Just Few Starting Ideas on Getting Funding

8/9/2019 Just Few Starting Ideas on Getting Funding

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A Step-by-Step Approach to Secure Funding for Your Projects:

Just A Few Ideas to Get Started in the Philippines

Rey Ty

Some have asked me about possible funding sources for your projects. I havebeen away from the Philippines for a long time now. So, things must have changed.

However, I am still writing own this unofficial guide which can serve as a starting point

for your fund searching. This list is based in part on (1) my academic work in thePhilippines during which I sought and obtained funding as well as (2) my volunteer work

with many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for which we sought and obtained

funding, or (3) both. I will try to list down everything I remember. Im sure I forgot some

things. Im giving away all my secrets! Remember, funding will not come to you. You

have to go and seek funding. Good luck!

I. Definition of Terms

For the purposes of this guideline, the term funding agency is used looselyto refer to all legal entities that provide funding. They could be based in the

Philippines or abroad. They could be, among others, a foreign embassy, afoundation, a church group, or a United Nations program.

II. Annually Revised Book about Funding Agencies

A. In the Philippines, a very thick book that gives detailed information aboutfunding agencies, which includes all their contact information as well as

their objectives and themes that they fund, is edited, revised, and

published annually. This book is a very helpful resource for non-governmental organizations seeking funding. It costs less than 1,000

pesos. I highly recommend you buy it. Once you have this book, yourfunding search would be very easy. For now, here are my pieces of advicebelow.

B. There are books published abroad (such as the U.S.) that lists all the

funding agencies, their goals, and their contact information. You can findthem in libraries. Read and check who, where, and what projects they

fund. If they accept proposals from other countries, such as the

Philippines, then write and submit proposals to them.

III. Your Own Credibility

A. Credibility

For anyone or any organization to have faith in you, you need to haveproof that you have been doing, you are doing, or that you can guarantee

that you will be doing good work. How can you show that? Here below

are some ideas:a. Prepare a well-written professional curriculum vitae or

biodata, which contains information about your professional work,

NGO work, organizational affiliations, achievements, etc. Use

simple English, have correct grammar and no spelling errors.

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b. Prepare and submit your organizations profile: with all

the important information, such as your organizations name,

contact information (address, email, fax, and phone), vision,mission, goals, objectives, past achievements (actual projects or

work), current projects, and future plans. Usually a three-fold

brochure is fine.c. Collect news article clippings, write-ups on the Internet,

any publicities, media releases or writings about your work&

submit to prospective funding agenciesd. If your organization produces an annual report (formal or

informal, such as monographs or booklets), submit these

documents as well in order to boost your credibility. For example,

Sir Pogie has shown us two publications in colored pages, whichare also available as downloadable PDF files which can have URL

web address that can be given to funding agencies for them to

download.

e. If you dont have most of the above items as your organization is new, dont worry. But, as a minimum, you still

have to prepare your own professional biodata.f. Not necessary , but if you have a professional website for

your organization, that would be a great tool for publicity about

your organizations work.

B. Networking

a. If this is your first time to get funding for your

organization, the best for you to do is to networkwith the fundingagencies.

b. For instance, you can formally invite prospective funding

agencies to come and visit your project sites in order to show themthe community needs you are addressing.

c. If you have an event coming, such as (a) an Indigenous

Peoples Festival or (b) a conference, then invite the prospectivefunding agencies to attend the event so that they will be familiar

first-hand about your community. During their visit to your

community, you can discuss with them your communitys

situation, problems, and needs that perhaps they can help youaddress.

d. From among your colleagues, as far as I know, the

following (and others) have direct contacts with funding agencies:Sir Pogie and Shim. Network with them to give you some advice

or assistance.

e. Sorry, I have been gone a long time from the Philippines.Hence, the contact persons with whom I have networked are gone

and have changed. Hence, I cannot give you names or references

as I dont know the new persons in the funding agencies listed here

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(either in the Philippines or abroad) with whom I used to be in

contact.

IV. Formalities

A. Organizational Support

1. For many funding agencies, they will only give you funding ifyou meet the following criteria: First, you belong to an

organization.

2. Second, the organization must be registered in the Securities andExchange Commission (SEC), for example, as a nonprofit

organization.

3. To be registered, you must have elected officers (chair of the

board, secretary, treasurer, etc.), a Constitution and by-laws andrelated paper work for submission.

4. You must pay a SEC registration fee, which is a few thousand

pesos.

B. Academic Support1. If you are an academic, you dont have to belong to an

organization. Your academic institution is your organization.2. The funding to you as an academic will have to be channeled

through one formal unit of your academic institution.

3. Academics apply for funding, among others, to help them with

(a) teaching, (b) research, (c) professional development, (d)publication, and (e) research utilization.

4. But if you are an academic working with an NGO and that the

request for funding is for your NGO (not your personal researchas an academic), then the funding will go to the NGO. For this

purpose, you have to follow all the requirements for funding an

NGO.

V. Embassies

We often think of embassies having personnel who are only high-level folkswho only deal with high-level Filipinos, such as Filipino Department

Secretaries, Filipino politicians, and the like. For the most part, that is true.

However, things have changed slowly but surely. Many foreign embassies

based in the Philippines have folks (from the ambassadors themselves tolower rank embassy personnel) now go down to the middle and grassroots

levels to talk and deal with them. In fact, many embassies based in the

Philippines have offices inside each embassy that directly deal with themiddle and lower level Filipinos. For example, I used to have regular dinner

appointments with personnel from the U.S., Australian, Japanese, Belgium,

Dutch, Russian and other embassies (as well as Ford Foundation). I did notseek them out. They in fact found me and contacted me. Their purpose is to

collect data for their reports, based on interviews with me. They openly say

that they are talking with people from the government, military, NGO and

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others to prepare and write their reports. Some offices within embassies from

which we had success in getting funding include, among others, the following.

