Peace and Reconciliation Vietnam Project #36283

"The Journey of an Individual Philanthropist"

by LIN Center for Community Development

"The Journey of an Individual Philanthropist"

Project Report | Oct 25, 2019
Fostering Cross-Sector Partnerships

By Vo Ngoc Tuyen (Kelly) | Head of Corporate Partnerships & Fundraising

Workshop at LIN's 2019 Cross-Sector Conference

Dear valued donors, partners and friends,

In the last few months we have been asking our local nonprofit partners what impact they have experienced after attending LIN’s Annual Cross Sector Conference: Partnerships - Impact - Sustainability in May 2019.

Let’s hear from some of LIN’s partners about their experience from attending LIN’s Annual Cross Sector Conference in 2019. How have cross-sector connections had an impact for them?

Ms Huong is from Cau Han Project, which supports at risk children and their families to learn about health issues such as HIV and other community issues. She was a participant at this year's Conference and was willing to share her experience in making connections and meeting potential partners:

“At the conference, I participated in discussions and met many partners including NPOs, businesses and journalists. I am particularly interested in the field of education and the responsibility of businesses in the overall development of society. I think some of the results came from the conference: - We can listen to the views of businesses for NPOs - What is the best way for NPO to work with businesses? - In addition, I am inspired by the leadership style "A leader is a person who inspires others, helps individuals develop their capabilities. Each person can be a leader in our organization." After the conference: I become more confident when communicating. I also have more networks to work on education. Our organization is more confident working with businesses. In July 2019, for the first time, we signed a project to work with local businesses ("Improve the quality of education for disadvantaged children in District 7").” - Ms Huong, Cau Han Project.

Ceporer Hóc Môn is a local nonprofit and NPO partner of LIN, that works with vulnerable and homeless children in Hóc Môn district. At the 2019 Conference, Ms Lan, the Founder of Ceporer Hóc Môn met a speaker at the event who works for an MNC with growing operations in Vietnam. Ms Lan connected them with an environmental INGO which is already supporting Ceporer Hóc Môn with their fundraising. Now the MNC and the environmental INGO and Ceporer Hóc Môn are all looking into a collaborative project together to build 6 much-needed fresh water wells to provide safe water for the communities in Long An Province in the Mekong Delta.

CHANGE is a local environmental NPO and a partner of LIN. Last year at the 2018 Conference, Ms Hong, Founder & Executive Director of CHANGE Vietnam, shared how her perspective towards the private sector changed over time:

“Years ago, we used to think that business and corporations are the causes of the environment’s problems. But then we realize that, in fact, they could be a big part of the solutions, so we’ve started to engage with them, we’ve been working with their CSR programs for many years” - Ms Hong, Founder & Executive Director of CHANGE Vietnam, at LIN’s Annual Conference 2018 “How Doing Good is Good for Buisness”

This year, at LIN’s Annual Cross-Sector Conference 2019: Partnerships – Impact – Sustainability, Ms Nhi, the Managing Director of CHANGE came as a participant and left with a big ‘take away’. The contacts she met and the topics discussed lead CHANGE to develop their 4 year strategic plan to include exploring cross-sector partnerships. Ms Nhi Thoi shared that previously CHANGE had been thinking that NPOs must play solo and stay within their sector. But through opportunities like the Conference, CHANGE has become open to collaboration with corporates and local government, as they have seen evidence that these sectors are willing to be helpful and supportive of NPOs and their work.

“The conference helped us, along with other NPOs to have a broad look at the current CSR situation of other companies, corporations in Vietnam and was able to listen to the businesses about qualities and operations of individual units, open up many opportunities for new connections with other businesses in the future. Here, we also had a chance to learn and were inspired by the startup stories, missions, and visions of other NPOs that has the same starting point and background. We realized the importance and feel comfortable, and more open towards multilateral cooperation to bring positive changes, and sustainability to the community. Thank you LIN for bringing us the opportunity to connect and learn.” - Ms Nhi, Managing Director, CHANGE, at LIN’s Annual Conference 2019.

We have also been busy preparing for our next Cross-Sector event on 21 November 2019: "Transformation of Community Development in Vietnam"

At this event we will be exploring how local nonprofits have been implementing and transforming their community development approaches, and how SMEs build their CSR programs and promote these activities. It is a chance to learn, discuss and connect across sectors with leaders from nonprofits and businesses in Vietnam.

Cross-sector partnerships between nonprofits, businesses, communities, government, philanthropists, and volunteers are key to sustainable development in Vietnam. Everyone, including interested individuals and philanthropists like you, have something to share, whether it is time, money, expertise, resources, networks, and of course, passion and commitment to making a difference. Please click here to learn more about the event and register to join us!

Thank you for your kind donations throughout the year. It has helped us to continue the work we do to support local nonprofit organizations and partnerships in Vietnam. If you enjoyed these shared stories from our nonprofit partners and would like to see more positive change, please donate:

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/journeyofaphilanthropist/

If you have any questions about LIN or our programs, please feel free to contact me directly at kelly.vo@linvn.org.

Sincerely,

Kelly Vo - Head of Corporate Partnerships & Fundraising.

Links:

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Jul 26, 2019
Our Stories of Change

By Vo Ngoc Tuyen (Kelly) | Head of Corporate Partnerships & Fundraising

Ms Vo Thi Hong Phuc is sharing her story of change

Dear valued donors and partners,

It has been three months since we updated you about our activities to support local nonprofits in Vietnam. And we believe changes speak louder than words, therefore, we are delighted to share with you three stories of change from one of our local nonprofit partners, a skilled-volunteer and a corporate partner participating in our programs and activities, thanks to your generous donations and support.

