Connections for Development Newsletter

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Connections for Development (CfD)
News for Development – Jan 2009
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Contents:
• News and Pictures of CfD Activities
• Useful Publications and Resources
• Current National Events
• CfD Members Events
• Latest News on Funding Opportunities
• Connections for Development Questionnaires
• Editors Note
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Connections for Development - Strategy Day
The Connections for Development Strategy Day was held in
Manchester on 16th and 17th January. The two days event attended by
both staff and board members was facilitated by Ms Atiah Chaudry of
Equal Access Consultancy supported by two consultants, Neil Turton
of Neil Turton Consultancy and Stuart MacDonald of Centre for Local
Economic Strategies. The first day was devoted to promoting CfD
activities and consultations with Diaspora and BME organisations in
Manchester and the NW region. A good number of BME and Diaspora
organisations attended. “The day was very useful” said Helen Connor
of Manchester Metropolitan University who intends to set a Leadership
Development project in Kenya.
Connections for Development- Annual General Meeting.
Connections for Development held their Annual General meeting on 6th
December 2008 at the Ilford Community Centre and were delighted to
welcome the Deputy Mayor of Barking and Dagenham Cllr Fred Barnes
who chaired the meeting. New board members: Mr Francis Gerald, Ms
Everjoice Makuve, Ms Lilian Ricketts-Haggan, and Mr Jamil
Mohammed. One of the highlights of the meeting was the presentation
by Everjoice Makuve the Project Co-rdinator of (WORD) Widows and
Orphans Research and Development , a CfD member organisation
about its international development work in Sub Sahara Africa. Report
on our website www.cfdnetwork.co.uk
UN Global Forum Conference for Migration -Manila
CEO of Connections for Development participating in UN Global Forum
Conference for Migration held in Manila Philippines October 2008.
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Migration and Development Conference
Seated from left to right are CfD members Mohammed Jamil, Mildred
Talabi and Shahid Sherif on extreme right in one of the sessions
marking the conclusion of the IDEM project held on 20th and 21st
November 2008 in Strasbourg.
The IDEM - (Informing on Migration and Development) was a three year
project between Connections for Development and Institut Panos
Paris. Its main objective was to promote positive and innovative
information about migrants, migration and development through
collaborative participation with the media.
This final stage meeting held in Strasbourg brought together
participating organisations from six different countries namely: Italy,
Portugal, Belgium, UK, and Spain and the hosting European Union
representatives in France.
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Faith Based Organisations and International Development
A cross section of participants including DFID, CAFOD, councillors and
representatives from various embassies, pictured with members of CfD
at a conference organised in partnership with League of British
Muslims on 11th December 2008. The theme of the conference held
was, “faith based organisations and international development”.
One of the participants making a presentation at the interfaith
conference
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Funding Seminar: DFID Civil Society Challenge Fund
The Civil Society Challenge Fund will be holding a one-day funding
seminar specifically for Diaspora and BME Groups. The seminar will
provide an overview of the Civil Society Challenge Fund criteria with
advice on how to submit bids.
Date and Venue: 5th February 2009 @ 1 Palace Street, London, SW1E
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What is Civil Society Challenge Fund? The Civil Society Challenge Fund
is the Department of International Development (DfID) main channel of
funding for small and medium sized UK civil society organisations. It
supports the work of UK based civil society organisations in their
efforts to build the capacity of their partners in the south to engage in
decision making process. It will also consider projects which are
predominantly service delivery in nature so long as they are innovative
or working in difficult environments and includes elements of
empowerment and advocacy.
If your organisation is interested in attending the seminar, please send
an email by 16th January 2009 to cscf@dfid.gov.uk with the following
details:
• Your organisation’s name
• A paragraph describing your organisation and its interest in the
CSCF (Please refer to the CSCF Guidelines
(Civilsocietycfinfo.asp)
• The name, position and contact details of the proposed
participant.
