Truth be told, organisations cannot be run without enough funds. Passion may begin a venture but passion is not enough to carry it on to achieving it goals. Failory.com reports that 2 out of 10 ventures fail too early because of lack of funding. This makes access to funds a very crucial part of the growth and sustainability of social organisations. Many social organisations do not even have an income structure and this is because they are driving by goodwill and not profit-making.
In this article, Impacty makes an exposition on the different ways funds can be accessed to push social organisations forward.
1. Collaborations
This is key. Many social organisations, especially NGOs have collaborated with profit-making ventures to build a cash flow for the work going on in the social organisation. While the NGO benefits funds from the business, the business benefits goodwill from the NGO.
2. Donations
Donations may be gotten from the public, businesses or from individuals. Public Funding can be done online as has been the case in recent times. For example, the Irede Foundation raises funds online, especially on social media to purchase limbs for people. Donations can also be gotten from the government and other bodies.
3. Grants
Some organisations which Impacty calls ‘the god-fathers’ also give grants to other smaller organisations. International organisations too give grants to startup social organisations. Government bodies give grants to social organisations as well. Large multinational companies also give grants.
4. Competitions/Contests
There are many opportunities to win funds. Competitions may include pitching an innovative idea and the likes. Individual social workers and organisations too have been beneficiaries of such initiatives.
5. Members Dues and private Donations
Some organisations are run with dues paid by members, private donations from some well-to-do members too.
6. Income structure
This is the way of social enterprises. These enterprises create a structure for income flow and and bring in business and profit-making ideas to ensure cash flow within the organisation for its programs.
To access funds in whatever way, you should have the following in place-
- A ready-to-submit outstanding and comprehensive proposal
- A quick pitch of a few lines
- Proper documentation of work done
- Active social media accounts
- Willingness to expand
We hope this is helpful to you. Do leave a comment.
