a second look
Faizal Farouk
South African NGOs have reached a critical juncture where it has become important for us to engage in local-resource mobilisation. The struggle for democracy in South Africa bred a range of NGOs within civil society that played a prominent role in shaping our Constitution, which has been heralded as one of the most progressive in the world. The vast majority of NGOs across diverse sectors were funded by and continue to exist as a result of the support of the international donor community.
Sadly, however, there has been a general decline in the influence that NGOs have on policy and the shaping of our society. This decline has primarily been a result of dwindling finances for an independent and vibrant sector due to changes in the donor-funding environment.
Currently NGOs face the reality that international donors are not going to be around for ever. In her book targeted at the NGO community and titled Life Beyond Aid, Lisa Cannon asserts that: “Several key international donors plan to reduce or stop funding South African NGOs when their transitional aid programmes end.”
In addition, Eva Bursvik of the Swedish International Development Agency noted a trend among many donors who are changing their focus from supporting small projects to larger programmes and policy development. This signals a challenge to all NGOs, and to grass-roots groups in particular.
Donor departure and adjustments are only a partial concern facing the NGO community. The establishment of the National Development Agency (NDA) is borne out by this fact. Key international donors have been a driving force behind the establishment of this government agency, whose role it is to prescribe development priorities and disburse funds accordingly.
One of the core competencies of the NDA is to act as a funding conduit for local and international donor funds. This is a cause for concern among NGOs who have enjoyed direct access to a nourishing international funding pot, as some, if not all, of these funds will now be redirected to the NDA. The eradication of poverty is also a key objective of the NDA. Accordingly, it will play a leading role in determining and influencing development policy, and NGOs who do not fall in line with the programme priorities of the NDA are facing some trying times ahead.
The lack of finances could not have come at a less opportune time in our history, as policy affecting the poor is being moulded and redefined in this period of “delivery”. And while a “culture of entitlement” has reduced many NGOs to beggars, the evidence is mounting that NGOs can no longer depend on their traditional sources and methods of funding. Given this growing evidence, there is no time as important as the present for NGOs to make the conceptual shift from international fund-raising to local resource mobilisation.
Local-resource mobilisation is significant in generating local development because it is arguably far more sustainable and promotes social accountability. Elizabeth Nelson of Ashoka – an NGO that promotes the mobilisation of local resources – argues that mobilising local “financial and non-financial assets” strategically positions NGOs to incorporate their programmes into communities and respond reciprocally to civic needs.
In addition, local resource mobilisation eliminates the problems of “donor driven development”. Many NGOs include, for example, a gender or Aids element in their funding applications. This is done even when they do not work directly in these fields because NGOs are aware that these are choice areas of interest for many donors. Self-sufficiency is critical for the development of an independent NGO sector that can be committed to its constituency and not its funders. Accordingly, mobilising the local resource base has the obvious advantage of prioritising the local development agenda.
Trying to piece together local resources is difficult and time consuming, but it does increase an organisation’s independence. Nevertheless, in mobilising local resources within civil society, NGOs can adopt approaches that cover the range of “in cash” and “in kind” contributions.
This includes mobilising different sectors of civil society from corporate companies to philanthropic individuals. An international survey – The Millennium Poll on Corporate Social Responsibility, September 1999 – shows that “two in three citizens want companies to go beyond their historical role of making profit, paying taxes, employing people and obeying all laws; they want companies to contribute to broader societal goals”.
South Africa has a rich and powerful corporate sector and many corporate companies have corporate social investment (CSI) programmes. Still, many NGOs adopt an almost antagonistic demeanour in relation to this sector due to the belief that their efforts are mere exercises in public relations. While this may be true in part, ignoring the corporate sector will not influence the shape of their CSI programmes. NGO engagement with CSI programmes can result in mutually beneficial experiences for both partners. On the one hand, NGOs can draw on the expertise of private companies. On the other hand, the corporate sector can benefit from NGO input on how to make positive social contributions.
Another level of civic mobilisation that is poorly exploited by local NGOs is volunteerism. Volunteers represent much more than an additional resource, they also represent a mobilised civil society that is willing to cooperate for greater societal good. In response to an international focus on volunteerism, the United Nations declared 2001 the “International Year of Volunteers”.
Corporate engagement and volunteerism merely scratch the surface of effective local resource mobilisation. Other strategies include engaging in cost-recovery work, establishing income-generating partnerships, setting up investment funds, mobilising material resources, establishing a paying membership base, developing a good marketing plan, and so on.
Faizal Farouk is coordinator for Ashoka’s Citizen Base Initiative South Africa