For further information contact: Lone Sorensen, Team Leader-
Stakeholder Management - Civil Society Department
Tel: 01355 3400 (int: 3400) or Go to CSCF Guidelines:
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/funding/civilsocietycf.asp
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New Centre to Help Developing Countries Opens in London
A number of Connections for Development members were among more
than 600 diplomats, private sector leaders and development and
growth experts who were invited to attend the launch of the
International Growth Centre at the London School of Economics (LSE).
The centre which was opened on 10th December 2008 by Alexander
Douglas the International Development Secretary will bring together a
Nobel Prize winning economist with development experts from the
London School of Economics and the University of Oxford, who will
provide practical help to the governments of developing countries to
support growth and improve their ability to cope with effects of the
economic downturn. It will also provide innovative research on growth.
The Centre is a new initiative to support growth in developing countries
and improve their ability to cope with economic shocks. It represents a
DFID financed venture to be undertaken by LSE and Oxford University
in collaboration with a host of partners.
The Centre will be supported by a range of international partners
including, the Global Development Network (GDN), the Centre for
Economic Policy Research (CEPR), the African Economic Consortium
(AERC), the Abdulatif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (JPAL), the University
of Chicago Graduate School of Business Initiative on Global Market,
Deloitte, the South Asian Network of Economic Research Institutes, the
World Bank Microeconomics of Growth Network, the Bureau for the
Economic Analysis of Development, the European Development
Research Network.
For further information, please contact Soumya Gupta on
S.gupta4@lse.ac.uk
Volunteering 'Can Make Poverty History’
A third of young people believe volunteering is the best way for
individuals to reduce poverty in poor countries, according to a survey.
While nearly one fifth of the adult population believes volunteering is
effective at reducing poverty overseas, over one third of 16 to 24 year
olds think this.
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The Government is calling for more young people to volunteer for its
Platform2 scheme, which gives them the chance to carry out help
overseas.
Mike Foster, Minister for International Development, said: "It is really
encouraging to see that young people today feel that getting involved is
the way to fight poverty.
"Platform2 gives young people the opportunity to experience the
''reality check'' of development work first hand. We know this work can
make a real difference to people's lives," he added.
The survey by the Department of International Development was
released ahead of International Volunteering Day on 5 December.
Platform2 is funded by the Department for International Development
and run by Christian Aid, Islamic Relief and British Universities North
America Club.
Tell Us What You think about the International Grant
Programmes of the Big Lottery Fund
Connections for Development would like to call upon and encourage its
member organisations (who have not already done so,) to actively
participate in the Current Consultations Survey being undertaken by
the Big Lottery Fund.
Many of our members are aware that the Big Lottery Fund has been
running a £72 million international grants programme: international
communities, international strategic and international small grants to
help disadvantaged communities overseas. Many of our membership
organisations have benefited from these grants. The programme has
been supporting work that tackles the causes of poverty and
deprivation, and brings about long term difference to the lives of most
disadvantaged people across the globe.
The Big Lottery Fund launched a consultation survey on 17th November
2008 called The Big Thinking. The survey is about looking back at what
the Big Lottery Fund has achieved together and looking forward to
what they can do even better between 2009 and 2015. It is about
celebrating success and learning from the accumulated experience of
more than 10 years of Lottery Funding.
Consultations are huge opportunities to get involved and influence
policies and processes. The Diaspora and BME organisations have a
lot to contribute and it is important that we participate.
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Since 1994 for every £1 spent by the public 28p has gone to good
causes and £20 billion has been spent on good causes, around 6% has
gone to international grants.
For those unable to attend the events organised by the fund country
wide and would like to participate in the survey online please go to the
website on http://www.big-thinking.org.uk/consultationsurvey
The survey will close on 27th February 2009.
Reports and Publications
A Guide to Fundraising for Southern NGOS and Voluntary
Organisations
The Directory of Social Change has published a fully revised and
updated edition of the essential handbook for fundraising for the
developing countries (including Africa, Asia, Latin America and
countries of Eastern Europe).
