Build Home for Vietnam NPOs

On January 12th, at Hoa Sen University, the LIN Center helped to organize and facilitate the workshop, "Successful Fundraising - Working toward International Ethical Standards".  The workshop was organized, in part, to share and solicit input from representatives of the nonprofit sector in Ho Chi Minh City on the first draft of a code of conduct for fundraising professionals in Vietnam.

The draft was prepared by a volunteer consortium of fundraising profesionals, representing both local and international nonprofit organizations in Vietnam, who came together in 2015 for the purpose of adapting the International Statement of Ethical Principles in Fundraising (http://www.afpnet.org/Ethics/IntlArticleDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=3681) to the context and needs of nonprofits in Vietnam. The purpose of developing a "Statement of Ethical Principles in Fundraising in Vietnam" was to unify the fundraising community in Vietnam - those who are dedicated to accountability, transparency and effectiveness - behind a single universal declaration of fundamental principles. It was also designed to foster public trust in the nonprofit sector while discouraging personal gain at the expense of donors and stakeholders.

During the half-day workshop, three members of the consortium joined a panel to discuss their experiences with fundraising: LIN's Founder and Strategic Advisor - Mrs. Dana R.H. Doan, the Director of Saigon Children's Charity - Mr. Tim Mullett and the Director of ICS Center - Mr. Tran Khac Tung. The panel was moderated by a fourth member of the consortium, Ms. Nguyen Phuong Anh who is a freelance consultant and local fundraising expert.  

The workshop began with a question from the moderator to all three panelists: "How did your organization build relationships with donors?". Equality, openness and proactive sharing of information was the common position of representatives from the three organizations on the panel.  Mr. Tim Mullett, said that SCC built relationships based on common interests between SCC and its donors. "It is important to understand," he explained, "the needs of our partners." He went on to explain some differences between individual donors and corporate donors, such as the common practice of individuals to give based on emotion, while companies would likely base their decision on information. "In addition," Tim added, "the current trend of businesses is to request opportunities for their employees to participate in activities of the project they are funding."

Mr. Tran Khac Tung, Director of ICS Centre similary shared that he looks for a mutual benefit when considering a partnership with a donor. ICS donors are invited to join their events and activities and visit the office to understand each other better. By understanding the needs of the business, and vice-a-versa, nonprofits are better able to build appropriate relationships.

Ms. Dana Doan, shared LIN's experience raising funds when the organization was just getting started and unknown in the community.  "Since we did not have a track record, we had to establish our credibility. One way we would do that was to prepare and present a thoughtful and comprehensive project proposal, including a clear and detaild budget that was reasonable and directly related to the proposed activities. A logical proposal and clear budget helps to build confidence in a donor that your organization knows what it is doing and has the capacity to get it done."

Workshop participants were interested to learn strategies for retaining donors. On this question, Ms. Doan shared that donor retention requires effective communications and database management. After more than five years in operation, LIN recently transitioned from an Excel database to a cloud based CRM system.  Dana explained, "As LIN increased its number of donors, we began to have difficulty keeping in contact with each of our donors.  It was at that point that we recognized the need to develop a more robust database management system."  With support from a skilled volunteer, LIN was able to move its donor data to a CRM (client relationship managment) system, which helps small organizations better manage information and recognize donors in a more timely and effective manner. CRM systems can also sync with email marketing platforms to enhance communications.

Tim Mullet added the experience of SCC: "NPOs should not reply soley on email or social networking channels to communicate with donors. Rather, there needs to be a more personal approach."  Tim explained that there are many reasons why a person might ignore or miss an mail. Whereas, he added, "a telephone call or meeting can help the organization maintain contact and better understand a donor's needs."

On keeping in touch with donors, Mr. Tran Khac Tung said that ICS team strives to answer all donor inquiries within 24 hours. That direct and prompt contact with donors keeps ICS actively updated on the needs and interests of donors while keeping donors actively updated on what ICS has done. This type of relationship also helps ICS to stay on top of all viable funding opportunities that comes their way.

In response to Ms. Phuong Anh's question, "How do NPOs build transparency in fundraising activities?". Mr. Tran Khac Tung acknowledging the importance of transparency in building the confidence of current and potential external partners, said that a regular flow of information between donors and NPOs and among employees within the organization is important. Good information flow, he explained, "helps build strength and credibility to the organization."

For SCC, Mr. Tim Mullet talked about the importance of maintaining a transparent budget. Similar to ICS, SCC is open to all inquiries from donors during project implementation. He also recommended the establishment of a Board of Trustees, consisting of advisors who help ensure that the organization implements policies of transparency in their operations.

In reflecting upon LIN's own experience, Ms. Dana Doan shared that "not everyone has the experience or natural instinct to know what is the right thing or what is the wrong thing to do when it comes to building relationships with current and prospective partners." For this reason, prior to legal establishment, LIN developed an internal code of conduct with policies relating to procurement and gift acceptance, including gifts in kind. The LIN team appreciated having that guidance written, in black and white.  "In addition," she added, "our sponsors and partners seem to appreciate the fact that we engage an external organization to conduct an audit of our annual financial statements." Such reports should always be made publicly available, for example on the website of your organization, she recommended.

