Smart Risks: How Small Grants Are Helping to Solve Some of the World's Biggest Problems - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1853399310 ISBN 13: 9781853399312

Verlag: Practical Action Publishing, 2017

Inhaltsangabe

As never before, international aid is in the hands of ordinary people. Concerned citizens in wealthy countries are starting philanthropy groups, joining giving circles, and travelling internationally to lend support. Yet, they are torn between the feelings that ‘something’ must be done about global poverty and that foreign assistance is creating dependency and fueling corruption overseas.

A growing community of international small grant-makers know how to find and fund effective grassroots initiatives. Compared to donor-controlled, large-scale, project-based international aid funding, small grant-makers use the concept of ‘smart risks’ to build upon existing human and social capital and to make a lasting changes in people’s lives.

Smart Risks brings together the wisdom of experts with wide-ranging experience within the development sector. Their contributions focus on five guiding question, such as ‘who is a smart risk?’ and ‘what is your role in smart risks?’ They include case studies, personal stories of lessons learned over time, provocative insights on power and privilege, and practical frameworks for choosing, investing in, and measuring the impact of grassroots organizations and movements.

This book is essential reading for all those who wonder how their donations and work can make a difference in developing countries – from aid agency staff and policy makers, to globally engaged individuals.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

Jennifer Lentfer is Director of Communications, Thousand Currents and creator of the blog, how-matters.org;

Tanya Cothran is Executive Administrator, Spirit in Action.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Smart Risks

How small grants are helping to solve some of the world's biggest problems

By Jennifer Lentfer, Tanya Cothran

Practical Action Publishing

Copyright © 2017 Jennifer Lentfer and Tanya Cothran and the individual contributors
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-85339-931-2

Contents

Acknowledgements, 
Introduction Jennifer Lentfer and Tanya Cothran, 
Part I Smart Risk Number 1: Investing in local expertise, 
1. Making local to global connections Tanya Cothran, 
2. Community resilience: An untapped resource for sustainable development Clement N. Dlamini, 
3. Peace begins at home Ruairi Nolan, 
4. Dedication, incentives, and what drives local leaders Weh Yeoh, 
5. The real experts Jennifer Lentfer, 
6. Respect at the core: Insights on fostering local leadership Mary Fifield, 
Part II Smart Risk Number 2: Being non-prescriptive and flexible, with a long-term outlook, 
7. Unearthing community wisdom: Patience, perseverance, and partnerships Rajiv Khanna, 
8. When local leaders say, 'Thanks but no thanks' Scott Fifer, 
9. Local leaders in the driver's seat Tanya Cothran, 
10. Leaving the room Jennifer Lentfer, 
11. When small is too small: Recognizing opportunities to scale smart risks Caitlin Stanton, 
Part III Smart Risk Number 3: Looking to the grassroots for innovation, 
12. Small grants as seed funding for entrepreneurs Caroline J. Mailloux, 
13. Grants, not loans Tanya Cothran, 
14. Building accountability from the ground up in Liberia Blair Glencorse, 
15. Out of the comfort zone: Addressing the needs of women's rights defenders Keely Tongate, 
16. Fruitful failures and the pull of curiosity Marc Maxmeister, 
17. What if we saw 'mistakes' as fuel for innovation? Rajasvini Bhansali, 
Part IV Smart Risk Number 4: Rethinking accountability, 
18. Charity rankers: Who is defining effectiveness? Logan Cochrane and Alec Thornton, 
19. The solution within: Communities mitigate their own risks Daniela Gusman, 
20. Does your financial report make people feel poor? Nora Lester Murad, 
21. What 'real-time' community feedback can tell you that evaluations can't Marc Maxmeister and Joshua Goldstein, 
22. Dusty sneakers, girls' dorms, and challenging our assumptions Sasha Rabsey, 
23. Rigorous humility: Reconciling the desire for certainty and the space for possibility Jennifer Lentfer, 
Part V Smart Risk Number 5: Practicing vulnerability, 
24. The Dissonance Nora Lester Murad, 
25. Uncomfortable conversations Jennifer Lentfer, 
26. Ten rules for helping The Barefoot Guide Connection, 
27. Whose capacity needs to be built? Jennifer Lentfer, 
28. Questions to focus organizational learning for social change The Barefoot Guide Connection, 
29. What happens when we listen? Rajasvini Bhansali, 
30. The five essential qualities of grassroots grantmakers Jennifer Astone, 
Conclusion Jennifer Lentfer and Tanya Cothran, 
Index, 