It is called the World Wide fundraiser’s Handbook, 2nd edition, written
by Michael Norton and published in association with the Directory of
Social Change
The new edition contains; new sections on internet fundraising and
branding and image. A completely updated section on income
generation and guidance using case studies to illustrate your work.
To order your copy please email; contact@resource-alliance.org
Best Practices and Service Offers
Not sure where to how to start on your Business Plan? Feeling a bit
overwhelmed?
The Tool Factory has put together a free e-book for anyone who is
wondering about writing a business plan for their organisation or idea.
Often it feels like an overwhelming task and people just don't know
where to start. But help is at hand. The book has 10 of the most
common questions people ask about writing a business plan. Give it a
read ... it may help to get you started. And if you get to the end and you
find your questions haven’t been answered, don't worry just drop staff
at the Tool Factory an email and they'll see what they can do to help.
Download your FREE e-Book.
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Commission for the Compact develops user-friendly
Compact Guide
To mark the start of Compact Week the Commission for the Compact
has published a Concise Compact Guide, designed to act as a
reference tool and checklist to help public and third sector
organisations.
Celebrating its tenth anniversary this month, the Compact is the
agreement which sets out shared commitments and guidelines for
working between government and the third sector. This concise guide
is intended for both sectors and explains why the Compact applies, as
well as highlighting relevant undertakings. A copy can be downloaded
from
www.thecompact.org.uk
Voice 4Change New Publications
A leading BME national partnership organisation has released two new
reports highlighting the contributions made by black and minorities
(BME) community and voluntary organisations.
Voice4Change England a partnership of national and regional BME led
organisations that speak for the interest of BME Third Sector at local,
regional and national levels to all types of policy makers. The reports
show how the sector helps people and the community in attempt to
stop government plans to withdraw funding.
Vandna Gohil, Director for Voice4Change England, said it is crucial
that the worth of specialist services in the sector is recognised.
“Otherwise the Government’s flawed thinking on cohesion has the
potential to undo the important contribution made by BME third sector
organisations in bonding communities and promoting equality,” she
added.
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FORTHCOMING EVENTS
9th International Workshop on Resource Mobilisation (IWRM) 25 – 28
June 2009
The next International Workshop on resource mobilisation will take
place in Bangalore, India 25-28 June 2009.
The 4 day international conference is widely recognised as the leading
training forum for building the fundraising capacity of non profit
organisations in Global South.
Bringing together the best speaker talent that the “South” has to offer,
alongside globally recognised fundraising trainers from the “North”,
the programme will deliver a comprehensive overview of best practice
in the arena of organisational sustainability through resource
mobilisation.
From sessions on getting started and raising your first funds to
advanced classes on drafting strategic fundraising and marketing
plans, our programme of practical training has something for everyone,
both beginner and experienced practitioner alike.
Who Should Attend
• CEOs or people in other leadership roles at non profit
organisations based in Global South who have resource
mobilisation and capacity building as one of their
responsibilities.
• Directors and senior managers of INGOs based in Global South
who have responsibility for fundraising and capacity building in
their organisations.
• Volunteers and other individuals based in Global South
interested in building the fundraising capacity of non profit
organisations.
Bursary places available
A number of bursary places will be available for individuals from
smaller no-profit organisations to attend the workshop. Please
check the website for Resource Alliance www.resourcealliance.
org/iwrmFor more information please contact the event
team on iwrm@resource-alliance.org
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The Social Enterprise Coalition’s Annual Conference Voice
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Will take place 10-11th February in Birmingham. The event will look at
how the ever increasing interest in just how social enterprise is helping
revolutionise the way in which businesses operate and how the
movement can best respond to the uncertain economic climate and
ultimately, create opportunities for themselves and their communities.
Speakers will include senior politicians, and national & international
experts on social enterprise. To book your place now and for more
information, please visit www.voice09.org
Leadership Training for Social Entrepreneurs"
Date & Time: 11.02.2009 Start Time 9.45- 4.45pm
Venue: School of Social Entrepreneurs, London E2
Delegate fee: FREE
Are you trying to start or grow an organisation that benefits your
community?
