Tag: Fundraising
AWDF Job Vacancy: Communications and Fundraising Specialist
AWDF Job Vacancy: Communications and Fundraising Specialist
Background
The African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF), an Africa wide women’s rights grant making foundation based in Accra, Ghana requires the services of a Communications and Fundraising Specialist who will work within the Office of the Chief Executive Officer.
Job Summary
The post holder will be responsible for managing the diverse communications needs of the organization, working closely with the CEO and other members of the fundraising and communications team. Knowledge of managing websites, social media tools, microsoft office, good writing skills, strong communications experience and events organising are essential. The ability to speak and write French will be an advantage.
Deadline: 10th October 2014
Location: Accra, Ghana
Specific Duties:
- To provide strategic oversight, develop and manage AWDF’s diverse communication needs
- To strengthen and implement AWDF’s communications strategy, including in the following ways:
- compile regular newsletters, grantee stories and updates for the AWDF and African Feminist Forum(AFF) websites, associated social media channels and other communications outlets as identified
- be proactive, prompt and timely in communicating briefs on emerging issues involving women and girls on the continent
- conduct and write up various interviews, including of African women leaders and AWDF’s grantee partners
- update specific social media tools.
- organise a range of outreach events
- write and produce publications, reports, press releases, statements and flyers for diverse constituencies
- be proactive in identifying new communications opportunities for AWDF, its staff, its grantees and networks
- To develop and manage AWDF’s communications databases with contacts and details of AWDF’s key stakeholders.
- lead on the organisation of key events in the AWDF calendar including International Women’s Day celebrations and the organisation of the African Women in Film Forum
- To lead on programmatic communications activities as part of AWDF’s non grant making activities and to provide advice, guidance and ideas regarding communications in AWDF’s thematic grantmaking areas
- To provide fundraising communications support as well as report/proposal writing to donors and other stakeholders
- To provide special communications support to the Office of the CEO and to Special Programmes, including in building AWDF’s portfolio of individual donors
- To support the communication needs and training of AWDF staff and grantee partners
- To act as the key contact person to the media
- To build communication partnerships and key media alliances
- To collect and prepare stories capturing the impact of AWDF’s work and our grantee partners
- Analyse the impact of AWDF’s communications activities
- Any other reasonable duties assigned
Essential Knowledge and Experience:
- Education to graduate degree level
- Experience of managing communications programmes and activities in a range of settings, but particularly in media, civil society or social justice organisations
- Excellent communication skills (both written and oral)
- Excellent IT skills
- Excellent organisational and planning skills
- Ability to work as part of a team.
- Ability to work democratically and effectively with diverse groups and people.
- Ability to work to work to tight deadlines.
- Strong commitment to social justice, women’s rights and social change
Qualifications
- University degree in the social sciences, preferably in Communications, Marketing, Business Administration, or other related discipline.
- Working knowledge of French will be an advantage, as will experience in fundraising and resource mobilization.
Qualified candidates should send typed applications and a CV of not more than 3 pages to the Human Resource Manager, African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF), 78 Ambassadorial Enclave, East Legon, P.M.B.CT 89, and Cantonments Accra Ghana. Copies should be sent by email to ninson@africlub.net/awdf with ‘Communications and Fundraising Specialist’ as the subject reference. Applications should reach AWDF no later than October 10, 2014.
Only short listed candidates will be contacted for additional information and interviews
How to leverage digital technologies for fundraising success
How to leverage digital technologies for fundraising success
[tp lang=”en” not_in=”fr”]On the 22nd of May 2014, I had the pleasure of delivering a session on ‘Leveraging digital technologies for fundraising success’ as part of Fundraising Online 2014. I shared case studies from The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo, Spectra Speaks and the Korle Bu Family Fund.
For those who missed the session please see the power point below. Do share your tips of successful fundraising using digital technologies in the comments box.[/tp]
[tp lang=”fr” not_in=”en”]Le 22 mai 2014, j’ai eu le plaisir de donner une session sur «Capitaliser sur les technologies numériques pour la réussite de la collecte de fonds» dans le cadre de la collecte de fonds en ligne 2014. Je partageais les études de cas de The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo, Spectra Speaks et de Korle Bu Family Fund.
Pour ceux qui ont manqué la session s’il vous plaît voir ci-dessous le power point. N’hésitez pas à partager vos conseils de collectes de fonds réussies en utilisant les technologies numériques dans la boîte de commentaires.