1. U.S. (Use your network contacts to begin with. Thats your entrypoint).

2. Western Europe: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany

3. Australia

VI. FoundationsA. Philippine Based Foreign Foundations

1. U.S. Foundations

a. Asia Foundation

b. Ford Foundation

2. Oxfam Philippines: It was in Quezon City (run by Filipinos).3. German Foundations in Makati:

a. Conrad Adenaeur Stiftung

b. Ebert Naumann Stiftung

c. Frederick Ebert Stiftung4. Toyota Foundation (I forgot if its Philippine or Japan based

only)

B. Philippine Based Philippine Foundations

1. Ayala Foundation

2. Metropolitan Bank Foundation (for education at least, especiallyteacher. MetroBank has an annual Best Teachers Award. I

believe all our teachers, Pearlita, Beto, etc. are more than

qualified to win this. You have to write the remarkable stories ofyour sacrifices to make learning possible, especially for poor and

marginalized students)

3. many, many others.

C. Foreign Based Foreign Foundations1. Netherlands: NOVIB2. Denmark

a. Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA)

b. Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture (RCVT)

3. Sweden: Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA)4. Canada: Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)

5. Japan: Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

6. France:a. Fondation France-Libert

b. Terre des Hommes

c. Frres des Hommesd. Centre national de recherche scientifique (CNRS)

7. United Kingdom

a. Oxfam U.K.

b. Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD)

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c. Defence for Children International (DCI)

8. U.S.A.

a. The Asia Foundation (San Francisco): I know they have abook drive. They will be happy to ship books to the

Philippines for free.

b. National Institute for Democracyc. Heritage Foundation

d. Oxfam U.S.A.

e. World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to protect wildlife, especiallyendangered species

f. etc., etc.

VII. Churches and Church-Based Funding AgenciesA. Churches work on the whole range of social work, including working with

non-Christians, on such matters as relief, development (including

education), and advocacy work (interfaith dialogue, human rights, etc.).

Churches tend to be hierarchical. Hence, the higher up you go to seepeople who have access to funding and programs, the greater your chances

of applying and succeeding to get funding.

B. Philippine Based

1. Go to see the major Catholic religious superiors of each

congregation, such as the Franciscans, Redemptorists, Jesuits,

Divine Word (SVD), etc., etc.2. Go to the National Council of Churches in the Philippines

(NCCP) for mainstream Protestant churches. They are based in

Quezon City near Quezon Blvd & EDSA.3. Talk to bishops and presidents of Catholic or Protestant

schools. Present your ideas about your projects to them.

C. Foreign Based

1. Australia: Australian Aid

2. Denmark: Danish Church Aid (Danchurchaid)

3. France: Comite catholique contre la faim et pour ledveloppement (CCFD)

4. Germany: Justice and Peace Commission (Cologne/Kln)

VIII. United Nations Offices

A. United Nations Offices in Makati

1. United Nations Development Program (UNDP)

2. United Nations Information Center (UNIC)3. United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP)

4. United Nations Womens Program (UNIFEM)

5. And many more U.N. offices in Makati

B. United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland and New York, U.S.A.

1. United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture

2. etc.

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IX. Local Government

A. Talk with your local government officials. Some will be happy to help you

in cash or in kind, as long as you have their names announced or printed ina banner or souvenir program, etc.

B. Contact from the lowest to the highest level: your barangay captain,

assemblyman/ woman, governor, representative (Congressman/women), etc.

X. Rich Politicians, Rich Families and Rich Clans

XI. Large Corporations

A. Large corporations have some budget for donations, relief, development,

and charity work. Check their listings and websites.B. In addition, large corporations have corporate social responsibility(CSR)

and fund projects that match their CSR.

C. For instance, these are some CSRs of big corporations.

1. McDonalds Foundation: childrens organization, collegeeducation, human rights, sustainable future

2. Reebok: human rights3. Target: children; giving back to the community

4. Wal-Mart: zero waste; sustainability; giving back to the

community

D. Check the CSRs of Philippine and Philippine-based corporations.1. Shoemart

2. Rustans

3. Tesoros4. Nestle

5. etc.

XII. Selling Your Soul?

Remember that each funding agency has its own agenda, vision, mission and

goals. If you think the funding agencys agenda and view of society is notcompatible with yours, then you must not apply for funding from those

agencies.

XIII. Project Proposals

A. Last, but most importantly, you must prepare a proper, well-written

project proposal. The template I let you use for writing your action plans,

for instance, was primarily based on the actual format that the BritishCouncil requires, if you present a project proposal to them.

B. Follow all the guidelines and fill out all the required entries. If you miss

writing about something that the funding agency requires, they will noteven consider your proposal for funding. Note that funding agencies

receive a lot of project proposals which have to compete for the fixed

amount of money that will be distributed to fund proposed projects.

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C. Write in simple English, with no grammatical errors, and no spelling

errors. Use Microsofts Spellchecker, which is usually (not always!)

correct, except for names and proper nouns.D. Submit based on all the requirements of the funding agencies, including

budget and deadlines.

E. Most information, templates or guidelines are now available online. Go tothe websites of each funding agency.

F. Usually, funding agencies will not give funds to pay for immovable and

permanent fixtures, such as the construction of a building or the purchaseof expensive equipment. For these items, you usually apply for loans to be

paid back.

Remember, funding will not come to you. You have to go and seek funding. Good luckand continued success in all your endeavors!

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Just Few Starting Ideas on Getting Funding

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