December 2001

Editorial

Don't overly rely on corporate giving

A recent study in Britain has revealed that most of Britain’s big companies are not adequately supporting charities and voluntary organisations.

The study, which ranked top companies by their charitable contributions relative to their profits, shows that businesses contributed only 5% of the voluntary sector’s donated income and that the 100 biggest companies are contributing just 0.4% of their pre-tax profits to charity and community projects (companies in America contribute only about twice that amount).

Another recent report from Canada reveals that corporate contributions went down from $988 million in 1998 to $950 million in 1999.

The voluntary sector in India is increasingly looking to the corporate sector for support, but it would be wise not to get too excited about the possibilities. As trends in the western world show, there are only a few companies that support voluntary sector work in a big way. To illustrate the point, charities in Britain received £315 a year from businesses, but 97% of this came from just 400 companies and almost half (46%) from the top 25 companies.

Unfortunately, there are no documented figures available on Indian companies' contributions to charity. However, the trends in the west should serve as an adequate warning to us here in India, not to overly rely on corporate donations, and to instead build a reliable support base among the Indian public.

The study we're quoting is the Giving List, compiled by the newspaper, The Guardian, with the help of the Directory of Social Change.

Editor

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Success Story

Media coverage brings in funds from the public for healthwork with tribal communities

We’ve been encouraged by the following letter from a participant at one of our training courses, Dr Regi M. George, of the Tribal Health Initiative in Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu. It gives us great pleasure to share it with you.

“Greetings to mcas from Sittilingi.

By now you would have seen the article about us in the Reader's Digest September issue. Well, life has never been the same again. We have been getting a flurry of letters. We had also put up our website www.tribalhealth.org strategically so that it would coincide with the article. Two weeks later, the Malayala Manorama carried a full-page Sunday supplement. We have by now got more than 250 letters and an equal number of emails. Also, there is a flow of donations, mostly in Rs 1000s and Rs 500s, which is almost Rs 1 lakh by now. There is a gentleman in Dharmapuri who has said he will give Rs 1000 for each tubectomy (that covers all the costs of one, and so we are now doing it free). Also we have offers for the new buildings that are coming up and a firm in Bangalore, which has promised to pay the salary of one doctor. The other funds that are coming in, we have diverted so that they will go directly to the tribals to subsidise their hospital expense.

You may be wondering why I am writing all this. I wanted to thank you for inspiring me about fundraising. I am now totally convinced about the ability to raise funds from the general public and also the credibility and the sense of satisfaction it can bring. We are getting donations from a wide variety of backgrounds – from businessmen to professionals to ordinary middle class salaried people. Of course, the articles helped a lot but what I learned from you is helping me to channelise the money coming in, to be systematic in recording and replying and most of all in getting back to them about the way in which their money is being utilised. We are in the process of building up a fundraising unit and though we have no brochure as of now, we got the RD people to print 1,000 copies of the article alone and we are using that as our brochure for the time being…

Sincerely, Dr Regi M. George
Tribal Health Initiative, Theerthamala, Dharmapuri district, Tamil Nadu 636 906"

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Article

Direct Mail: Sharing the SOS Experience
Victor Painadath, Deputy National Director, SOS Children’s Villages of India

SOS Children’s Villages of India started its direct mailing campaign in 1997, with an initial mailer to 600 people. This small database of donors steadily grew, touching 14,000 and now yields Rs 70 lakh annually. At the mcas workshop on Appeal Letters and Direct Mail conducted last month, SOS deputy national director Victor Painadath cited this as an example of how an investment in direct mail is sure to bring results 3-5 years down the line.

Here are a few of Victor’s tips for a successful direct mail campaign.

-- Believe in what you do.
-- Expect positive results. However, don’t expect immediate results.
-- Be creative. Experiment. Test your direct mail with different copy, photographs and paper quality.
-- Outsource the creative to professionals, if possible – it’s often worth it.
-- Use photographs that convey a positive image of your organisation.
-- Every employee – from the telephone operator and the security guard to the top official – has a role to play in building the organisation’s image.
-- Put in place a system to take care of your donors – even before you start direct mailing.
-- Be humble in all your communication.
-- Use local languages wherever possible.
-- The goodwill you generate now will bring tangible results in a few years.

