Strategic Fundraising Plan for the Society for Participatory Research
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Leveraging Kadam Badhao to Engage Global Solidarity for PRIA (Participatory Research in Asia) A Fundraising Strategy May 2015 598 Report Written by John McCormick, Master of Community Development candidate School of Public Administration, University of Victoria Prepared for the Society for Participatory Research in Asia Client Supervisors: Dr. Rajesh Tandon and Dr. Martha Farrell Academic Supervisor: Dr. Budd Hall Acknowledgements Thank you to Dr. Rajesh Tandon, Dr. Martha Farrell and the entire team at PRIA for welcoming me into the fold in India, and for making the stay and the learning experience in a foreign land so rich and rewarding. Also, thanks to my partner Jenny Marcus and stepdaughter Maya who are a daily inspiration to me. Dr. Budd Hall, rounds out the acknowledgement, for his patience as I scanned the many possible projects I could focus on, and provided clarity and direction at the right time and proper proportion for this masters project. The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and [her] tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom. -- Maya Angelou (1970) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings I wish to begin by remembering millions, NO, billions of women and girls who have been discriminated, insulted and violated by Patriarchy over the years, all over the world. Kamla Bhasin, May 2014 DEDICATION: Dr. Martha Farrell (1959-2015) This Masters Project is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Martha Farrell whose life ended far too soon while working toward gender equality. On May 13, 2015 while doing her life’s work at the invitation of the Government of Afghanistan, Dr. Farrell was killed in an armed attack on a guesthouse where she was staying. Kadam Badhao, the focus of this Masters project, is the most recent of several gender mainstreaming programs launched by Dr. Martha Farrell during her 25-year career. It was created in response to the continued violence against women in India and around the world. Kadam Badhao is a Hindi phrase for "One Step Forward” to address violence against girls and women. The Campaign is built on the premise that men and boys must actively participate in ending the last vestigial colony of patriarchy: the oppression of girls and women. For Dr Farrell, the focus needed to be family-by-family and community-by- community as lasting steps forward toward the larger international movement of gender equality. Martha will be so missed by family, friends, and colleagues far and wide. She was a beacon of light, resolute and unflinching amidst the backdrop of anger, intolerance, ignorance and fear that feeds the flames of gender-based violence and oppression. Dr. Farrell’s leadership and passion for this work was reflected in her dedication, energy, focus and, above all, courage. Her efforts will continue through the many people around the world who she inspired to seek justice through gender mainstreaming. Blessings upon you, Martha Blessings upon your family: Rajesh, Suheil and Tariqa Blessings upon all who knew you EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), the client for this research project, is among the most well respected organizations internationally in the area of capacity building using the approach of participatory research. Begun in 1982 by Dr Rajesh Tandon, PRIA forged a path forward in community development that recognized explicitly the power of engaging with community members to address systemic challenges that represented impediments to self-determination that served to maintain the existing order. For many years, PRIA was well funded as international development aid funding and international private sector foundations poured into the world’s largest democracy. This support began to wane at the beginning of the new millennium and was quickened in 2003 by the decision of the India government to severely restrict state-based funding flowing into the country. In addition, capacity building fallen out of favour as corporate foundations seek business-like investments in direct action. As a result, PRIA has seen its traditional sources of unrestricted funding diminish and even disappear entirely. Over the same period, traditional approaches to fundraising have been in flux. Direct mail appeals, the once-upon-a-time bread and butter of annual fundraising programs, have become less effective as internet-based giving such as crowd-funding and peer-to-peer fundraising emerge. Corporate giving has been increasingly streamlined and aligned with corporate branding, both as a result of legal challenges by shareholders and to reduce the administrative cost of managing corporate giving programs. The application process itself is now largely online, and this makes asking for corporate support more widely accessible, but less personally engaging than in the past. PRIA is well aware that it must keep up with the changing nature of fundraising in order to continue its valuable role in addressing systemic inequality that lies at the core of all its programs. NGOs have increasingly employed strategic marketing approaches that were once exclusively the domain of business including branding, advertising, and increasing use of sophisticated product testing and internet-based research. While India’s growth as an economic juggernaut is impressive, one aspect of the emerging picture is growing inequity. There is a palpable concern domestically and internationally that corruption and the growing divide between rich and poor will destabilize India. In April of 2014 India’s new Companies Act came into effect. It requires many of India’s publicly traded corporations to contribute 2 percent of net profits (averaged over the previous 3 years) to a range of community development projects including education, gender equality and women empowerment. While this seems like a timely salve for PRIA’s funding challenge – and it might well be – successfully accessing this private sector funding may force the organization to re-think and re-tool its programs and its approach so as to mine this vein of funding. It is out of this complex mix of external forces and internal challenges that emerges the research question: how to motivate PRIA’s global solidarity to support its programs? This project answers the research question by providing two deliverables for the client: In situ engagement of the researcher at PRIA to participate in fundraising activation A practical, applicable, and relevant strategic plan. To answer the research question, this Fundraising Plan reviewed the literature on funding in India and Canada, as well as organizational change, branding and fundraising strategy. From this, the Plan recommends an approach for private sector fundraising that focuses on introducing a) annual private sector grants and b) individual philanthropy to the organization via the calling card of the current program that has generated interest from fundraising professionals, crowdsourcing portals and corporates: Kadam Badhao (One Step Forward to End Violence Against Women). The template developed for Kadam Badhao is intended to introduce fundraising to the organization, and to be usable by other PRIA programs to gain traction in funding its project activities. This Plan provides practical recommendations to a) generate domestic funding and b) develop a fundraising program internationally, beginning in Canada. Domestically, the Plan identifies an approach to donations by corporations that are subject to India’s Companies Act (2013). International fundraising calls for a campaign that includes i) crowd-funding, ii) appeals to multinational corporations with India operations and iii) approaches to high net worth Canadians and family foundations with an interest in international development. To understand the fundraising opportunity, the Plan is organized used a Fundraising Strategy Template which contains a series of elucidating questions that connects Kadam Badhao’s program vision, mission, goals and objectives with fundraising actions to approach and convince prospective funders to support the program. From these questions an approach for domestic and international fundraising is recommended. Organizationally, the Plan recommends adding in-house fundraising expertise to direct all fundraising activities, an action that will reduce the need of the President to focus so much energy on the increasingly complex activities associated with fundraising. On the international front, the Plan recommends testing the Canadian market using fundraising consultants with oversight by the PRIA head office in Delhi. With success, a decision can be made to establish a formal charitable organization in Canada, which would include oversight by a Canada-based board of advisors (referred to in this plan as “PRIA Canada”). The opportunity to seek international support is in part driven by significant interest from multinationals to tap into the growing Indian market. Finally, it is important that the leadership of the organization, from Board members through to senior staff have important roles to play in fundraising – from asking for support through to the design of capacity- building programs that are compelling for private sector funders while maintaining the high standards that PRIA has become known for over 33 years. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Client’s Rationale for the Study ...............................................................................