Message from GlobalGiving
Hi Project Leaders,
Hope you all are well. Thanks so much for updating your projects during this busy time of the year. This newsletter marks a new phase at GlobalGiving where content comes from Project Leaders and donors. We are excited to feature advice from Project Leader Stella Amojong and a story from a donor who ran a fundraising campaign for a project, "Reaching the Disabled through Mobile Clinics. You also will hear how two projects mobilized their supporters to donate to their project. This new phase will be fully implemented with the upcoming launch of the website, GlobalGivingConnect (GGConnect). Based on your input, we are building GlobalGivingConnect as a website that will help you manage your projects, find support, receive feedback from GlobalGiving, and facilitate your networking with other Project Leaders. We encourage you to submit stories that we can share with other Project Leaders.
Also, don't miss the upcoming GlobalGiving Olympics — stay tuned for more details!
Best, Saima and the GlobalGiving Team
GlobalGiving Olympics: Go for the Gold!
Starting October 9, all GlobalGiving projects will be eligible to participate in a competition to see who can raise the most donations both for their project and for their country within a 3-week period. There are two ways to win:
- You will win $50,000 for your organization if you get the most donations to your project during this time.
- You will win $25,000 as a country team if your country raises the most donations to all projects in your country during this time.
Start thinking of creative ways to mobilize your supporters and collaborate with other projects in your country. For example, you may want to highlight any upcoming holidays or events to mobilize supporters, e.g. Ramadan or Diwali. Refer to the outreach strategies presented by two winners of the GlobalGiving Open in this newsletter.
More details to follow — stay tuned!
Donor Corner: How we Supported Disabled Children at Samadhan
by Nita Giridhar, ThinkIndia Foundation
The ThinkIndia Foundation is a nonprofit organization that fosters community involvement in creative cultural events and supports charitable causes around the globe. When we organized our Spring Cultural Show Fundraiser, our Charities Committee decided we would support disabled children in India. As we wanted to quickly and easily facilitate the donation, we contacted Samadhan, the group running this project, and asked how we could donate to them and receive the tax benefit a US donor typically receives for charitable donations to non-profit groups. As Samadhan has projects on GlobalGiving, we found that by giving through GlobalGiving, we would have access to these benefits.
Through GlobalGiving, Samadhan quickly posted a new project, Reaching the Disabled Through Mobile Clinics.
We were amazed that the entire process of creating the project and related formalities on the web was completed in less than a week. We are extremely happy to see the funds benefit the chosen organization within a few weeks with no other hurdles in the disbursement.
Because GlobalGiving had already completed thorough due diligence on Samadhan, this saved time and resources — both for us and for Samadhan.
Thanks to Pramila from Samadhan for taking the lead and working with GlobalGiving and make the 'Mobile Clinic' a reality!
Advice from Project Leader Stella Amojong
"I am glad to hear that our regular reports are assisting other donors make decisions about donating. At ATM, we believe that we have a responsibility to provide feedback to donors on our progress." Please find below suggestions for other project leaders.
Stella leads the Supporting Poor Families Affected by HIV/AIDS project which has attracted many donors and thus far raised $6,265 from donors through GlobalGiving. ATM's project updates have received positive votes and comments from donors as well.
Six pillars of reporting back to donors: Advocates for Teen Mothers (ATM) experience
by Stella Amojong
- Builds a long-term relationship: By providing regular, accurate information to donors, ATM hopes to provide a platform of reporting that informs donors how their help has been utilized. This helps ensure that donors understand the severity of the situation and how their contribution has had an impact on the beneficiaries.
- Fulfills legal and organizational requirements: Regular pieces of information, especially financial accountability, go a long way in ensuring that our internal systems and procedures are followed to the letter. It also helps us keep true to our own objectives and thus be able to ascertain whether we are moving in the right direction.
- Internal control systems: Reporting back helps us test and strengthen internal control systems of transparency and accountability to our supporters and beneficiaries. This is made possible through a sound system that encourages delegation of responsibility and this avoids future fraud and errors. ATM has been using reliable personnel who are accountable to the management through the release of financial and other reports.
- A measure of progress: Reporting back has provided accurate information about our financial position, performance and changes in our fundraising strategies over a period of time. This has enabled us to evaluate past, present and future events through comparison and budgeting of resources over a duration of time.
