GNC current funds and fundraising strategies

GNC Annual meeting16-18 September 2014

Rome, Italy

Overview

• History of GNC funding• Current funding situation• SWOT of GNC fundraising • Fundraising strategies• Donor fund management• Next steps

History of GNC funding• 2006-8:

– Global appeal by OCHA- pooled funds for clusters– Several donors (OFDA, DFID, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland,

Canada )– Funds had short expiry dates– Pressure to mainstream cluster functions

• 2009+– GNC wrote proposals– Fewer donors (ECHO, DFID, UNICEF and Swiss)

• 2012– UNICEF covers cost of all global Cluster Coordinators– UNICEF unable to cover other functions as funding base has not

expanded

GNC funds 2006-2014

Current funding situation (2014)

Current activities covered in Work Plan (3 donors, approx $1 million)– Salaries of GNC Coordinators and deputy Coordinator– Annual meeting costs and travel cost for GNC-CT– Developing guidance

• resource mobilization• accountabilities to affected populations • communications mechanism at all levels

– Capacity development strategy– Cluster coordinator trainings– Induction/orientation package for IMO/NCC– Funding for RRT mechanism– Rapid Response Team evaluation– IM toolkit and Training package

GNC costed Work Plan 2014-2015

Concept notes have been developed for many unfunded activities and the GNC-CT is advocating with donors for funds. If no funds, activities wont be implemented.

Fundraising efforts to date and on-going

• Concept notes developed and costed for many unfunded activities

• Launch of costed work plan (July) where concept notes where shared with donors

• GNC-CT advocating with traditional donors (including UNICEF) for funds

Strengths of GNC fundraising capacity

• Strategic Plan is in place • Good relations with previous and existing donors• Significant global attention on and support for

nutrition• Strategic location- the GNC-CT now in Geneva, easy

and direct access to a multitude of potential donors• Communications on GNC and country cluster activities

are strong– bi-monthly bulletin, annual update publication and new

website.

Weaknesses of GNC fundraising capacity

• Reliance on a very limited number of donors (UNICEF, ECHO and DFID).

• Unsure of future funding from ECHO and DFID• GNC-CT is overcommitted, limited time to engage in

fundraising activities• Technical staffs in some GNC partners are limited in their

ability to approach donors directly• There is limited support (personnel or funds) for ongoing

fundraising research and/or advocacy• Communications from the GNC-CT typically do not target

donors or potential donors (just partners)

Opportunities for GNC fundraising

• UNICEF (as the CLA) has ongoing fundraising efforts which GNC activities are normally included

• Multi-cluster funding initiatives- where overlap exists in work plans

• Large donor base in Geneva- untapped

Threats for GNC funding

• Donor resistance to fund global coordination costs

• Many donor budgets are under pressure and may decrease due to economic downturns

• Under performance of the collective cluster as wells as poor performance in core functions has a effect on global level fund raising efforts

Fundraising strategies

• Identify new donors– Bi-lateral and private foundations– List of potential donors based in Geneva developed

• Strengthen relationship with existing donors to identify how GNC can access additional funds– GNC bulletin and other publications– Invite to Annual Meetings– Invite to new donor update meetings in Geneva– Ask for input into strategic documents

Fundraising strategies (cont)

• Liaise with other clusters for potential funding synergies– Framework for inter-cluster coordination being

developed/piloted at global level and tested in a country

• Discuss with various UNICEF funding and programme departments to identify where/how GNC can engage and leverage on-going funding efforts

• Identify how country clusters can advocate for/include funding for global coordination in country cluster funding proposals and appeals

Fundraising strategies (cont)

• Investigate opportunities with the regional offices of large bi-lateral donor agencies such as USAID/OFDA, and DFID

• Explore other potential donors based on feedback from GNC partners

Donor funds management- moving forward

• Donors transfer funds directly to UNICEF for UNICEF to distribute and manage. GNC-CT report back on the use of these funds to the donor directly

• Donors transfer funds directly to partner agencies to implement GNC Work Plan activities. Partner agencies are responsible for any necessary consultant contracts, management of the funds and reporting back to donors.

• Donors transfer funds directly to a consortium of agencies to implement the GNC Work Plan activities. One partner agrees to take the lead on activities and manage the funds for the consortium.

Proposed next steps (Sept-Dec 2014)

• Liaise with Swiss government to host donor meeting• Follow up with donors from launch on concept notes

shared• Engage with list of potential donors based in Geneva• Meet with UNICEF PARMO, PFP and PD to identify

existing fundraising opportunities to leverage• Propose the idea of multi-cluster fundraising at

global inter-cluster meeting

Group work

• In pillar groups discuss support needed and next steps for fundraising around unfunded issues

• Provide update on on-going pillar activities• Determine next steps to move each activity

forward