Nepal Communitere in partnership with Little Big Fund (LBF) hosted a two full day workshop this September.  LBF is a US-based non-profit organization that equips aspiring social impact leaders with tools, networks and funds to catalyze their ideas. Abhinav Khanal, one of the founders of LBF and Chief Thought Officer facilitated the workshop. 

The workshop delivered a condensed version of LBF’s curriculum that focused on fundraising for leaders of Nepali non-profits (both early stage entrepreneurs and non-profit professionals) and non-governmental organizations. During the workshop, participants learnt about identification of donors, skills to build lasting funder relationships, donor pitching, understanding donor expectations while writing grants, in-kind fundraising strategies, and left with a living executive summary. 

Highlights: The major highlight of the workshop was the funder’s panel where we were able to invite some young leaders from different donor organizations share their grant making strategies and tips for nonprofits. The panelists were Niti Shrestha from Panchakanya Group, Ashray Pande from The Asia Foundation and Bisam Gyawali of UNDP Nepal. It was also incredible to see the participants work in groups to dissect other grant applications and learn about things to keep in mind while writing their own grants. 

Outcomes: The key outcome from the workshop was that the participants learned the process of fundraising (from identifying to renewing donors) and the various practical steps that they can take to recruit a tribe a donors who become their biggest advocates. It was extremely inspiring to hear from the different participants about their work and the ways in which this workshop can have an impact in their fundraising work. 

Another thought-provoking outcome from the panel and participants discussions across the two days was around identifying and leveraging private sector funding opportunities. Access to CSR funds, stood out as a prominent one, given the ongoing buzz around the ‘Industrial Enterprise Act 2016’. The Act has made it mandatory for industries, companies, banks and financial institutions in Nepal that make an annual turnover of above NRs 150 million to contribute at least 1% of their annual profit to CSR initiatives. Building on this policy and the increasing need to understand what this new Act means for both fund providers and receivers, we at Nepal Communitere are working on taking the discussion forward. Please keep an eye out for upcoming CSR meet-ups! 

Thank you Abhinav Khanal for bringing this much needed workshop to Nepal Communitere!