Would you like to hear from people who have been there and done it?
Would you benefit from a day of leadership training to learn about
social entrepreneurship and social enterprise?
If so, then this training could be for you. The School for Social
Entrepreneurs supports individuals - social entrepreneurs - who strive
to improve people's lives and affect change in their communities. We
are running this event for people to sample SSE's approach and to
provide leadership skills training for social and community
entrepreneurs.
During this training you will hear from social entrepreneurs Genevieve
Dowokpor who set up Youthology (www.youthologyuk.com/) and Rosa
Goncalves, who set up Guarida Community Café. Emma Mortoo,
Director of Learning at the School for Social Entrepreneurs, our in
house legal expert, will be giving an overview of the different legal
structure options available for social organisations. You will learn
about the characteristics that make social entrepreneurs successful.
You will also learn about social enterprise, and how this relates to other
types of social organisations such as charities.
SSE works with a diverse range of individuals and organisations. We
particularly welcome people to this event from black and minority
ethnic groups.
If you would like to attend this event please e-mail:
dorota.luksza@sse.org.uk, or telephone: (020) 8981 0300
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British Council and iCoCo international conference
Date: Wednesday 28th – Thursday 29th January
Venue: at Ramada Manchester Piccadilly Hotel, Piccadilly Plaza,
Manchester.
Communities in Action: People and Practice. For those working in
community cohesion, equalities and diversity, from local authorities,
community organisations, NGOs and the public and private sector. This
two-day international conference will bring together practitioners from
the UK and overseas to share best practice being developed in
communities to address issues of exclusion and inequalities. The
sharing of experiences and ideas on how to tackle issues that are
common to countries all over the world will be the beginning of new
partnerships and global dialogues to build better and inclusive
communities. The conference will be a mix of plenary sessions and
workshops with contributions from a range of UK and overseas
practitioners. Keynote speakers include Professor Ted Cantle CBE,
iCoCo; Dr Haroon Saad, Qec-eran; Rob Berkeley, Runnymede Trust
UK. Register online now to secure a place at this unique two-day event.
For details about the conference programme, fees and
accommodation, visit: www.britishcouncil.org/governance-events.
CfD Members’ Events
Empowerment of Women Conference
Date: January 26th 2009, 10- 4pm
Venue: Edinburgh City Chambers
Contact: Nahid Aslam on nahidaslam@yahoo.com
The State of Church based Community Development in Europe
RAFFA, Renewal-Advancement –Financial Freedom-Autonomy, an
International Development Agency (www.raffa.org.uk), The Church
Mission Society (www.cms-uk.org) and the Nova Research Centre
(www.novaresearch.eu) invite you to a discussion on community
development in Europe. Date: Monday 26 2009 at CMS House, Oxford
OX4 6BZ. Saa.conradie@cms-uk.org
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Funding News and Opportunities
Baring Foundation
The Joint International Development Grants programme 2009 in
collaboration with the John Ellerman Foundation is now open. The
deadline for submitting applications is 27th March 2009. Successful
applicants will be announced in October 2009.
For further information visit the website of Baring Foundation on
www.baringfoundation.org.uk
Adventure Capital Fund (ACF)
ACF offers a range of investments and support to develop stable and
sustainable community-based enterprises. The aim of ACF is to fill the
investment gap that faces community enterprise organisations, and to
increase investment-readiness of community organisations wishing to
move to greater sustainability through enterprise. The Business
Development Grant is targeted at community enterprises in their early
stages of development to improve their investment readiness and
sustainability through developing their skills and capacity.
Grant Value - maximum: £ 15,000. Business Development Grants can
be used for a range of activities that prepare your organisation to run
enterprise and trading activities. The outcome of the grants should be:
• robust business plans
• clear targets for organisational development
• income generation/reduced grant dependency
• social impact
These outcomes should enable community organisations to apply for
larger investments such as the ACF Main Investment Fund and
Managed Workspace Fund.