Vo Thi Hong Phuc, Director of the Vu Vo Phuong Nam Community Serving Group, who received a grant in Narrow The Gap Round 1/2019 shared with us:

"My personal change is the improvement in my ability to design projects and my ability to implement it. My next plan is to look for international funding. About my organization, it receives a lot of information from community services, and activities (not charity), therefore our organization will be renamed "Phung Su" - meaning serving the community, not only distributing. Prior to this, I didn't understand much, but after attending to more events by LIN, I understood more, I bring that knowledge to my organization and make sure the beneficiary group is aware. My final goal is to let the beneficiary group understand implementation.
The organization still has some short-comings, but [these are] decreasing. LIN considered how to change the thought process of the beneficiary group. For example the Ca Mau community, Dong Thap community, are now independent, they are building bridges with a small amount of support from our organization. They have changed and are still on the path to improve, but maybe they haven't realized it yet. They thought that they would travel on boats for the rest of their lives. But now they have builit many structures, one after another, slowly there will be electricity and internet, and that will lead to an even bigger change to the community of that area."

Hoang Trong An, who participated in our Mandala Night event for skilled-volunteers shared with us:

"I see the enthusiasm of the organizer, the NPOs, the volunteers of the program. Through this event and through the stories told alongside with personal experience, I want to remind everyone, especially the volunteers that want to contribute to the community, be strong, never be self-conscious because each and everyone of the volunteers have their own values and strengths. You can contribute with finance, skills, or with your own power. Learn from your precursor, be confident to fall and rise up again."

Phil MacLaurin, Business Unit Manager at Premier Oil Vietnam, one of LIN's long term corporate partners told everyone at Narrow The Gap's Launching event:

"What LIN does is incredibly simple. They talk to people and businesses who care but don’t know how to show it. They talk to grassroots organisations who care but don’t know how to get the support they need. And what happens next? We start to communicate with each other and develop partnerships, and together we grow stronger. I said “What LIN does is incredibly simple”. That is not the same as “What LIN does is incredibly easy”. LIN is doing something very difficult and are uniquely skilled at it. How do you motivate oil company executives on the 18^th floor in District 1 to work with a few ordinary women in the marshes of District 8 so that we develop in partnership and grow together? LIN is bridging cultures. LIN must not be condescending to the local people. LIN must not forget that a business exists to create commercial advantage."

Thank you again for making all this happen. We hope you will not only continue to accompany us on this meaningful journey but you will also spread the word about our impact to your friends, family and your network by sharing this page to help our cause reach more people:

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/journeyofaphilanthropist/

If you have any questions about LIN or our programs, please feel free to contact me directly at kelly.vo@linvn.org.

Sincerely,

Kelly Vo - Head of Corporate Partnerships & Fundraising.

Links:

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Apr 29, 2019
Check out what we have achieved together in past three months!

By Kelly Vo | Head of Corporate Partnerships & Fundraising

Narrow The Gap's Pitching Day Event

Dear our valued donors,

We are excited to fill you in the updates of our journey in the past three months. Thanks to your generous donation, we were able to organize many meaningful activities that raise the awareness and understanding of local Vietnamese about philanthropy.

On 28th March, as part of the fundraising campaign this year, we organized our third fundraising event titled “The Journey of the Individual Philanthropist”. The event attracted nearly 100 philanthropists, many inspiring philanthorpic stories were shared by our guest speakers. We are delighted to share that, as a result of this event, we were able to raise 614 million VND. This will be contributed to support LIN’s work in community development and facilitating cross-sector partnerships by organizing programs and events for our local nonprofits to equip them with skills and experience to better serve their beneficiary communities. In the same way, this fund will also support LIN to grow and strengthen as an organization striving to connect all sectors for a resilient Vietnam. Click here for the full summary of the event and see more photos from the night.

Continue on this journey, on 19th April, we officially launched our "A Home for Nonprofits" - With this new venue, LIN will be able to support at least 6 seats for non-profit organizations partners and conference room for NPO's workshop/training activities.

The event was also the celebration of our 10th anniversary since LIN Center for Community Development was established. More than 50 attendees from the non-profit, volunteer and donor communities came to celebrate with us. At the event, Ms Betsye Moon Park, LIN's Interim Executive Director, shared the meaning of the “Home for Nonprofits” for LIN and the community as a whole, and sent our thanks to Irish Aid for supporting us to create this special place as a big step towards our mission in “Connecting All Sectors for a Resilient Vietnam.” Before cutting the cake, everyone joined the LIN team to sing a birthday song in a welcoming and friendly atmosphere. Check out more photos of our house warming event here.

On a high note of the journey, on Sunday 23rd April, The Pitching Day of Narrow The Gap 2019, Round 1 was successfully organized in order to select 6 winners to receive grants from Narrow The Gap. At the event, 10 Finalists presented their projects and answered all the questions from the audience. Our Grant Allocation Committee also provided their valuable feedback to 10 projects, furthermore, as a result, a few connections have been made at the event between nonprofit organizations and with donors. Nearly 100 residents from the commmunity, half of them were under 25 year old, went to the event and casted their votes for their favorite projects, it positively proved the increasing interest of local Vietnamese, especially young people in social causes and community impact.

If you want to learn more about the six winning projects, please click here.

Thank you again for making all this happen. We hope you will not only continue to accompany us on this meaningful journey but also spread the words to your friends, family and your network by sharing this page https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/journeyofaphilanthropist/ to help our cause reach more people.

If you have any questions about LIN or our programs, please feel free to contact me at kelly.vo@linvn.org.

Sincerely,

Kelly Vo - Head of Corporate Partnerships & Fundraising.

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