By: Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah
Support the work of the African Women’s Development Fund
Support the work of the African Women’s Development Fund
Make a difference to the lives of African women by supporting the work of the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF).
To donate via wire transfer from anywhere in Africa, please makes a deposit into AWDF’s account using the following information:
Account Name: AWDF/Fundraising
Account Number 064/1008737
Bank Name Barclays Bank Ghana Limited
Bank Address P O Box 2949
High Street Branch
Accra
Swift Code BARCGHAC
If you are in Ghana you can make a donation to us in Ghana cedis by making a deposit into our cedi account per the details below;
Account Name: AWDF/Fundraising
Account Number 048/1014077
Bank Name Barclays Bank Ghana Limited
Bank Address P O Box 2949
High Street Branch
Accra
Any time you make a donation into our bank account, kindly notify us by email at specialprogrammes@africlub.net/awdf to let us know the details of your donation in addition to whether you want your donation to support a specific aspect of our work. Most importantly, contacting us will give us the opportunity to thank you in person for supporting our work.
If you are in Ghana, you can also sign on to our direct debit payment system and make regular monthly contributions support the work of AWDF. Refer all enquiries on the direct debit to specialprogrammes@africlub.net/awdf.
Budgeting for Resource Mobilisation
Budgeting for Resource Mobilisation
[tp lang=”en” not_in=”fr”]”Is it possible for Organizations to raise funds without Costs?”
This is one of the two questions I put to participants who attended AWDF’s recent Boot Camp on ‘Developing a Resource Mobilisation Strategy‘. This workshop was held to give our selected grantees hands on training in developing a resource mobilization strategy. As part of the programme, I facilitated a session on budgeting for resource mobilization. During my presentation, the first question I asked was
“The cost of fundraising has become the basis of assessing whether a non-profit is behaving responsibly or not. Do you think that this is a fair basis?”
There were very interesting responses from the participants. Some agreed that it was fair because non-profits should spend money on programmes and not on fundraising others agreed that it wasn’t fair because fundraising requires resources.
My conclusion on the discussion was that fundraising costs alone are not enough to assess an organization because it is dependent on so many other factors such as;
- Age or maturity of the organisation and its fundraising capacity
- Size of the organization and its budget both overall and fundraising
- Popularity and nature of the cause
- Methods used
- Sources of fundraising income
- Skills of the fundraising staff
- Strength and involvement of the organizations board and senior staff as well as other external partners
- Use of volunteers
I followed this question with a second, which was, “Can non-profits raise funds without costs?”. Everybody agreed that this was impossible but when I asked participants what it cost them to raise the funds they raised in the previous year, no one was able to give me a figure. There were several reasons that accounted for this but the common reason was that they actually don’t budget for fundraising and therefore they don’t report on their fundraising costs because this is not an expenses that they track. One participant actually said that if they were to budget for their fundraising costs they will have no money to do other things. I then asked, “Are staff not paid for the time they spend to fundraise?” Obviously they are but that cost is captured differently.
The import of these two questions was mainly to set the pace for the discussion on budgeting for resource mobilization. Developing a fundraising strategy needs to be done together with action plans and a budget for the resources required to achieve each of the strategic objectives. Every non-profit raises funds to implement its activities and yet when you review the accounts of most small to medium sized organizations there is usually no information on fundraising costs.
Part of the reason is because of the fact that non-profits know that spending on fundraising is deemed as non-productive and so those costs are hidden in other costs. There are several implications for not capturing fundraising costs. One of the key reasons it that organizations are unable to measure the cost effectiveness of their fundraising strategies which has implications on overall organizational effectiveness.
Fundraising is an investment and like any other investment the returns need to be monitored and this cannot happen without knowing the cost of fundraising. Additionally, if you invest less in fundraising you are not likely to get much out of it. You may be doing an excellent job but you need to tell your story to different audiences in a compelling and captivating way and all this requires resources. A lot of organizations remain small, invisible, and ineffective and eventually die because they have not made the right investments in resource mobilization.
So whether your strategic focus, is growth, involvement, visibility, efficiency or stability, you need resources to achieve that and you need to budget for those resources.
I am an accountant and cost benefit analysis is a key part of the work I do so I know for a fact that you need money to raise money. So how much is it costing you to fundraise and when was the last time you did an objective analysis of costs per dollar raised for each of your organization’s fundraising methods?[/tp]
[tp lang=”fr” not_in=”en”]“Est-il possible pour les organisations d’amasser des fonds sans frais?”
