Street Children Project (SCP) Kumasi has been overwhelmed by the creditable increase in their organisations’ operational funds and support from the community it operates in, after applying the techniques and skills acquired during the Change the Game Academy programme. SCP was among nine community-based organisations to benefit from this programme that was jointly organised by WACSI and Wilde Ganzen.

With Ghana becoming a middle-income country in 2010, development partners are withdrawing funding support from Ghana. It became imperative for civil society in Ghana to mobilise local resources to support their operational costs.

However, like many civil society organisations in Ghana, SCP lacked adequate knowledge and skills to raise funds locally.

“It was very difficult to raise funds locally. We even organised a stakeholder program the week before the local fundraising course where we were unable to raise funds irrespective of the calibre of people including ministers present at the gathering,” Jessica Deh, Programmes Manager at SCP confessed.

“Raising funds locally for the past years was very weak and poor within our organisation. I had no idea on how to locally raise funds and also thought raising funds at the local level is not possible with the prevailing economic hardship and the reluctant nature of most citizens to give in support of the works of NGOs/civil society groups”, added Akwasi Prempeh, Project Administrative Assistant at SCP.

Prempeh went on to explain that after the training, the knowledge acquired built his interest to locally raise funds to support the organisation’s work.

This optimism was sparked by SCP’s participation in the Change the Game Academy programme. This has enabled them to reverse this funding nightmare the organisation experienced.

The programme enabled them to learn how to identify and pitch to potential donors, develop a team and strategy for fundraising and develop constructive partnerships with like-minded organisations. The results obtained after their participation in the programme have been remarkable. SCP raised $USD2035 in their first fundraising event after their participation in the programme.

“Currently, after our involvement in this programme for the first time in 2018 the organisation raised about GH¢ 10,000 through local donations; which I would score 90%, depicting how effective the organisation mobilised resources locally during the year 2018 to support its activities”, added Prempeh.

Prempeh further explained that at the same fundraising event, the CEO of Trinity Cosmetics – a detergent company based in Kumasi signed a one-year contract of supplying bathing soap, washing powder, bleach and liquid soap for the 30 girls being taken care of, at the vocational training centre run by SCP.

The change the game programme was a golden opportunity for SCP and has totally changed their financial and operational trajectory.

“This programme has been an eyeopener which helped us to see that what we thought was impossible can actually be possible. It is possible to raise local funds and it is possible to provide lasting solutions to the problem of streetism”, Deh affirmed.