[GKD] RFI: How Can A Grassroots Project Obtain Financing From Private Donors In Rich Countries?
Dear Colleagues, Lee Thorn, Peter Burgess, Ursula Huws, Gena Fleming, Vickram Crishna, Andy Lieberman and others have all given useful contributions to the issue of how to finance grassroots projects. The current debate on more Aid (Jeffrey Sachs and the UN, Tony Blair's Commission for Africa, the recent decisions by the EU and the expected ones by the coming G8) is all nice and well. But as you probably know, some people believe that aid (especially official aid from Government - or the World Bank - to Government), the way it is given, has little benefits and could even do harm (William Easterly, etc.). Personally, I have been wondering if there could be a more productive form of aid, both official and private. More effective and less distorting (dependency, corruption, waste, etc.) After all, aren't economies - throughout history - driven more by entrepreneurial drive than by Governments? At least, I believe so (having been both a Government bureaucrat and an entrepreneur). I have nothing against good Governments. But it is VERY GOOD to talk about how to develop forms of support that could reach DIRECTLY to the people and their own projects, as we are doing. Channeling A LOT MORE MONEY to viable, sustainable, projects by communities and small private entities, in a poor country, makes a lot of sense. In addition, empowering local (poor) people to do their own development, doesen't necessarily include only entities such as CBOs, cooperatives or micro-enterprises; it could extend to (poor!) Local Governments too. And it wouldn't have to cut out NGOs just that the projects or businesses would be started, owned and managed directly by the people. Of course, the NGOs would help, could provide credibility, etc. But I am under the impression that most big private donors (principally Private Foundations and Corporations in the US), are not donating that much, overall, internationally (where are the numbers?); and, in any case, they give primarily to big, established NGOs, not directly to single grassroots projects. Isn't this so? Again, where are the numbers? I don't think they would even bother checking out (forget financing...) some project by some small entity, say in rural India, even if they produced a full, well documented, business plan and grant proposal. Or would they? If this is the case, would Showcasing projects on the Internet (with simple descriptions, some photos, etc.) bring us far? Do you think people would donate much? Maybe some individuals could. There are web sites doing this... But I wouldn't think the big donors would, and one wouldn't be able to determine a SIGNIFICANT flow of money. Am I wrong? For one, what would prevent silly, wrong projects, or even downright scams and frauds, from being posted? My impression is that credibility, reliability and transparency issues may be the most important, here. If so, how can they be addressed? I hope that some other GKD Members that know this world (of fundraising + donors, etc.) better, will dwell on the matter. Best regards to you all, Arrigo della Gherardesca ItAfrica - Italian African Alliance srl Milano ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/
Re: [GKD] RFI: How Can A Grassroots Project Obtain Financing From Private Donors In Rich Countries?
Dear GKD Colleagues, I am currently in Bosnia-Herzegovina, looking at some opportunities for ICT to support economic development in this beautiful country that has been through such suffering. Great progress has been made in rebuilding, although sometimes one feels the trauma that people have experienced here. But they are doing their best to put it behind them and recreate the vibrant economy that once thrived here. Unfortunately, their efforts to use ICT to get into international markets are thwarted by a telecom sector that is still owned by the government (3 telecom companies, but the government owns a majority of all three) so there is no real competition. As a result, prices for international calls and for Internet are out of sight. Not surprisingly, Internet penetration is estimated at only about 5-6%. Even among young people who have jobs, estimates from a recent survey suggest that only about half have used the Internet. Unemployment hovers at 40%. Nonetheless, as is so often the case in developing countries, there are outstanding people who are building ICT-related businesses, or are creating NGOs to try to use ICT to provide social services. A major problem is that all organizations are extremely isolated. Good companies have few links to the international market -- this includes ICT companies that don't know how to penetrate market niches where they have strength and relatively low cost, as well as non-ICT companies that desperately need access to ICT in order to get into international markets. For example, the wood products industry is a major employer, but they face tough competition from the Chinese on the low-cost end of products, which is where they are currently competing. I am exploring the possibility of their getting into high-end, designer furniture, if they can get access to CAD/CAM, reasonable Internet access rates, and some other ICT applications that would enable them to enter that market successfully in Europe. Similarly, NGOs don't have a clue as to where they could get financial support, regardless of the great work they do. I was in India a couple of weeks ago, and the story for NGOs (though not companies by and large) was the same. Some fantastic NGOs doing great work, but threatened with shutting down because they don't know how to get support from international foundations or philanthropic individuals. Several years ago I tried to convince several donors to support creation of a database of NGOs around the world. Any NGO could have a space and provide information, and there would also be a space for people to write comments about the NGO's work -- positive or negative. My goal was to create something that individuals or foundations (or donors) could use to identify organizations doing good work that are usually invisible in the international arena. I am still convinced it is extremely valuable and feasible, but the donors with whom I talked were totally uninterested. I still feel the same frustration when I see great NGOs working incredibly hard in developing countries, and always under the cloud of extinction because they only know how to do good work, not how to tap into funding sources. Thus, Peter and Gena's ideas about creating some online source of information about NGOs resonates strongly. Perhaps we can find some way to make this happen... Cheers from Bosnia, Janice Janice Brodman Director Center for Innovative Technologies [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/
