Fundraising in tough times!

May 20, 2009

 Understanding fundraising

May 20, 2009 2

 Understanding fundraising?

• Door to door/ face to face donation drives –

Helpage, CRY, Greenpeace
• Donation boxes in shops
• Disasters/ emergency fundraising
• Musical nites/ food carnivals
• Old clothes/ newspaper collection drives
• Marathons
• Internet donations
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 Income patterns in India

• 51% of income is self generated through fees

and charges for services
• 29% of income is from grants; 13% from
donations; 7% from loans
• 7.4% is from foreign sources
Source: Invisible, Yet Widespread:
The Non-Profit Sector in India, PRIA, 2002
• The FCRA registration has increased from 30,321
in 2005 to 33,937 in 2007
• Of these, only 1659 received more than a Crore
Source: Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt of India
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 Pattern of international aid

• In 2007, global aid declined to 0.28% from 0.33%

in 2005, against the UN guideline of 0.7% as a
share of national income
• Aid in constant dollars (adjusted for inflation and
exchange rate changes) was no greater in 2007
(US$72.9 billion) than it was in 2004 (US$71.9
billion)
• Overall, DAC donors are a long way from meeting
their commitment to give 0.7% of their GNI as aid
– only five countries now meet the target
Source: The Reality of Aid, 2008 6
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 Limitations with aid
• Given according to the donor country's political
and economic interests, often with strings
attached
• Breeds dependency and is not sustainable
• Does not build local support for causes
• Competition for funds is increasing
• Creates the perception that civil society
organisations receive a lot of foreign funding
and that they don't need local support
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 India is changing
• We have reached the moon!
• India wants to be seen as a donor country and not
a recipient
• Donors’ priorities change, south India particularly
is witnessing donor withdrawal in favour of north
and west India.
• Of course, the recession will translate into
reduced amounts being doled out for social work!

Note: There is no readily available information on the long-term policies

of the international aid community towards India; and no readily
May available
20, 2009 information on the amounts and trends of aid. 7
 Despite everything,

Its business as usual for voluntary organisations!

• Children need to be educated
• Homes need to be built
• Diseases have to treated
• Poverty needs to be tackled
• Rights should be defended
• Life goes on…

May 20, 2009 8

 Income sources

• Government
• Level 1
Corporate
• Level
Grant2 making organisations
• Level 3
Individuals
• Self-generated

Most organisations function with large sums of money

coming in from major donor/s and are apprehensive to
seek wider support!
May 20, 2009
 Simple beginnings
Tribal Health Initiative, Tamil Nadu

Established in 1993 in a
mud-and-thatch hut,
Tribal Health Initiative(THI)
now serves 10,000 tribals
in a remote area in
Tamil Nadu

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 Getting support is easy!
Jun 2001 Regi and his wife, Lalitha put together a contacts database, starting
with 50 friends.
Aug 2001 THI started sending out newsletters and appeals.
Sep 2001 THI launched a website designed by a friend - www.tribalhealth.org
- that gives details of all donations received till date and of how the
money has been utilised.
Sep 2001 A visit by a journalist resulted in a cover story in The Reader's Digest.
The story was picked up by other local language newspapers and
magazines. THI started using copies of the article as a
substitute for a brochure.
Sep 2002 THI brought out a simple, inexpensive annual report for public
distribution, projecting achievements clearly, with an appeal.
(Circulation 500)
Oct 2005 Donations have increased from 15% to 45% of total income.
May 2009 Friends of Sittilingi continues to be their major donors
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 Some lessons
- A small remote rural organisation can achieve wonders if the
head is committed to communicating and raising resources
locally
-Basic systems to record addresses, acknowledge
donations and communicate with donors are essential
- A simple message supported by clear statements of
achievements is vital. Such as:
- Newborn deaths have gone down by 50%
- No woman has died in childbirth in the past year
- Ante-natal check-up has risen from 11% to 85% in 2 years
- Unexpected support emerges – donations totalling Rs 1 lakh
following the Reader's Digest article; a donation of Rs 2 lakh
from a single Indian donor in response to the first, very basic
annual report
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 Growing confidence

“I'm now totally convinced

about our ability
to raise funds
from the general public.

The credibility and the

sense of satisfaction
it brings, is immense.”

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Fundraising through a marathon

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 Board members and staff walk!

A Board member (Chairperson)

and staff team with families and
friends, participated in the
January 2007 walkathon
organised by Motif India in
Ahmadabad. They carried
banners to create awareness
about their organisation and
cause. They raised Rs 3 lakh!
This year Sense has also participated in
the Delhi half-marathon and Mumbai
Sense International (India)
marathon
works with deaf and blind
children. 15
 In India...

• Stanchart Mumbai Marathon – 42 km

• Started 2002; In 2008, raised Rs 8.05 cr compared to Rs 6.47
cr in 2007
• Dream a Dream, a Bangalore organisation, raised Rs 10 lakh
at the Mumbai Marathon 2009, with 50 runners
• The Banyan, a Chennai-based organisation, raised Rs 38.5
lakh in 2008
• Delhi Half Marathon
• In 2007, the Delhi Marathon raised Rs 1.47 cr for 42
organisations

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 Why people give?

May 20, 2009 17

 Fundraising in tough times

1. Promote your work

2. Tap local resources
3. Get government support
4. Work at retaining your regular donors
5. Involve local communities
6. Partner with corporates
7. Network with like-minded organisations
8. Learn from larger organisations that continue
to grow
May 20, 2009 18
Promote your work

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 Tap local resources

Any contribution from the local community that

helps the implementation of an activity, project
or programme should be welcome.

It includes financial and in-kind contributions

from individuals, local community members
within and outside the country, business houses,
national trusts and foundations.

May 20, 2009 20

 Community contribution

Village women in South India

have found their own way of
helping people living with HIV/
AIDS. While preparing family
meals, each woman puts a
handful of rice into a bowl.
These bowls are brought to the
weekly meeting of the local self
help group formed by Society for
Rural Development and
Protection of Environment
(SRDPE) in Tamil Nadu. The
organisation then distributes the
rice to those who need it. Also,
these women save one rupee a
day to support children affected
by HIV/ AIDS!
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Get government support

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 Work at retaining your regular donors
Thank Properly
Frequent Communications
Phone your top donors

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 Principles of fundraising
• People give to people
• Make it easy for the donor
• The 20:80 principle
• The 30-second rule
• Peer group pressure is a fact
• Ask for the right amount
• Tell the truth
• Plan
• Test and test again
• Say ‘thank you’ quickly and in different ways
The 20:80 principle: Be open to the idea that a few people in your community could donate
huge sums of money and a large part of the community could give smaller donation that
amount to a significant percentage of your donated income...
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 So..
Make a list of what you require support for
Judge what can be raised from your local community
Explore different ways to approach people for support
Develop a strategy for approaching individuals/ business establishments
Get the support of your leadership and governing body
Check legal and tax matters
Establish an ethics policy
Think about setting up a cell for communication
Communicate effectively
Plan and budget
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Thank you!

nisha@ifpasia.org

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