Support for your organisation. In addition to grant funding, successful
applicants will be assigned a supporter to spend 5 days working with
your organisation. The supporter will be paid for by ACF and will come
from their pool of registered supporters. The role of the supporter is to
assist you in making the best use of the initial money in making your
case for further investment. To achieve this, the supporter will offer
advice on a wide range of issues, in particular, developing realistic
outcome targets and income projections for future years.
Click here for further information on support for investee
organisations.
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For more information go to: www.wired-gov.net/wg/wg-news
Start-up organisations cannot be funded.
Previously awarded funds: Case studies of projects that have been
funded by the ACF can be found on the ACF website
There will be three application windows for the ACF Business
Development Grants:
1. 21 October until 12 December 2008. Decisions by 30 January at
the latest
2. Open from 2 February until 14 March 2009. Decisions by 30 April
at the latest
3. Open from 4 May until 29 May 2009. Decisions by 30 June at the
latest
Contact Information: c/o Local Investment Fund, Ground Floor, Ibex
House, 42-47 Minories, London EC3N 1DY or tel: 020 7488 3455/
info@adventurecapitalfund.org.uk
The Tender Fund
The Tender Fund is a new Futurebuilders programme offering interestfree
three year loans of between £3,000 and £50,000 to community and
voluntary sector organisations that need relatively small sums of
money to help them tender successfully for specific public service
delivery contracts. Total Fund Value: £ 1,000,000. Grant Value -
minimum: £ 3,000 maximum: £ 50,000
The Futurebuilders initiative aims to increase and improve public
service delivery through long-term investment in third sector
organisations. Futurebuilders provides funding primarily in the form of
low-interest loans to enable organisations to develop sufficiently to
become investment ready, meaning that they are able to compete for
service delivery contracts from statutory bodies. The loans are paid
back with revenue from contracts with public sector agencies such as
local authorities and primary care trusts.
The Tender Fund is designed to help any third sector organisation – big
or small – that stands a good chance of winning a specific public
service delivery contract, but needs some money to help it tender
successfully. The fund is not intended to increase tendering skills in
general, but to help third sector organisations win specific contracts.
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For more information, please refer to the ‘Question and Answer’
section of the Tender Fund webpage: www.futurebuildersengland.
org.uk.
To qualify for a Tender Fund loan, organisations must:
• be a third sector organisation
• be preparing to tender for a specific public service contract
• be unable to secure a loan for this purpose from a commercial
lender
• be reasonably likely to win the tender and likely to be able to
repay a loan (the investment must be viable)
• have a project with ultimate beneficiaries living in England
There is no application deadline for the Tender Fund, however the
loans are granted on a first come first served basis. There is also no
application form for this fund; the application process will mainly take
place over the phone.
For more information, go to the ‘what we need from you’ section of the
Tender Fund webpage: www.futurebuilders-england.org.uk .To enquire
about a Tender Fund investment call the Futurebuilders England
enquiry line: 0191 261 5200, or email: info@futurebuildersengland.
org.uk.
Contact Information: London Office, Futurebuilders England, 3rd Floor,
3-5 Rathbone Place, London, W1T 1HJ tel: 020 79276340 or email
info@futurebuilders-england.org.uk
Commonwealth Connections Opens for Applications (UK)
The Commonwealth Foundation, which is an intergovernmental
organisation supporting the work of charities and other civil society
organisations, has announced that its international arts residency
programme “Commonwealth Connections” is now open for entry. At
the end of June 2009, six recipients will be given a grant of up to £8,000
to travel and study in another Commonwealth country. The residencies
are open to all visual artists who are citizens of a Commonwealth
country. Formerly the Commonwealth Arts and Crafts Awards, the
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Commonwealth Foundation's residency programme for visual arts is
changing to bring the benefits of its successful model to an increasing
number of practitioners. Performance art and photography are
included as eligible categories for the first time; there is no longer an
age limit; and this year sees the first step in the evolution of the awards
into a rolling, annual scheme of residencies for which artists can apply
at any time. In addition, the scheme will expand and extend to
disciplines outside the visual arts. Applications are judged online by an
international panel of artists, including former winners, and experts in
the different art forms and regions of the Commonwealth. The deadline
for applications is 1 March 2009.
