Funding Formula Stage 5
Introduction to Stage 5: Relationships
Stage 5 explores the following issues:
- What relationships are and why they are important
- How you can develop strong relationships with donors and partners
- How to improve unsuccessful relationships
- What to do if donors do not want to fund you
- How to bring donors together
1. What are relationships?
This is perhaps the most important stage of the Resource Mobilization model. Formal relationships exist between organizations; however, connections between people are equally, if not more, important. Here are some questions you can ask:
Q. What are the formal and informal connections between your organisation and individuals in other agencies, organisations and institutions?
Do you maintain these relationships? How? How do you plan to develop them?
Q. Which organisations do you partner with?
Partnering with other organisations and stakeholders is highly valued by donors. Does your organization belong to alliances, associations, coalitions, committees, government panels, networks, parliamentary groups or other working groups? You can advocate and influence funding, programming and sexual and reproductive health policies, and these partners can also promote you and your work to others. Mention all partnerships in any publications, materials or funding proposals that you prepare, with their prior agreement.
2. Why are relationships important?
Your organisation’s relationships with your donors and potential donors are an important part of Resource Mobilization because people give to people they know – and like.
Building relationships with donors and partners will also give your organization critical (and early) intelligence about possible funding opportunities. If your organization is in a position to bid for funding from institutional and government donors, early intelligence (and local intelligence) is vital in order to prepare and develop a successful funding proposal that meets the donor’s requirements. Close relationships with donors will provide the opportunity to secure that intelligence. This will enable you to research and design the project, assemble the bid team, develop a consortium and submit a winning proposal.
Strengthening relationships also brings better intelligence about new entry points: a successful Resource Mobilization programme needs a diverse funding base that is not reliant on a small number of donors. You should therefore actively seek funding opportunities that are not just for sexual and reproductive health projects, but also – for example – women’s rights, income-generation, gender-based violence, empowerment of youth. These different funding streams could be new entry points within existing donor agencies, or new donors altogether.
3. How can you develop strong relationships?
You should regularly communicate, partner and network with other organisations – other agencies should know about your organisation, what you do and what successes you have achieved.
The ‘Gold Standard’ of building relationships includes:
- individuals promote your organization to potential donors
- both parties understand what people want – and why they want it: there is listening and understanding on both sides
- contacts let you know when funding opportunities and resources become available
- donors design a programme with your organisation in mind