Summary
of Online Dialogue
Protecting
and promoting human rights is valuable and important work. In order to do
this work, organizations need financial resources. Although there are
many funders that recognize the value in financially supporting human rights
efforts, many organizations struggle to find enough funding to support their
work. This dialogue was an opportunity to bring together human rights
practitioners, fundraisers, funders and others to discuss essential questions
around funding human rights work.
Where is the money for human rights? Acquiring financial resources for human rights work can be a confusing and complicated endeavor. It can be difficult for human rights organizations to find the right funders that share their interest and vision. It can also be difficult to find information on specific requests for proposals, deadlines, funding cycles, requirements, etc. Human rights funders also face big challenges; the economy has had a devastating effect on foundations and other funding institutions. Funders are struggling to balance the need for support and the available resources.
How can funders collaborate with human rights organizations more effectively? What does successful funder/recipient collaboration look like? What roles do human rights groups have to influence the policies and practices of funders? What role do human rights funders have in influencing each other's policies?
What are the components of a sustainable funding strategy for human rights work? How do we measure the impact of human rights work? When is it worth the effort to seek out small foundations and when is it better to approach larger funders/institutions? How do you know when your work is sustainable?
Where is the money for human rights?
Fundraising for human rights work is
uniquely challenging, especially for longer-term solutions beyond
humanitarian emergencies, because of the complex, uncomfortable and emotionally
challenging nature of the work. Governments at times feel
threatened by human rights organizations who work to hold them accountable
for their human rights record, and at times choose to support them in order to
further
political aims. Aid or humanitarian agencies often choose to stay away from
'rights-based' work and advocacy work for fear of losing their funding base or
of being perceived as political.
Some areas, notably freedom of expression and especially
internet freedom, have received increased funding in recent years, but most
organizations face
major challenges in finding funding, including a mismatch between donor
focus and member needs, time and resources required, economic downturn, and
competition from other organizations. Just as the interest, and thus funding,
fades with time after an emergency, so it is with other rights, including
consumer rights - they just do not seem as immediate or interesting. This
is why it is important to
share stories of how the organization’s specific piece of the picture is
unique and improves live. Other problems that may arise include changes in the
donors’ course of action, and organizations must be prepared for this. To
avoid compromise of original aims, projects such as the Where is the Money in
Women’s Rights? initiative offer more
collective perspectives on funding, or "resources mobilization,"
emphasizing both financial and non-financial (publicity, volunteer time etc.)
resources that are necessary for organizations to sustain their work.
Beyond fundraising, human rights practitioners need
time to reflect and plan in order to work effectively. Without it, they end
up forsaking their own safety, health and happiness to get the work done.
Donors need to recognize this and while some do, even encouraging grantees to
include line items for this in their budgets; it is an ongoing dialogue between
grantmakers and their partners to ensure that this trend continues and grows.
When searching for the right kind of funder, a
database such as the International Human Rights Funders Group Directory of Human Rights
Funders is a good starting point, especially for those new to the work.
Meeting people in person is also important, whether is informally or formally,
to tell them about what you do and to ask them about their work and priorities
- important nuances of which will come across much better in person than thru
websites or documentation. Conferences bringing NGOs and donors together are
another great opportunity. Finally, having contact with someone before going to
the work of a proposal is essential to really see whether ideas align before
putting everything to paper. Funding has always been difficult for those
entities that support grassroots groups, social movements, and community-led initiatives,
free from externally imposed agendas. For this kind of work,
collaboration, partnership, coalition building are necessary not only for
funding but to make programmatic goals a reality.
How can funders collaborate with human rights organizations more
effectively?
Peer-to-peer
interactions in the funding world are hugely important and successful
models are those in which funder/grantmaker gatherings have a space for honest
discussions and debates as these relationships can radically change the way we
all work together. It is also important to
bring focused attention to issues in the Global South, where many donors
would rather not go given the choice, and to make smaller, newer or struggling
organizations understand that donors exist to be their partners - not their
superiors or simply a source of funds.
