WACSI Expands Operations in Nigeria: Equips 9 CSOs to Mobilise Resources Locally
With the dwindling nature of financial resources from international donors to civil society actors in Nigeria, there is a growing realisation that civil society organisations (CSOs) in the country need to reduce their dependency on international donors.
This situation was compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to research commissioned by the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) in 2020, 313 CSOs surveyed from six West African countries with 80 being from Nigeria, reported that their funding was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the survey data, 42.2% of the CSOs experienced delayed or reduced funding from donors.
Affirming this situation, some civil society actors in Nigeria strongly encourage all CSOs in the country to pursue local fundraising endeavours. According to them, mobilising resources locally will reduce their dependence on foreign donors.
This call was made during a session of a 5-day Local Fundraising training course for 17 staff from 9 CSOs in Abuja organised by WACSI. The call was made when organisations examined the most utilised fundraising approaches used by CSOs and realised that most of their organisations focused on resources provided by international donors to implement their programmes.
In a quick assessment of the sources of funding for these 9 CSOs in 2022, 8 CSOs mobilise resources from international donors with 2 of the organisations getting 100% of their funds from international donors. 5 of the 9 CSOs had more than 50% of their funding from international donors.
Only 1 CSO raised 100% of its resources from local donors. Three of the nine CSOs had not raised resources locally.
The above analysis made participants to realise how skewed their resource mobilisation approaches were towards international donors. To some of the participants, they were not maximising the resource potentials in the most populous African country endowed with rich human, material, and financial resources. By expanding its operations in Nigeria, WACSI demonstrates a commitment to supporting the growth and capacity-building of CSOs in the country. This expansion likely involves increasing their presence in Nigeria and allocating more resources to provide targeted assistance to CSOs in various areas.
Participants therefore appreciated this training on Local Fundraising. The training by WACSI, under the Change the Game Academy programme, with support from Ford Foundation, exposed participants to local fundraising techniques, provided them with tools needed to mobilise resources locally. The training took place in Abuja from 17 – 21 July, 2023.
The focus on equipping CSOs to mobilise resources locally is crucial because it enhances their sustainability and reduces dependence on external funding sources. Mobilising resources locally means that these organisations can tap into local support, including from businesses, individuals, and other stakeholders within the community. This approach not only helps build stronger ties between CSOs and their communities but also strengthens the civil society sector as a whole.
According to a participant, “I appreciate the training content because even from the first day, I already have tips and ideas on how to improve local fundraising techniques in my organisation”, a participant attested.
Abubakar Mohammed, Resource Mobilisation Officer of Africa Youth Growth Foundation commended the training. He stated that it was practical, interactive and participatory. He added that the training made him to appreciate the need to mobilise resources from within Nigeria to complement the resources his organisation generates from foreign-based donors.
“This programme will be important for our organisation because, initially, we have been focused on foreign based resource mobilisation by writing grant proposals and we have been made to understand that there is a huge potential for mobilising resources locally, here in Nigeria”, he said.
“What I will take back to my organisation is that, first, since our focus has always been on foreign based resource mobilisation and now with the newly earned skills in local fundraising, I will be able to pass the knowledge to other members of the organisations”, he added. This he said will enable his organisation to put in more efforts to mobilise resources from donors in Nigeria.
