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Description
This project contributes to strengthening the personnel and professional capacities of our organization which represents people with intellectual disabilities and their carers throughout the Czech Republic. The project is based on the current strategy of the association and the needs of its members in local branches in Moravia and Silesia. It responds to the following needs of organizational development:
1) To ensure stable multi-source financing of the association''s activities by strengthening fundraising activities targeted at small and corporate donors.
2) To reinforce the skills and competencies of the staff in the field of building public relations, advocacy/campaigning, sustainable financing and fundraising.
3) To develop support activities and services for local branches in Moravia and Silesia.
4) To be heard - through local information campaigns support the voices of local members - families with people with intellectual or combined disabilities and people with disabilities themselves.
Thanks to the implementation of the project, we will strengthen the skills and competencies of the association, expand its personnel capacity by involving a fundraiser and local coordinators, create a model of effective and functional cooperation with local branches and be able to better respond to their local needs.
Summary of project results
The project contributed to strengthening the personal and professional capacities of our organization, which brings together people with intellectual disabilities and their caregivers throughout the Czech Republic. The project was based on the needs of members who organize themselves in local branch associations in Moravia and Silesia. This included the following goals: 1) Ensuring stable multi-source financing of the association''s activities by strengthening fundraising activities. 2) Expanding the association''s competences in the areas of public relations, advocacy, sustainable financing and fundraising. 3) Developing support activities for local branch associations in Moravia and Silesia. 4) The need to be heard - through local information campaigns we supported the voice of local members - families with people with intellectual or combined disabilities. The implementation of the project went quite smoothly. The main problem we encountered was the high inflation rate and the conflict in Ukraine, which were limiting factors: many companies had an unclear economic outlook in 2022 and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) was one of the first areas where funding was frozen or even reduced, or went to support the victims of the conflict in Ukraine.
1. Staff development of the organisation: the fundraiser worked in the organisation on 0.8 working time during 20 months. He developed fundraising strategy and plans, approached various foundations and companies and arranged long-term collaborations. The publication "Living with Dignity with Intellectual Disabilities" was created and has been a significant help in meeting with corporate executives and other donors.
2. Increased competences: we trained 12 people from our team during the project on various topics: negotiation and argumentation, presentation skills, advocacy, fundraising, facilitation and communication (Facebook and Instagram).
3. Support coordinators for the Moravia and Silesia region: we trained 187 members of the organisation in the following areas: social and legal issues (self-advocacy, inheritance and will, financial security for people with intellectual disabilities); sexuality and relationships of adults with intellectual disabilities; housing for people with intellectual disabilities; psychological support and finding ways to effectively relieve the challenges of care work; e-safety and first aid (accredited training by the Czech Red Cross). We organized 14 advocacy meetings in Liberec, Přerov, Havířov and Brno and many online meetings to define the specific goal of local advocacy campaigns. The team implemented three surveys for informal carers (hundreds of caregivers participated in the local survey) for Přerov, Havířov and Brno to ascertain what parents want to fight for. Then leading groups of parents, local members, created documents with specific demands for social services and identified "key players" - local politicians and senior officials at the city and regional level who have influence on the functioning of social services or health services, planned tasks and attended meetings.
4. Campaign about the organisation: we implemented one big campaign, divided into two themes: "A dignified life for our children" and "A dignified life with intellectual disabilities", which lasted for a total of 5 months. We filmed video portraits of caregivers from the regions in collaboration with a director. From the filmed material, four video stories (plus a summarizing teaser) were produced. In the publication "Living with Dignity with Intellectual Disability" we present the achievements of our organisation over the last 5 years (2018-2022). We presented its long-term functioning and achievements in the field of providing a better life for people with intellectual disabilities. The content of the publication served as the basis for the media campaign.
1. Staff development of the organisation: the fundraiser worked in the organisation on a 0.8 full-time basis for 20 months. We created and tested in practice a fundraising strategy and a plan for fundraising activities . We have persuasive materials for donors (publications, emails, etc.); we involved local members in fundraising (for example, Třinecké železárny for members in Havířov and Český Těšín). In the case of financial institutions, we have been successful in received funds from UniCredit Bank from their CSR programme.
2. The project supported two coordinator positions for the Moravian-Silesian and Olomouc/Zlín regions. The total number of full-time positions under the contracts corresponds to 1.6 full-time positions. We have a more competent team (staff and members), which has acquired new skills in key areas such as advocacy and facilitation. We have trained 12 people from our team.
3. We have strengthened the professional capacity and competence of the association, we have expanded our capacity by involving a fundraiser and local coordinators. We provided consultancy and organised training activities (we trained 187 members of the organisation and also intensively supported local advocacy activities and developed cooperation with local actors and local government (14 advocacy meetings). The position of the members of the organisation has improved with outreach to local government or the professional public and also to some extent to sponsors and donors.
4. Thanks to the media campaign and PR work (1 campaign, 5 videos, one publication and other printed materials for affiliated associations), we have contributed to destigmatize people with intellectual disabilities and to improve the image of our organization at the local level.