Ceci est l’une des deux questions que j’ai posée aux participants qui ont assisté au récent Boot Camp d’AWDF sur ‘Développer une stratégie de mobilisation des ressources‘. Cet atelier a été organisé pour former la main de nos bénéficiaires sélectionnés pour la formation au développement d’une stratégie de mobilisation des ressources. Dans le cadre du programme, j’ai animé une session sur la budgétisation de la mobilisation des ressources. Lors de ma présentation, la première question que je posais était:
“Le coût de la collecte de fonds est devenu la base de l’évaluation pour une organisation à but non lucratif qui se comporte de manière responsable ou non. Pensez-vous que cela soit une base juste? ”
Il y avait des réponses très intéressantes des participants. Certains ont convenu que c’était juste parce que les organisation non génératrices de profits devraient dépenser de l’argent sur les programmes et non sur d’autres collectes de fonds et tout le monde a convenu qu’il n’était pas juste que la collecte de fonds exige des ressources.
Ma conclusion sur la discussion était que les coûts de collecte de fonds ne suffisent pas pour évaluer une organisation, car ils dépendent de beaucoup d’autres facteurs tels que;
- Age ou à l’échéance de l’organisation et sa capacité de collecte de fonds
- Taille de l’organisation et de son budget à la fois globale et collecte de fonds
- Popularité et la nature de la cause
- Méthodes utilisées
- Sources de revenus de collecte de fonds
- Compétences du personnel de collecte de fonds
- La force et la participation du conseil des organisations et des cadres supérieurs ainsi que d’autres partenaires extérieurs
- L’utilisation de bénévoles
Je suivais cette question avec un second argument qui était, “Impossible pour une organisation à but non lucratif de recueillir des fonds, sans coûts?”. Tout le monde a convenu que cela était impossible, mais quand j’ai demandé aux participants ce qu’il leur en a coûté pour lever les fonds qu’ils ont soulevés l’année précédente, personne n’a été en mesure de me donner un chiffre. Il y avait plusieurs raisons qui expliquent cela mais la raison commune est qu’ils ne font réellement pas de budget pour la collecte de fonds et, par conséquent, ils ne se rendent pas compte de leurs coûts de collecte de fonds parce que ce n’est pas une dépense qu’ils suivent. Un participant a effectivement dit que si ils devaient budgetiser leurs coûts pour la collecte de fonds, ils n’auraient pas d’argent pour faire d’autres choses. Je lui ai demandé, “Et le personnel il n’est pas payé pour le temps qu’il passe à collecter des fonds?” Evidemment, ils le sont, mais ce coût est capturé différemment.
L’importance de ces deux questions est principalement de fixer le rythme de la discussion sur le budget de mobilisation des ressources. De développer une stratégie de collecte de fonds qui doit être faite en collaboration avec des plans d’action et un budget pour les ressources nécessaires pour atteindre chacun des objectifs stratégiques. Chaque organisation à but non lucratif amasse des fonds pour mettre en œuvre ses activités et pourtant, quand vous passez en revue les comptes de la plupart des petites et moyennes organisations, il n’y a généralement aucune information sur les coûts de collecte de fonds.
Une partie de la raison de cela est liée au fait que les organisation à but non-lucratif savent que les dépenses de financement sont considérées comme non productives et de sorte que ces coûts sont cachés dans d’autres coûts. Il ya plusieurs implications pour ne pas capturer les coûts de collecte de fonds. Une des raisons principales que les organisations informatiques sont incapables de mesurer c’est l’efficacité des coûts de leurs stratégies de collecte de fonds qui a des implications sur l’efficacité globale de l’organisation.
La collecte de fonds est un investissement et comme tout autre investissement les retours doivent être surveillés et cela ne peut pas arriver sans connaître le coût de la collecte de fonds. En outre, si vous investissez moins dans la collecte de fonds vous n’êtes pas susceptible d’obtenir beaucoup de cette dernière. Vous pouvez faire un excellent travail, mais vous avez besoin de raconter votre histoire à différents publics d’une manière convaincante et captivante et tout cela exige des ressources. Un grand nombre d’organisations restent petites, invisibles, et inefficaces et finissent par mourir parce qu’elles n’ont pas fait les bons investissements dans la mobilisation des ressources.