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Book Review

Directory of Development Journalists
Published by: Press Institute of India
Edited by: Usha Rai

The media can help voluntary organisations communicate their work to the public, change public opinion and influence donor decisions.

The Directory of Development Journalists, recently published by the Press Institute of India, is a welcome resource for voluntary organisations who want to get started in media relations. The fairly comprehensive directory lists writers – including academics, activists and bureaucrats who write – cartoonists and photographers who cover development issues. Well designed, it gives a brief biography of the person, with a photograph, contact address, phone number and email ID.

The problem with such a directory lies in making sure the information is current. The publishers promise to bring out an expanded version of the directory next year. We wish them the very best. But till then, this slim volume will go a long way in helping voluntary organisations communicate with the media.

To purchase the book, contact the Press Institute of India at unfpa@vsnl.net

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News in Brief

What's happening in communication & fundraising?

International Fundraisers' Congress

The International Fundraisers' Congress is organised annually at Amsterdam by the Resource Alliance. This year's (16-19 October 2001) was the biggest congress ever with 750 participants from 55 countries. Most participants were from Europe and accordingly, the programme geared to sharing the experiences of experts in a wide range of subjects. For participants from other parts of the world, too, it's an inspiring conference to attend.

Leadership for communication

The Resource Alliance - in collaboration with the Kenyan Centre for Philanthropy and Social Responsibility, Ufadhili - organised a workshop on Building Organisational Capacity for Resource Mobilisation at Nairobi, Kenya, between 5 and 8 November 2001. It was attended by 40 persons comprising heads of voluntary organisations and board representatives from key organisations in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Participants were introduced to the link between leadership, the role of boards and communication. To contact Ufadhili, email Elkanah Odembo at thecentre@bidii.com

Meeting ground for researchers

The National Conference on Third Sector and Knowledge-based Development was held at the Vishwa Yuva Kendra in New Delhi on 22-23 October 2001. Organised by the Association for Third Sector Research in India (ATRI) and Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), the conference was a meeting ground for researchers. About 150 people participated.

The speakers discussed issues such as "defining the third sector, the role of cooperatives, self regulation and rating of NGOs, NGO governance – transparency, accountability and HRD, capacity building, advocacy, alliance building and networking. The second day included a plenary session on media and advocacy. Priya Anand of mcas presented the findings of a recently concluded study on the quality of annual reports produced by voluntary organisations in India. The study will shortly be available from mcas.

Reaching out to voluntary organisations

HSBC has a programme to help voluntary organisations reach out to the public. The bank recently organised a Helping Hands Mela in Bangalore, where it gave two selected organisations table space at its busy Manipal Centre branch in Bangalore to display their products and literature. The mela drew an encouraging response, with counter sales of Rs 5,000 a day. The bank intends to extend this programme to other branches across India. For details, contact Ms Mavis Smith, 080-5585553.

Better management for voluntary organisations

Bangalore Cares organised a learning programme on management of voluntary organisations on 8 December 2001, at Rotary House of Friendship, Bangalore. There were 35 participants from voluntary organisations in and around Bangalore. The programme featured discussions on effective management, ways to motivate staff and volunteers, and fundraising techniques by senior practitioners in these subjects. Speakers included Vijay Padaki, Murray Culshaw and GM Row. For details, contact Ram at contact@bangalorecares.org

Nesa to raise funds locally

The New Entity for Social Action (Nesa) has recently set up a four-member team for public communication and fundraising. The team, which has a background in marketing and journalism, is going through an extensive orientation programme. Nesa, which works in 6,600 villages with 4 million Dalit and adivasi women and men in 40 districts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala in south India, has also put in place a four-year plan for communication and fundraising. The team has a tremendous challenge ahead, and its success will hopefully encourage many more such organisations to make a start in local fundraising.

