Imagine a world where most people are compassionate, understand the root causes of poverty and injustice, and respond to the needs of those who are suffering.
Imagine a world where most people accept personal responsibility for the plight and the renewal of their own communities. And, because of that, their behavior and choices promote the greater good and neither harm people nor the environment.
Admittedly, a world like is still far from reality. Most government and development agencies, NGOs and churches can hardly even cope with escalating needs and dwindling resources. But impossible? We don’t think so. Because such a world is possible if you can accept this kind of logic:
If two out of every five Filipinos are poor, then three out of every five are not. And if one person can make a difference in the life of another one, it therefore takes only two out of every three privileged Filipinos to radically change their part of the world.
Venture for Fund Raising knows that it’s not easy to “convert” people into development champions. We simply believe that true, lasting and widespread human development is possible if there are enough caring communities around the world. We also encourage communities which actively celebrate the joy of giving to ensure a bountiful and sustainable future.
We therefore submit that old development paradigms have to give. To shift from and to the following:
OLD | NEW |
NGO primarily serves the community because it is its most important stakeholder. | NGO equally serves the community and the donors because they are its most important stakeholders. |
Development comes from the community and the NGO’s commitment to the program goals and to each other. | Development and sustainable growth come from the community members’, NGO’s and the donors’ increasing commitment to their common goals and to one another. |
Donors are needed to fund development programs. | Donors are needed to help ignite movements to eliminate the causes of poverty, injustice and uplift the human spirit. |
Program priorities come before donor needs. | Donor need is program priority. |
Donors are the target audience of the NGO’s information, education, communication and advocacy efforts to increase public awareness and support. | Donors who are inspired, engaged and empowered are the NGO and the community’s most effective fund raisers, behavioral change agents and advocates to the public. |
Donors’ inputs help improve development programs because they provide objective observations from someone outside looking in. | Donors create synergy and exponential program growth when they participate in the development of their own communities or the ones they have come to consider as their own. |
Donors are born. An NGO needs to find at least enough of them to be sustainable. | The world has enormous problems but most people around the world are compassionate. They won’t become donors and committed ones though, until NGOs and the rest of the development world learn to constantly inspire, invite and motivate the public to share their money and possessions, as well as their time, talent and influence, to help others. |
Venture for Fund Raising knows that now, more than ever, NGOs will play an ever-increasing role in eradicating social ills, saving the environment and improving the quality of life. We also know that now, more than ever, their need to attain financial stability, if not sustainability, will increase by a quantum leap.
Our development model (graphic illustration) is simple – a troika of community, NGO and donors ensures vibrant and sustainable development programs. So is our part in that model – our expertise in helping NGOs raise and diversify their funding sources so they can better fulfill their missions.
We believe that the true extent of the donor market has barely been scratched. Not because compassion, generosity and altruism are rare. In fact, historically, more than 80% of the total amount of money given to NGOs and charities around the world comes from individuals. But the real monetary value of their contributions has remained flat for years because the donors’ role in the development process has always been akin to ATMs.
We promote the cause of fund raising in the highest tradition of marketing from which discipline it came from. Through training, mentoring, technical assistance and research, we enable NGOs to: 1) find donors who share their vision; 2) keep them inspired and motivated and; 3) discover new ways of enhancing their partnership for the good of the communities they serve. We also pursue goals that expand and enrich the donor market in partnership with public and private institutions and kind-hearted corporations and individuals.
Venture for Fund Raising has worked with established, fledgling and would-be NGOs. They range from NGOs that have large, multi-year and internationally sourced grants to those with just shoe- string budgets. We have also worked with a variety of sectors and for a variety of causes. All the way from health and children’s NGOs, to schools, churches and museums, to anti-corruption groups and environmental economics researchers.
We have also partnered with government and private institutions which share our passion for creating caring communities and helping NGOs attain financial sustainability. Our partnerships have enabled local and foreign NGOs to acquire fund raising skills, acquire new donors, diversify their funding sources, receive fund raising seed money, set up fund raising units and many more.
If, like us, you also believe that generosity is the wellspring of hope from which development efforts drink from, Venture for Fund Raising warmly welcomes you.
Please call, write or visit us through our contact details below for your service inquiries, partnership proposals and donations.
Address:
Venture for Fund Raising
Unit 2801 Jollibee Plaza Building
Emerald Avenue, Ortigas Center
Pasig City, Metro Manila
Philippines 1605
Telephones:
+63 2 634 8889 to 90
Fax:
+63 2 637 3545
Email:
zarah@venture-asia.org