http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com/news/news/detail.cfm?id=47
Global Curriculum Project Grants (UK)
The British Council, has announced that the next application closing
date for the Global Curriculum Project grant scheme is the 1st March
2009. The grant is available to Schools or clusters of schools, that have
a well established partnership with another school in Africa, Asia, the
Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean and provides funding to
further develop joint curricular activities with a global dimension. To be
eligible the school to school partnership must have been in existence
for at least two years. Grants are available for up to three years and
can cover travel costs of at least two teachers from each school to visit
the partner school as well as project costs such as materials, training
and supply cover. The level of funding available varies from £5,400 for
school-to-school partnerships involving one school in each country to
£16,200 for partnership involving more than 6 schools in each country.
The DFID Global School Partnerships programme is currently
undergoing a competitive tendering process and the British Council
are unable to confirm application deadlines beyond spring 2009.
Only Connect Scheme
Only Connect is a visit scheme sponsored by Triodos Bank which
enables you to visit another voluntary and community organisation,
receive £150 to cover the cost of your time and travel, to learn how
they have diversified their income through trading, public service
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delivery or by using loan finance. They also pay the host organisation
£200 as a consultation fee for their time spent with you. For more
information visit; Only Connect
Funding support for Postgraduate studies in a Commonwealth Country.
Are you a graduate student? Would you like to study or train abroad?
The Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan can help you
broaden your horizons, experience another culture and further your
education. Click here to find out more about these and other funding
support opportunities.
New Opportunity to Fundraise for International Development.
GlobalGiving's Open Access Project Challenge is an opportunity for
UK-based NGO's working in developing countries to submit a project
and actively fundraise for it through GlobalGiving in order to gain a
permanent place for their organisation on GlobalGiving.
The next challenge will run through April 2009. Any organisation that
is interested in taking part will need to register its interest by 31
January 2009 by filling in the Expression of Interest form.
GlobalGiving.co.uk is an online marketplace charity that features
grassroots projects from all over the world and allows potential donors
to choose the projects they would like to direct their donation towards.
In turn, project leaders keep donors up to date with the projects'
progress.
GlobalGiving is open to all NGOs who think they can effective use
GlobalGiving to fundraise for their development projects - all
participants will receive plenty of support, tips and ideas about
effective on and offline fundraising throughout the challenge and
beyond. Becoming part of the GlobalGiving networks means having
contact with companies, institutions and individuals all over the UK and
further afield who could donate to your projects.
Further details about the challenge can be found on the GlobalGiving
website.
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Connections for Development Questionnaires
We are currently undertaking consultations with our membership.
Many of you have already participated in the exercise through
telephone and face to face interview with our Policy and Research
Officer Ms Chinwe James.
The key aim of the exercise is to consult you on your views about our
values, mission and the work of Connections for Development. This will
assist CfD to align its work and services to its members and
stakeholders needs to improve their profile, contribution and influence
in international development.
In addition the consultation will endeavour to measure the level of
engagements as well as membership satisfaction in order to
understand how better CfD can assist BME/Diaspora organisations in
their work within the UK and overseas. Questionnaires can be
accessed from our website www.cfdnetwork.co.uk
For further information please contact Chinwe James on
chinwe@cfdnetwork.co.uk or telephone 0208 911 8515
Editor’s Note
We encourage our members to send us articles regarding their
activities, events with photographs where possible to be published in
our newsletter. Alternatively you can send us case studies of your
successful projects to be posted on our website on
www.cfdnetwork.co.uk