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Description
Local CSO empowerment programme “SIEKIO ID. NGO Academy“ offers a long-term learning process with the objective to enable participants to become change agents in their organisation and community. In the long term, the aim is to strengthen CSO sector by supporting smaller organisations in fulfilling their mission and becoming important partners in the public policy decision-making on the local level, enabling CSOs to plan and implement social entrepreneurship practices. The programme will be organized in 2 rounds: 2020-2021 and 2021-2022.
Each round consists of the following phases:
Phase I Intensive training. Each year, 45 representatives of CSOs will participate in intensive practical training where participants will be presented the theory of change, will analyse the problems faced by their CSO, identify the needs and challenges of their organisations, seek the most suitable solutions.
Phase II Module programmes. CSOs that took part in Phase I can apply to take part in Phase II. During Phase II, each CSO will be represented by a team of 2-3. Each year, 6 teams will be selected to the Social Leadership Programme and 6 - Social Entrepreneurship Programme. The programmes will be adapted considering the needs defined by CSOs. Each programme will offer 5 learning modules, consisting of theory, practice, one-to-one consultations. The duration is 12 months.
Social Leadership Programme: Strategic planning; Leadership, volunteering and community engagement; Project management; Financial sustainability; Communication. Social Entrepreneurship Programme: Financial model of organisation; Social entrepreneurship; Marketing and communication; Strategic management; Communication.
Phase III Evaluation meeting. At the end of NGO Academy programme, meetings will be organised to evaluate the implementation of the programme, to share feedback on the process and quality of the programme, results and changes achieved.
Summary of project results
The NGO Academy (Local CSO empowerment programme) project provided an opportunity for small NGOs working in remote geographical areas and/or with vulnerable groups to participate in a long-term learning programme. During the project, participants committed themselves to a long-term learning process with individual coaching. The learning process aimed to empower participants to become change agents in their communities, to strengthen the organisation''s capacity and to ensure the sustainability of the organisation. In the longer term, the project aimed to strengthen the NGO sector at the local level by empowering smaller organisations to fulfil their missions and become important partners in public policy decision-making processes at the local level.
Fragmented and unstable funding for the NGO sector, lack of resources, regional disparities and weak socio-economic contexts in the regions are the main reasons why Lithuanian civil society organisations, especially local and smaller ones, lack the capacity to create, implement and sustain change. There is a clear gap between large cities and regional, local NGOs. Small NGOs are struggling for their existence. To date, NGO leadership training programmes have mainly targeted organisations at national level and those located in large cities.
Developed a long-term capacity building programme - NGO Academy with two branches - Social Leaders Programme and Social Entrepreneurship Programme;
Two long-term capacity building programmes were implemented - NGO Academy 2020-2021 and NGO Academy 2021-2022;
30 teams of organisations participated in the long-term capacity building programme from 2020 to 2022.
Thanks to the NGO Academy, teams of 30 organisations (2-3 people per organisation, with at least one person in a leadership position in the organisation) have participated in a long-term learning programme and have acquired knowledge and skills in key areas that ensure the sustainability of the organisation; they have prepared realistic plans in different areas to ensure the sustainability of the organisation.
Project results:
1. Developed a long-term capacity building programme - NGO Academy with two branches - Social Leaders Programme and Social Entrepreneurship Programme;
2. 95 participants from 95 different NGOs took part in the intensive training;
3. Two long-term capacity building programmes were implemented - NGO Academy 2020-2021 and NGO Academy 2021-2022.
4. 30 teams of organisations participated in the long-term capacity building programme from 2020 to 2022.
5. Evaluation and folow-events took place to assess the learning process in the NGO Academy, to reflect/feedback on the learning process and the quality of the learning, and to map the results achieved by the participants, the changes in the organisations, and to predict the impact of these changes.
The project benefited from the experience of the partner organisation "Geri Norai" in supporting and developing social entrepreneurship in Lithuania. Thanks to the partnership, the NGO Academy proposed and implemented two strands - the Social Leaders Programme and the Social Entrepreneurship Programme, which enabled the organisations to profile and benefit from the targeted benefits at the levels of knowledge, skills and attitude.