- Transparency: Our reports have enabled our partners to grow their trust and thereby increase their willingness to continue supporting our mission. This has created an aura of inclusivity and all-round participation since all stakeholders are well-informed of our activities and future plans.
- Credibility: By carrying out regular audit reports, ATM has been able to prove its faithfulness in utilizing donor funds. Since most of our audits are carried out by autonomous and external auditors, their reports have added credence to our organization's ability to manage its funds. Third parties, including donors, can rely on the reports since such auditors are non-aligned to our cause and therefore independent.
Everyone can post updates and photos. Visit our reporting page for instructions.
If you do not know your user ID and password, then please email .
Top Rated Project Updates
In the Spotlight: How Project Leaders Mobilized Supporters During the GlobalGiving Open
Held this past summer, the GlobalGiving Open was a competition designed to bring in new Project Leaders without existing GlobalGiving Project Sponsors. Because we are a marketplace, we let members of the GlobalGiving community vote on the projects to determine access. Project Leaders were critical in mobilizing their own constituencies, and over 8,800 people, to vote.
These same strategies were successful in helping the winners generate donations. Since posting their projects, two groups, Half the Sky and Coptic Orphans, have generated over $40,000 in donations. See their strategies for mobilizing their supporters below
Getting Half the Sky's Supporters to Vote
by Jenny Bowen
Half the Sky has an extraordinary network of supporters all over the world. We began as an organization of concerned adoptive parents who wanted to give something back to the orphaned children who remain in China's welfare institutions. Over the years our community has expanded through word-of-mouth to include extended families, friends, overseas Chinese, and socially responsible businesses. Compared to many international NGOs, Half the Sky is small, but it is truly global. When the GlobalGiving opportunity came up, we sent an email alert to our amazing community. And as the competition came to a close, we gave them updates and told them how simple it would be for them to cast a vote and help Half the Sky. When they carried us to the top, we were awed once again by the wonderful family that Half the Sky has built for China's orphans.
How Coptic Orphans Got Out the Vote
by Hanan Baky
There were four key pieces to Coptic Orphans strategy to mobilize our networks for the GlobalGiving Open.
- Emailing our current contacts and donors: We sent one email to inform them of the competition and how to vote. A second email was sent 24 hours before the deadline to inform them that there is still time to vote, and that we needed their vote to win. We also posted the opportunity announcement on our homepage (www.copticorphans.org)
- Staff mobilizing his/her own personal contacts: Staff sent emails catered to their friends and family, saying "Please vote for my organization's project," to personalize the request and lend it trust. The email also requested that after people voted, they forward the request was posted on 10 listservs that we are aware of.
- Telephone calls and instant messages: Anyone who called our office was asked to vote for our project. In addition, personal contacts that were already emailed were reminded via phone or instant message to vote, and to tell their friends. In some cases, we walked them through the process over the phone because it was a little bit complicated.
- Champions: Certain personal contacts really became champions of the project and went the extra mile. In our case, the project director's mom practically went door to door to get people to vote for the project. She went to her church and collected people's emails to forward them the link to vote. She did the same in her commuter bus on her way to work. She even called all her relatives in Egypt to have them vote. The request was very simple: "Please vote for my daughter's project." People trusted her so they voted.
By Popular Demand...Coming Soon...GGconnect
Based on survey feedback, and your requests for more opportunities to talk to other Project Leaders, we are designing a web site for you to connect with each other, share your knowledge, ask community members questions, and get help with reports and other things you may be working on. GGconnect enables Project Leaders to access these resources via email, so you will be able to participate easily in online discussions via email and on this website. On GGconnect, we will share survey results and other key research with you. This site will be a rich resource of information, and your participation and input are essential to making it work for you.
What information would you like to see on the site, what do you need as a Project Leader? Stay tuned for more information on ggconnect.com!
Where is the money flowing?
The GlobalGiving Index highlights what donors are interested in and projects to which they are donating.
Contact Us! We Need Your Input
Please send your feedback, comments, and content for news stories to
Saima Zaman at . Let us know what you find helpful, and what you would like to see. We look forward to hearing from you!
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