In order for honesty to exist, there has to be a
longevity in the relationship and an expectation set by funders from the
very start that making mistakes and learning from failures is invited for both
parties. Incorporating a more democratic approach to human right grantmaking
requires patience, time, persistence and relinquished control by the funder, to
promote an understanding of
rights and responsibilities of local people, who have the best
understanding of their communities and are in the best position to create
solutions, to tackle powerlessness and exclusion.
Collaborative funds like
Disability Rights Fund are attempting to bridge the gap between donors and
activists, bringing them together to make strategy and funding decisions.
These partnerships can teach a lot about how to best support human rights
movements, build trust and develop programs that effectively support grantees.
What
matters most in grantmaking for human rights is having a cultural
competency, building trusting and respectful relationships, actively
participating in alliances and networks between civil society organizations,
committing to supporting partners, having a results orientation, and inviting
grassroots partners to provide input into funding practice, protocols and
criteria. Finally, the real case studies, stories and complexities of
rights-based impacts needs to be more boldly articulated to
educate and inspire funders to make better philanthropic choices and learn
from first hand experiences.
What are the components of a sustainable funding strategy for human
rights work?
A sustainable funding strategy will likely involve a
balance between staff working on fundraising and on human rights. Having
fundraisers able to participate "in the field", and non-fundraising
staff able to understand the value of fundraising for human rights work can
strengthen relationships and boost fundraising ability. Otherwise, promises are
made or
concepts 'sold' that cannot actually be delivered.
Clear channels of communication must exist along with high levels of mutual
accountability.
While some, especially in the US, argue that
nonprofits spend too much on overhead costs, relying on donor funding makes
it extremely difficult to be entirely
sustainable. With changing donor priorities and time limits on funding, organizations
will always be looking for new sources of support. These organizations also
have difficulty thinking of the value that they create outside of the social
impact and do not consider
income generating initiatives, and yet not having to rely on repeat support
from donors is key to assessing whether a fundraising model is sustainable.
Having a
‘demand pull’ response, where beneficiaries take charge of project
implementation and results on the ground speak clearly to a well-thought out
strategy and approach and donors respond enthusiastically to the success
achieved.
One funding trend among foundations and governments that traditionally have
funded NGOs based in developed countries is to
fund local groups in developing countries directly. In practice, though,
few local NGOs have experience or much knowledge about fundraising and funders,
committed to letting them craft their own solutions, have done little to equip
these new grantees to sustain themselves financially. Another trend is toward
more
collaborative approaches to HR work, largely aided by digital
communications and social media. For this to work, planning and budgeting needs
to be done in advance, formal agreements made and a lead group made responsible
for keeping track of activity. Such
"net-centric" proposals acknowledge and leverage the power of
networks to achieve common goals, aiming to connect with existing networks and
communities of practice, online and offline, implementing information and
communication technologies, budgeting ample time and money for content creation
and community management, promoting openness and transparency, measuring,
evaluating and publishing successes and failures to pass on lessons learned,
and highlighting the importance of
flexibility.
An issue which is fundamental for the human rights sector is that of where the
limit is put on
donations – what can be accepted and what cannot. Over the last three
decade, the human rights sector has mainstreamed approaches and "do no
harm" policies into development and other sectors, but little has been
done to assess the extent to which these policies have been applied by the
human rights sector itself. Just as donors screen potential beneficiaries,
grantees may want to consider screening donors before accepting donations.
WITNESS
shares 5 categories they use to screen potential investments/donors:
qualitative, positive and avoidance screening, shareholder engagement and proxy
voting.
Assessing the impact of human rights work is a central component of effective
fundraising strategies. It also poses major challenges with regards to elements
such as
attribution of (human rights) change to particular interventions and a
focus on expected results as opposed to wider program impact. It is also
import, though difficult, to make donors who want quick and quantifiable
results aware that while human rights work does brings about deep societal
change, it may take years and is particularly
challenging to measure with traditional methods (log frames, quantifiable
indicators, etc). For this, the
UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has developed a range
of useful indications on human rights work.
Assessing the impact of human rights work is not just the job of the
fundraising, however! IFEX has found a way to avoid the creation of silos
(those that carry out the program work versus those that raise money for the
work). IFEX has integrated their program development, implementation and
monitoring/reporting proccesses. IFEX shared their 2011
Program Summary as an example of how they organize their work each year and
track their impact.