Donc, si votre orientation stratégique, est la croissance, la participation, la visibilité, l’efficacité ou la stabilité, vous avez besoin de ressources pour réaliser cela et vous avez besoin de budget pour ces ressources.
Je suis une analyse comptable et l’aspect coût-bénéfice est un élément clé du travail que je fais donc je sais pour sur que vous avez besoin d’argent pour amasser des fonds. Alors, combien est-ce que cela vous coûte pour recueillir des fonds et à quand remonte la dernière fois que vous avez fait une analyse objective des coûts en dollars qui ont été collectés pour chacune des méthodes de collecte de fonds de votre organisation?[/tp]
By: Gertrude Bibi Annoh-Quarshie
Finance Manager
AWDF
Specialised Training in Resource Mobilisation for AWDF grantees in Kenya and Uganda, 28th May – 31st May 2013
Specialised Training in Resource Mobilisation for AWDF grantees in Kenya and Uganda, 28th May – 31st May 2013
In the last ten years the number of organisations seeking to raise funds in the South has grown rapidly. There has also been a dramatic increase in the numbers of civil society organisations whilst funding patterns have altered significantly. International donors have been decentralising funding decisions to their regional offices and increasingly funding via Southern governments. Private foundations and International NGOs have also decentralised, and there have been shifts in thematic and geographic focus for aid. Social enterprise, corporate social responsibility and private/public partnerships have all been on the rise. In some cases international NGOs are starting to compete for local funding with indigenous NGOs as they seek to expand beyond their crowded home markets. In all of the countries where this is happening there is a huge shortage of professionally trained and experienced fundraisers. Training which is available tends to be brief, not systematic or sustained, and of variable quality and appropriateness. The lack of professionalism in fundraising creates problems for NGO credibility.
Since 2008, AWDF has supported a minimum of 100 women leaders from grantee organisations across the continent to the International Workshop on Resource Mobilisation (IWRM) organised by the Resource Alliance UK and with administrative support from AWDF. The primary aim of the IWRM is to provide an opportunity for people who work in the not-for-profit organisations to receive training in practical fundraising skills and other aspects of resource mobilization such as writing grant proposals. It also focuses on helping delegates to diversify their funding base to become more sustainable and less reliant on donor grants.
This year AWDF will convene thirty (26) fundraisers from grantee organizations in Kampala in May in a practical workshop on the development of a resource mobilization strategy document. The development of this strategy document forms a critical part of grantees’ effort at mobilizing resources for their organizations. And as part of AWDF’s core mandate of ensuring sustainability of women’s right organisations, it is important that we put in place measures that will move grantees to the next level of developing funding strategies in support of their resource mobilization efforts especially after sponsoring these organizations to the IWRM and GIMPA courses.
In this workshop, AWDF will be targeting about twenty-six (26) fundraisers from grantee organizations who have been trained at the IWRM and GIMPA but have not been able to develop a resource mobilization strategy document. Participants will be drawn from organisations from grantee organisations who have participated in the IWRM or GIMPA courses.
AWDF supports the International Workshop on Resource Mobilisation (IWRM) Africa
AWDF supports the International Workshop on Resource Mobilisation (IWRM) Africa
AWDF is pleased to support the International Workshop on Resource Mobilisation (IWRM) Africa for the third consecutive year. The IWRM Africa takes place 27th-30th November 2012 in Kampala, Uganda. AWDF has awarded IWRM Africa a grant of $30,000 and in addition are sponsoring the participation of 27 women leaders from grantee organisations in 10 African countries (Zambia, Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe,Nigeria, Rwanda, Mozambique, Botswana, Ghana and South Africa).
The IWRM Africa is Africa’s leading symposium on fundraising. Now in its third year, the IWRM Africa on average annually attracts more than 200
participants from over 25 countries across Africa and beyond. Many international and local NGOs on the continent now include the IWRM Africa
as an integral part of the annual training programme for their staff, leaders and board members.
Nafi Chinery, AWDF’s Capacity Building Officer will be speaking at the IWRM Africa on ‘Rendezvous: 90 minutes with your favourite donor‘. This 90 minute session is back due to popular demand, tailored to respond effectively to recommendations from last year’s event, making it the best rendezvous yet! If you will be attending this year’s IWRM Africa be sure to attend this session.
