Funding Guidelines   view as chat

This section does not provide general fundraising information, but rather tips and lessons learned from fundraising for previous Source Camps:

  • Use the budget (see Budgets And Budgeting) for fundraising.
  • Some big funders are only interested in providing funds or grants to cover core costs, or travel costs for people from particular regions.
  • Securing funding for core costs (e.g. salary and expenses of organisers, venue, programme, T-shirts etc.) is usually the most difficult aspect of fundraising.
  • Most funders want their money to go to a specific region of the world (some funders have budget allocations for different regions).
  • When working with funders it makes sense to calculate a per-person cost (total costs of the event divided by the number of expected participants). This helps to illustrate the number of participants that their contribution would support.
    • Example: Africa Source 2: 1065 US$ core cost / person + flights
  • Whenever funders sponsor individuals, it is important to include the total cost per person, which includes all overheads (see above) rather than just the flight and fee for that individual. The difference can be quite substantial!
  • It is ideal to keep the number of funders relatively small (makes reporting and management much easier). A good number would be 2 or 3 big funders, but this is not always possible. For example, Africa Source 2 had 11 funders.
  • Similarly, it is best to get funding committments as early as possible, but again this is not always possible. In the example of Africa Source II, the last funding was committed only a few weeks before the event.

Examples:

  • A funder might decide to sponsor individual participants coming from a specific region. In this case the implementing organisation would need to suggest a few candidates and the funders decide which one to sponsor.
  • A funder might wish to sponsor individuals that they are already working with. In this case, it is important to ensure that these individuals pass the rigorous application/selection process.

Reporting to funders

Careful reporting to funders is important to demonstrate that funds were used to support the agreed objectives, and also to build a relationship with potential for future funding.

Please refer to the Graceful Shut Down page for details on reporting after the event.

Last edited by: Marek
Tags: funding, how to