
relation to YLD with renewed vigour.
2005 was a great year for YLD! From
now until the next Congress in
Quebec, Canada in 2008, we must all
ensure that the momentum begun
this year is continued and expanded.
So go for it and good luck!
67
 Millennium Development Goals
By 2015, the member states of the United Nations commit to -
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and
hunger
• Reduce by half the proportion of people
living on less than a dollar a day
• Reduce by half the proportion of people who
suffer from hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
• Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full
course of primary schooling
3. Promote gender equality and
empower women
• Eliminate gender disparity in primary and
secondary education preferably by 2005, and
at all levels by 2015
4. Reduce child mortality
• Reduce by three quarters the maternal
mortality ratio
5. Impove maternal health
• Reduce by three quarters the maternal
mortality ratio
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other
major diseases
• Halt and begin to reverse the spread of
HIV/AIDS
• Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of
malaria and other major diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
• Integrate the principles of sustainable
development into country policies and
programmes; reverse loss of environmental
resources
• Reduce by half the proportion of people
without sustainable access to safe drinking
water
• Achieve significant improvement in the lives
of at least 100 million slum dwellers, by 2020
8. Develop a global partnership for
development
• Develop further an open trading and finan-
cial system that is rule-based, predictable and
non-discriminatory, includes a commitment
to good governance, development and
poverty reduction — nationally and
internationally
• Address the least developed countries’ spe-
cial needs.This includes tariff- and quota-free
access for their exports; enhanced debt relief
for heavily indebted poor countries;
cancellation of official bilateral debt; and
more generous official development as-
sistance for countries committed to poverty
reduction
• Address the special needs of landlocked and
small island developing states
• Deal comprehensively with developing
countries’ debt problems through national
and international measures to make debt
sustainable in the long term
• In cooperation with the developing coun-
tries, develop decent and productive work for
youth
• In cooperation with pharmaceutical compa-
nies, provide access to affordable essential
drugs in developing countries
• In cooperation with the private sector, make
available the benefits of new technologies—
especially information and communications
technologies.
To find out what you can do visit
www.millenniumcampaign.org