After the panel sharing, the panelists joined participants to review and discuss the draft "Statement of Ethical Principles in Fundraising in Vietnam".  Five groups discussed different sections of the code and reproted back their questions, concerns and recommendations for improvement. One of the recommendations made was to establish a working group or network of fundraising professionals in HCMC.

Over the next month, the consortium plans to edit the draft Statement, incorporating the comments and suggestions that were shared during the workshop and then send the statement to other stakeholders (e.g., auditors, government, donors) for a final round of review and inputs. We hope to finalize the statement before the end of June 2016 for broad di

Links:

• More photos from the Fundraising Workshop
• Original Article (Vietnamese)

Earlier this year, LIN launched the NPO Young Leaders Circle to facilitate peer mentorship and support to the leaders of developing, grassroots nonprofit organizations. Members of LIN's NPO Young Leaders Circle were encouraged to join LIN's Annual Narrow the Gap Community Event: Take Action for the Environment, which took place on 26 September 2015 at the HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities.  Each member was given the following three objectives:

1. Make at least ten new relationships that they did not have previously;
2. Share five things they learned or experienced during the event; and
3. Introduce their organization/project to at least three people at the event.

After the event, Ms. Phun Cam Linh, representative of Smile Group and a member of the NPO Young Leaders Circle, shared her experiences with the LIN team and other members:

"During my time at LIN's Narrow the Gap Event, I not only visited the booths of LIN's partners but I also learned about the three project finalists and many other activities of supporting partners and event sponsors.

By being asked to look more carefully at these events, I could see that behind these activities are various ideas about communication that can be useful for my own organization and others. For me, participating in this event gave me an opportunity to learn and know more about different ways of communicating, building the reputation and offering a unique impression of an organization to the community and to various participants.

People used many well-known ways of communicating, such as: brochures, banners, posters, uniform T-shirts, business cards, and more...   In addition, there were creative forms of communication that some people and organizations used to demonstrate effectiveness and spread their image.

For example, look at the way two corporate sponsors spread messages:

• Lois Garden – Besides their booth for teaching gardening and selling plants, they also hosted a photo booth that displayed many plants and engaged people to come take pictures and make a commitment to protect the environment. The booth provided a lovely background that was suitable to the event's theme of environment. And it was a subtle way to make people aware of their garden and leave an impression. Below the plans, there was a simple banner, "We are LOIS GARDEN".  For every person that posted a photo of themselve in the both, their friends would see this message and may be attracted to come to LOIS GARDEN.
• Prudential – Prudential company sponsored the photo booth as well.  [For every photo taken in the booth and shared on Facebook, Prudential agreed to donate money to the Narrow the Gap Fund for the Environment.] This was made clear in the way the sponsor applied Prudential stickers to each of the environmental actions people could choose to hold up in their photo as a way of making a commitment to protect the environment. By the stickers on the messages and by the Facebook campaign, the company could promote its branch and activities supporting the community.

Beside the corporate sponsors, I could see how nonprofit organizations' communicate, especially the three finalists for a grant. For example:

• ECO Vietnam Group – This nonprofit made great use of its human resources, in particular their volunteers, who walked around wearing bright yellow T-shirts and some of whom wore a small board with colorful pictures and messages to request support. The actions attracted people's attention. Besides, they also communicated with people through real stories, products and examples. This kind of communication was impressive, and gave them a significant advantage to attract people's first impression and create curiousity to learn more about the organization.
• Deaf Community of HCMC (DCOH) – Similar to ECO Vietnam Group, DCOH had all of its team and members wearing a uniform with the logo of the organization on it.  They also engaged their members to giving out cards and creating a painting by people's fingerprints.  In addition, DCOH members put stickers with their logo on it onto the shirts of event guests, which was an effective way for the deaf community members to communicate that they wanted their votes. 

And there were many other organizations communicating in their own way.

LIN's Narrow the Gap Community Event provided a diverse environment for meeting and connecting people working in many fields who are all similarly concerned about the "Environment". At the event, people could meet friends (new and old); learn about environment and vote for the best project to support this year.  The event also gave me a good idea about the diversity of communication methods. I wonder, which communication method does your organization apply to communicate information and leave a unique impression?"

***

The NPO Young Leaders Circle was launched in May 2015 with 15 members from LIN's NPO partners. Nine members are female and all members are between the ages of 21 to 35 with the average age of 26 years old. 15 members were divided into four groups and made responsible for one of four activities: (1) Communications, (2) External Networking, (3) Peer Sharing and (4) Training.  LIN coordinates the events and helps each team plan and execute elevent activities per year.  The next activity of the NPO Young Leader's Circle is a peer sharing, which will take place on October 24, 2015 at LIN Community Center. During the meeting, young leaders will have an opportunity to exchange experiences and challenges they are facing in their work. 

Links:

• Video Highlights of Narrow the Gap Community Event