CHAPTER 1

Making local to global connections

Tanya Cothran

Understanding community-based organizations

'Our next proposal for your consideration is from Welfare Concern International (WCI), a local organization in Zambia.' I continued my presentation of this funding request to the Spirit in Action's board of directors with a description of the group's history, size, leadership, programmes, etc., and then I shared their current plans. 'WCI wants to build a meeting room which they can use and also rent out for additional income. They already have the piece of land to use as a building site.'

The board reacted with curiosity and puzzlement. It was not that they did not understand WCI's request. They did. It was only that they had not funded a community-based organization (CBO) before. They had many questions about how a grant to WCI might actually function.

Spirit in Action's philanthropic tradition is to fund individuals or families with small grants. Even grants that benefitted community groups, such as a training centre or workshop, were usually funnelled through an individual. As the executive administrator for Spirit in Action, a small, international, grant-giving organization, it is my job to filter grant proposals and work with applicants to hone their requests before presenting them to the board for consideration. What I saw in this request from WCI was a strong fit with other criteria for our grants; it was a self-help project and had an eye towards sustainability. I also liked that it brought together many people, not just one family, to work toward prosperity and change.

WCI is registered in Livingstone, Zambia, has its own board of trustees, and helps women in their community start income-generating activities. Unlike an individual grant request, this group already had an organizational structure, and both formal and informal recognition within the community. This increased WCI's ability to make connections and work in their context in a way that Spirit in Action International, located in California, was unable to do. In the past, WCI had received support from another California family foundation, including training in grant writing. The clear proposal, along with the modest requested amount, prompted me to bring the proposal to our board of directors. The twelve board members, most of whom were not professionals in the non-profit sector, peppered me with questions.

'Why do they need administrative expenses?'

'How long have we known the organization's leader?'

'With the name, Welfare Concern International, is this a local organization?'

What I realized was that the questions reflected a misunderstanding about CBOs, or community-based organizations. To them, WCI was a middleman. The discussion seemed to reduce the whole of WCI to its leader, when it was clear to me that their efforts were collectively led by community members. Clearly, there was a need for deeper understanding before we proceeded with the partnership with WCI.

Probably the reason Spirit in Action's board members had a hard time initially grasping the concept of a CBO is because they don't often hear stories about organized people in Africa, or African-led organizations. NGO brochures and websites show needy, desolate, and despondent individuals, which creates a tendency to offer direct aid, such as emergency food programmes or microgrants for individuals, like the ones Spirit in Action offers.

For example, child sponsorship programmes plaster their sites with pictures of children, effectively removing evidence of the caring hand of the children's current guardians. Heifer International's famous glossy gift catalogue asks people to pick a cow, goat, or other animal to give to an individual family, though this support is offered through wider community programmes on the ground. Kiva, the microloan organization, encourages donors to choose a specific individual to give a loan to, then reveals the fact that loans are often granted by local microfinance institutions prior to being listed on the site (Karnofsky, 2011).

These approaches appeal to donors by making people feel closer to those to whom they are donating. And so, the stories persist, even if they little resemble the way that most aid actually works. Money may not be given to the individually-sponsored child, but more likely used for community-level projects that benefit many children in a village. Similarly, the cow may have been given to the family or community group before...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Practical Action Publishing
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2017
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1853399310
• ISBN 13: 9781853399312
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 190
• Herausgeber: Lentfer Jennifer, Cothran Tanya
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar