Phase II of the Facilitating Financial Sustainability (FFS) project tested the practical implications of the research phase by convening and implementing Action Learning Group (ALGs) in Colombia, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to jointly identify and address systems barriers to financial sustainability.
The ALGs were composed of local stakeholders interested in collectively identifying and implementing opportunities to improve local conditions for CSO financial sustainability in their local context.
Grounded in the FFS research, each ALG mapped out the different challenges to local CSO financial sustainability in their respective country contexts and prioritized issues for the group to address.
Action Learning Groups
Colombia
The Colombia ALG was comprised of 16 rural and small community-based local civil society stakeholders from Montes de Maria, a subregion in the Colombian Caribbean coast. The group worked to address capacity and knowledge gaps, build strategic alliances for resource mobilization, and understand their own local financial sustainability context.
Double click the videos below to watch and listen to the testimonials from the ALG participants and the ALG local facilitator.
ALG local facilitator
Sembrando Semillas de Paz
Corporación Desarrollo Solidario
Corporación Nuevo Arcoiris
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) ALG was comprised of 25 civil society stakeholders from North and South Kivu. The overarching goal of the group was to develop, share and sustain a successful financial sustainability model to change the financing process in DRC.
Double click the video below to watch and listen to the testimonial from one of the ALG participants.
Research Initiatives For Social Development
Research Initiatives for Social Development (RISD) Director, shares his takeaways from his participation in the DRC ALG. Among other things, Emmanuel explains that thanks to the awareness gained as a result of his participation in the ALG, his organization has taken steps to strengthen its financial sustainability.
Uganda
In Uganda, 14 organizations were mobilized to form the ALG. The group developed an action plan for engaging with donors and the Ugandan government to enable local CSOs to achieve financial sustainability by building trust between CSOs and government, building trust between CSOs and the donor community, and focusing on capacity building for CSOs.
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Learnings from implementing the three ALGs were synthesized to provide an overall commentary on the implications of the FFS approach and methodology.
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