Website to fundraise for Andhra

Naandi celebrated its third anniversary with the launch of its website (www.naandi.org) late last month. The website aims to aggressively market and raise funds for welfare activities in Andhra Pradesh. The launch event attracted people from the corporate world and the media.

After the inauguration by the Andhra Pradesh chief minister, the first online donors logged on to the website and set the tone with instant donations exceeding Rs 100,000 by the same evening.

We plan to expand this section with communication and fundraising news from different parts of India. If you have any news or announcements, do write in to us. Thank you.

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Announcements

Coming up....

Training courses on donor relations and editing skills

Registration is on for the mcas workshops on donor relations and editing skills, scheduled to be held on 12 January 2002 and 24-25 January 2002, respectively.

The one-day workshop on donor relations will feature sessions on how to build long-term relationships with well-wishers and donors, on setting up a database of donors and putting in place reporting mechanisms.

The two-day workshop on editing skills will cover topics such as how to make your point effectively, writing concisely, style, structure, different kinds of writing, avoiding jargon and common grammatical mistakes, redundancies, wasteful words, fact checking and proof reading. The registration fee is Rs 900 for donor relations and Rs 1,700 for editing skills. For details, contact training@fundraising-india.org

Workshop on Resource Mobilisation

The Ashoka: Innovators for the Public’s Citizen Base Initiative is organising a three-day workshop on resource mobilisation between 20 and 22 December 2001 at New Delhi.

The workshop, organised in collaboration with the South Asian Fund Raising Group, will offer participants the opportunity to consider different methods for creating a sustainable base of support for their organisations. For details, contact safrg@vsnl.com

Annual gathering of Indian fundraisers

The South Asian Fund Raising Group will organise its annual conference from 15 to 18 January 2001, at Goa, India.

The theme of the conference is “Sustained Resource Development ”. The conference is the largest annual gathering of Indian fundraisers, and has been designed for chief executives, board members, fundraising managers and all those working in fundraising. For details, contact Capt. Rajeev Dua at safrg@vsnl.com

International Conference on Resource Mobilisation

Resource Alliance is organising the Third International Conference on Sustainable Resource Mobilisation – Developing Local Roots at Agra – India, between 4 and 7 March 2002.

Facilitated by leading international speakers from the sector, including Kumi Naidoo, Rajesh Tandon and Elkanah Odembo, the conference will address the latest issues on sustainable resource mobilisation and will equip fundraising personnel with the necessary skills and strategies to take such issues forward in their work, mobilise local resources and develop local and credible roots. For more details, email contact@resource-alliance.org.uk

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Feedback

Workshops on Appeal Letters, Media Relations and Basics of Public Fundraising

The mcas winter training series got off to a good start with workshops on appeal letters and direct mail, media relations and the basics of public fundraising. Feedback from some participants:

“…I am now optimistic about fundraising through direct mail. I shall implement and work on this method...” – Padma Reddy, Lepra India, on Appeal Letters and Direct Mail

“… very practical … gives a practical insight into planning and coordinating media events and campaigns…” – Joyeeta Das, Atree, on Media Relations

“… very practical and useful, particularly for institutions like ours that mostly depend on grants…” – P. Srimurugan, Gandhigram Institute of Rural Health and Family Welfare Trust, on Basics of Public Fundraising

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Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends, associates and anyone who might be interested. And do send in your queries and suggestions to training@fundraising-india.org

MURRAY CULSHAW ADVISORY SERVICES – mcas, Bangalore – serves the voluntary sector in India. We offer training on communication and fundraising, undertake research on issues pertaining to the voluntary sector, publish books and maintain a database of about 7,500 organisations in India. We are one of the promoters of Bangalore Cares – www.bangalorecares.org – an initiative to help the voluntary sector in Karnataka.

mcas
314/1 ‘Vijay Kiran’   
2^nd Floor 7^th Cross   
Domlur Layout   
Bangalore 560 071
India
Tel: 080-5352003
email training@fundraising-india.org
website: www.fundraising-india.org