Local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have been advised to be visionary and rethink resource mobilisation strategies to survive in the space.
This call was made on Thursday during a workshop on “Rethinking Resource Mobilisation for African NGOs”, organized by Astute Strategists, at Four Points by Sheraton in Kampala.
The aim of the workshop was to promote capacity building and provide participants with knowledge and skills on fundraising for projects, a challenge facing many African NGOs.
Speaking to this reporter, the guest of honour at the workshop, Dr. Hillary Musoke, the Private Secretary to the President for Youth in Agriculture, Value Added and Export, encouraged local NGO founders to be visionary and set goals before soliciting funds from donors.
“It is good to have an NGO but you have to have a vision before starting one. You have to be focused and ready to perform. A lot of NGOs come because they want to make money from foreign donors and get away with it. But you have to be consistent and set goals that you want to achieve," Musoke said.
Musoke said that while NGOs may be able to get funding from foreigners, local communities and governments, they need to be relevant and provide reasons to be funded.
"Work with a cause, even if it means becoming an activist, and raising awareness in the community about the evils of environmental destruction so that everyone understands that they can be affected by it,"
He also encouraged NGOs to adopt a for-profit model as simply saying they will donate is not sustainable.
"We need to enable our NGO members to do income generating activities that leverage the government's existing budget. Make sure you plan and utilise all possible sources of funding," Musoke said.
In his remarks, Timothy Mugerwa, the chief consultant Astute Strategists, noted that about 80% of donations go to NGOs in the Global North, highlighting the urgent need for African NGOs to rethink resource mobilisation to narrow the gap.
He said donors prefer to give funds to foreign NGOs as Ugandan/African NGOs lack the capacity, skills and expertise to manage funds.
"The reason why donors from the Global North NGOs attractive is because our Ugandan organisations do not have the capacity, skills and expertise to direct, manage and account for funds," Mugerwa said.
He called on African NGOs to change their business practices if they want to survive in the NGO space.
According to Mugerwa, the workshop aimed to build the capacity and strengthen the knowledge of participating civil society and social entrepreneurs.
Renowned researcher, Anke Weisheit encouraged African NGOs to invest in social networks to make their proposals competitive in the sector.
"Participating in online conferences will help you not only find partners but also gain skills that will help you to be competitive," Weisheit said.
She also called for professionalism and transparency to ensure NGOs are successful.
"Yes, you are a founder with good qualifications, but your management team must be professional. The larger the project, the more specialised knowledge you need. Managing a $20,000 project may be done from home or online, but if it's much more than that, you'll need a finance team, a procurement team."