PLEASE NOTE: If you are an existing grantee of AWDF you may apply to receive a bursary to attend the IWRN Africa. Please see documents below
The International Workshop on Resource Mobilisation (IWRM-Africa 2010)
The International Workshop on Resource Mobilisation (IWRM-Africa 2010)
Greetings from The Resource Alliance .
You are hereby invited to The International Workshop on Resource Mobilisation (IWRM-Africa 2010) which is scheduled to take place from 24th to 27th November, 2010 at the prestigious 5 Star Speke Resort andConference Centre, Munyonyo in Kampala Uganda -on the shores of one of theWorld’s largest lakes, Victoria.
The IWRM is the leading training forum for building the Resource Mobilisation and Fundraising capacity of Civil Society organizations andother Institutions in the entire Global South. Now in its tenth year, the IWRM previous Host countries include India, Thailand , Malaysia and SouthAfrica . This is the very first time it will be held in Uganda -The Pearlof Africa.
FACTS ABOUT THE IWRM
…Now in its tenth year, has been running annually for the last 9 years.Last year alone, the IWRM attracted over 300 attendees from 50 countries
…It’s the most diverse, inspiring, learning and networking experiencefor Fundraisers in Africa and the entire Global South
…Specially packaged for the needs, environments and contexts of Resource Mobilisers and Fundraisers in Africa and the entire global South, with hands on practical approaches for practitioners at different levels
…A down to earth, practical, hands on and refreshing 3-4 day workshop that will take care of Resource Mobilisers at different levels. There willbe something for Starters, for Experts, Officers, Middle & Top Managers,Chief Executives, Board Members and Directors among others.
…Attracts some of the world’s distinguished fundraisers who are provenexperts and exceptional trainers in their chosen fields. What’s more,delegates can have direct access to them to ask questions and learn evenmore since the speakers are available throughout the week to talk with.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND ?
- Heads of Civil Society Organisations/ NGOs and Institutions responsiblefor the sustainability of their organisations.
- Directors and Board Members who are responsible for ensuring that their organisations have adequate resources.
- Program and Project Cordinators who are also responsible formobilizing, managing and accounting for Project Finances and other resources.
- Directors of Fundraising, Development & Communications
- Fundraising, Marketing and Grant Officers/ Managers
- Representatives from Government Institutions and Ministries withthe responsibility of mobilizing, managing and accounting for Resources
- Representatives from Trusts, Foundations, and Charity Networksinterested in learning more about the fundraising sector
- Representatives of commercial organisations operating in thecharity fundraising sector
- All those whose job involves Mobilising, using & accounting for Resources and managing their donor relations.
- Individuals who want to build their careers in ResourceMobilisation & Fundraising
- Micro Finance Institutions seeking to widen their Resource base
- Politicians and their Resource Mobilisation/ Campaign teams
- Representatives from Human Rights organisations
- Universities and Higher Institutions of learning who need an adequateand stable resource bases
THE PACKAGE
5 Master Classes; 2 Plenaries; Over 20 Core Workshop Slots on ‘HOT”Fundraising topics …and a truly African Gala Night
NB: In the attachment is the Registration form for the IWRM. It also hasdetails on the different registration options.
If you book as a group of 5 or more people, each person will get adiscount of USD 30 only.
ABOUT THE RESOURCE ALLIANCE
The Resource Alliance is a UK registered International organisation whosework is to build the capacity of Civil Society Organisations, NGOs andother None Profit Institutions of all sizes across the globe to MobiliseResources and Fundraise for their work. The Resource Alliance has RegionalOffices and/ or staff in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.
Please visit our website on: www.resource-alliance.org<https://mail.resource-alliance.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.resource-alliance.org%2F>for the following:
- Details of the available IWRM Master Classes
- A menu of over 25 ‘Hot’ Resource Mobilisation/ Fundraising topics
- Information on IWRM sponsorship and exhibition opportunities
- IWRM Booking details and Form and exhibition opportunities
For enquires regarding the International Workshop on ResourceMobilisation please Call: +256 (0) 414 664 562 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +256 (0) 414 664 562 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +256 (0) 414 664 562 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +256 (0) 414 664 562 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or +256 (0)414 346 528 or Cell: +256 (0) 752 658 806 Email: iwrm@resource-alliance.org or robina@resource-alliance.org
We look forward to seeing you at the IWRM in Uganda this November !!!!
Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi,
On Behalf of:
The IWRM Africa -2010 Team At The Resource Alliance
Tel. +256 (0) 414 664562/+256 (0) 414346528