In addition, the first impulse of many small NGOs seeking funding is to request the contact information for possible funders, and once they find the name of any company they think gives grants to NGOs, these NGOs often write immediately to the company with a desperate please for funds. Not only does this NOT attract funding, it can turn foundations and corporate giving offices against the NGO altogether - the NGO gets blocked by the company's email filter.
After seeing these questions and messages again and again over several years (I've been on the Internet since about 1994) I drafted a list of basic tips for fund-raising for small NGOs - it was 15 pages long. A decade later, it evolved into more than 40 pages.
The document is meant to provide very basic guidelines for small NGOs in the developing world regarding fund-raising and adhering to the basic principles of good governance, and to point to other resources. By small NGOs, I mean organizations that may have only one paid staff member, or are run entirely by volunteers; and may or may not have official recognition by the government. These organizations are extremely limited in their resources, and are often in unstable environments and/or serving profoundly poor populations. Certainly medium-sized NGOs could use it as well - organizations that may have two or three paid staff members.
Please note that this document is NOT written for nonprofits serving the "developed" world -- organizations serving communities in North America, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand or Japan would probably not find this document particularly helpful, as it has been prepared to make recommendations relevant for nonprofits serving in a developing country.
This document is also not for organizations that send volunteers into developing countries to work. This document will not help you fund the trips of such volunteers. If you are such a volunteer-sending organization, see funding your volunteering trip abroad and fund raising for a cause or organization for more helpful information.
THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT A LIST OF FUNDERS/DONORS.
Let me repeat that: THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT A LIST OF FUNDERS/DONORS.
This document does not provide a list of foundations or corporations that give money.
It is, instead, a set of guidelines on how to prepare an organization in a developing country to be attractive to donors, how to search for potential donors and how to approach such potential donors.
The document includes:
Once you have downloaded the document, please do NOT distribute the document via a web site or on an online discussion group without my written permission. I would prefer you direct people to this web page if they would like to have this document as well, to ensure they have the latest version.
Want to adapt the document? You are welcomed to translate it into another language, edit it, change it, and republish it or distribute it, per certain requirements, detailed in the document itself (please download it and read it).
Here is the document (PDF). It was last updated January 22, 2019.
I may never update this document again. I do this entirely as an unpaid volunteer and it takes a huge amount of my time to update it. I sometimes go years without updating it, because my paid work and formal volunteering takes priority. If a URL (web address) does not work that is listed in the document, try typing the non-working URL into archive.org, or typing the name of the resource into Google or Bing. Please do not write me and ask me where a web site has moved to - I'm not going to do that for you.
If you are looking for a USA-based nonprofit to act as your NGO's fundraising partner: no, I won't help you find such. Here is information about USA-based nonprofits raising money for NGOs in other countries and also consult Can our international NGO raise funds in the U.S.?. There is also advice in my document.
Also see Starting a Nonprofit or Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). The laws and procedures for starting a nonprofit organization, an NGO, a charity or a foundation vary from country to country. The laws and procedures are never exactly the same. This page offers the general advice that is applicable to any country, but you will still have to go through country-specific requirements, which are NOT detailed on this page but there is advice on where to find them).
Also have a look at this free NGO Capacity Assessment Supporting Tool. It can be used to identify an NGO’s strengths and weaknesses and help to establish a unified, coherent vision of what an NGO can be. The tool provides a step-by-step way to map where an organization is and can help those working with the NGO, including consultants, board members, employees, volunteers, clients, and others, to decide which functional areas need to be strengthened and how to go about to strengthen them. Share the results of your using this tool in your funding proposals - even on your web site. The tool was compiled by Europe Foundation (EPF) in the country of Georgia, and is based on various resources, including USAID – an NGO Capacity Assessment Supporting Tool from USAID (2000), the NGO Sustainability Index 2004-2008, the Civil Society Index (2009) from CIVICUS, and Peace Corps/Slovakia NGO Characteristics Assessment for Recommended Development (NGO CARD) 1996-1997.
More fundraising advice:
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