There are lots of creative ways to share stories of impact! More and more
stories are being presented visually, to speak to the diversity of audiences.
While some need longer, more detailed narrative reports, others only want
pictures and visually interesting results. The added benefit is that these
visual reports can also then be used for promoting your work.
One impediment to sustainable fundraising that arises time and again is the
poor way in which the value of human rights work is communicated. Part of this
is the challenge of showing impact, but at least three other things come into
play: an inability/resistance to communicate intentions written materials, an
absence of human beings in the discussion on fundraising and a lack of
awareness of audience or failure to distinguish among various funding
audiences.
Resources
- Advancing Human Rights: The State of Global Foundation
Grantmaking (pdf) (2013), a report by the Foundation Center and the
International Human Rights Funders Group. Link to key findings (pdf).
- Assessing
the Impact of Human Rights Work: Challenges and Choices: An Approach
Paper to aid discussions and further research. Published July 2011 by the
International Council on Human Rights Policy
- Assessing
the impact of human rights work: Challenges and Choices (2012): update
on project and summary of workshops convened on the topic with a broad
range of experts, human rights practitioners and academics
- Association
for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) Monitoring and Evaluation Wiki,
moderated by: Alexandra Pittman. The aim of the wiki is to stimulate
experience sharing and build a body of practical knowledge and experience
of M&E in terms of measuring gender equality (or other related human
rights issues).
- Consumers
International, website of the world federation of consumer groups
that, working together with its members, serves as the only independent
and authoritative global voice for consumers. It is a registered UK
charity.
- Cultural
Competency in Human Rights Grantmaking: What's Power Got To Do With It?
Examining Our Effectiveness in Working Across Cultures, paper
published by the International Human Rights Founders Group
- Directory
of Human Rights Funders, a tool is designed to enable both grantmakers
and grantseekers to search for human rights funders by several key
criteria
- Grantmakers for
Effective Organizations, a community of more than 350 grantmakers
challenging the status quo in their field to help grantees achieve more
- Do
Nothing Without Me: An Action Guide for Engaging Stakeholders,
written by J. Courtney Bourns, 2010
- inProgess, blogs by Sonia
Herrero, independent consultant with experience as a human rights funder
within the EU and as a grantee, on seeking human rights funding from the
EU on organizational change
- International
Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) 2011 Programme Summary, an
example of a year-long work plan published by IFEX
- Financial
Sustainability Planning - a bit about IFEX experience
- Funding
Freedom of Expression – An IFEX Overview, a study of the changing
patterns of funding for freedom of expression as a human right
- Practical
Guide to the Systemic Use of Standards and Indicators in UNHCR Operations,
Prepared by the Division of Operational Services, UNHCR Geneva, Second
Edition February 2006
- The Big Push
Forward: Making Space for Fair Assessment for a Fairer World, a
grantee-driven, bottom-up approach to impact assessment (as opposed to
donor driven approaches). Recommended posts are those related to "Alternatives for reporting”.
- The
Future of Aid, a package launched by AlertNet of stories, videos,
info-graphics and blogs looking at the future of humanitarian aid
- Uncharitable,
the website for Dan Pallotta’s that looks at why human rights feature
amongst the top priorities in most of the world's national Constitutions,
and so little funding is made available to human rights charities
- Where
is the money for women’s rights? Initiative launched by the
Association For Women’s Rights In Development (AWID)
- Trends
In Bilateral And Multilateral Funding, report from AWID
- WITNESS
Program Evaluation Dashboard, a template used by WITNESS featuring a
series of metrics to measure progress against goals set at the beginning
of the year. The Dashboard is frequently cited as a model system for
tracking performance by other non-profits and donors. The reports are
published bi-annually on under a Creative Commons license should other
organizations choose to adapt.
- Writing
Net-centric proposals, a blog post by Jessica Dheere of Social Media
Exchange Beirut (SMEX) that addresses what goes into a funding proposal
that supports networks, acknowledging and leveraging their power to
achieve common goals. SMEX is a social enterprise that offers training and
consulting on social media and online strategy to both nonprofit and
for-profit organizations in Lebanon and the Arab world.