A sustainable NGO is an organisation that plans ahead. First of all, if you are about to set up an NGO make sure to build a strong argument for the reasons why such an organisation is needed. In fact the future of an NGO highly depends on its capacity to address real problems of a community as well as to collaborate with other actors and agencies working within the area, which may strengthen your organisation’s impact. Accordingly the first rule for sustainability is to have a clear vision, which is consistent with existing needs. As such it is important to complete background research and to develop a long-term plan capable of tackling problems and offering concrete solutions. By proposing sound ideas to tackle existent socio-political and economic problems you will also enhance your potential to get funded by relevant agencies working in your field of action.
Secondly, to guarantee a future to your NGO, it is crucial to develop a strong financial plan; without resources no projects can be developed. Do extensive research to define the ways in which you could finance your activities in the long term. Start by understanding who your potential donors are, what their financial priorities and strategies are, and also how to successfully become one of their partners. Whereas it is important to draft a strategic plan with a list of all the donors at the beginning of the activities, it is also important to keep this information filed and systematically updated in order to explore all the existing possibilities to apply for funding.
Thirdly, it is important to develop a long-term plan that is able to manage the NGO staff in a way that maximises each individual’s potential and meets their own expectations by supporting their professional development. It is crucial to establish collaboration and good communication among members of staff in order to strengthen their sense of belonging and thus their commitment to shared causes. Additionally, an NGO should develop strategies that are able to gather new staff members on occasional and voluntary bases. Salaries are to be kept at minimum as this could affect your capacity to hire new members when needed (for instance on a project-to-project basis). If you develop a volunteering scheme, you will be able to count on the work force of additional staff members when required. Needless to say that volunteers could become a vital resource because of how they represent your chance to learn from other people’s experiences and to draw on their personal and professional networks to expand your own.
Fourthly, your sustainability plan must be realistic. It is good to cultivate ambitious plans, but it is essential to establish a realistic agenda when it comes to proposing a project. Each project should be doable, which means that it should be able to engage with a specific problem and able to work towards its resolution in a set time frame and within the financial limits of your budget. When proposing a new project, it is important to stress the ways in which it contributes to the fulfilment of more ambitious goals in the long-term. For instance, if your NGO’s main goal is to improve employment skills of your community’s members, each of the proposed projects will target a specific layer of the population while enhancing the employability potential of the community at large. This point is of vital importance and potential donors will assess your capacity to elaborate small projects that contribute, in their totality, to wider goals.
Fifthly, while designing a new project think about what could happen after its implementation and imagine how its main outputs could become starting points for new projects. Also consider how you might collaborate on specific projects with new partners, which could present you with a way to establish new networks that are able to fundraise and together strengthening each member’s financial capacity.
Secondly, to guarantee a future to your NGO, it is crucial to develop a strong financial plan; without resources no projects can be developed. Do extensive research to define the ways in which you could finance your activities in the long term. Start by understanding who your potential donors are, what their financial priorities and strategies are, and also how to successfully become one of their partners. Whereas it is important to draft a strategic plan with a list of all the donors at the beginning of the activities, it is also important to keep this information filed and systematically updated in order to explore all the existing possibilities to apply for funding.
Thirdly, it is important to develop a long-term plan that is able to manage the NGO staff in a way that maximises each individual’s potential and meets their own expectations by supporting their professional development. It is crucial to establish collaboration and good communication among members of staff in order to strengthen their sense of belonging and thus their commitment to shared causes. Additionally, an NGO should develop strategies that are able to gather new staff members on occasional and voluntary bases. Salaries are to be kept at minimum as this could affect your capacity to hire new members when needed (for instance on a project-to-project basis). If you develop a volunteering scheme, you will be able to count on the work force of additional staff members when required. Needless to say that volunteers could become a vital resource because of how they represent your chance to learn from other people’s experiences and to draw on their personal and professional networks to expand your own.
Fourthly, your sustainability plan must be realistic. It is good to cultivate ambitious plans, but it is essential to establish a realistic agenda when it comes to proposing a project. Each project should be doable, which means that it should be able to engage with a specific problem and able to work towards its resolution in a set time frame and within the financial limits of your budget. When proposing a new project, it is important to stress the ways in which it contributes to the fulfilment of more ambitious goals in the long-term. For instance, if your NGO’s main goal is to improve employment skills of your community’s members, each of the proposed projects will target a specific layer of the population while enhancing the employability potential of the community at large. This point is of vital importance and potential donors will assess your capacity to elaborate small projects that contribute, in their totality, to wider goals.
Fifthly, while designing a new project think about what could happen after its implementation and imagine how its main outputs could become starting points for new projects. Also consider how you might collaborate on specific projects with new partners, which could present you with a way to establish new networks that are able to fundraise and together strengthening each member’s financial capacity.
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