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Description
The project seeks to answer the need for support for sexual education (underserved sector) and to develop the sustainability of Romania’s most successful NGO with a track record in promoting and implementing sexual education - SEX vs THE STORK Association. After a process of internal evaluation and analysis of the organisational development matrix, we have recognized the need of sustainability by providing a constant income that will allow us to hire the team members, providing their work continuity and financial rewards that match their effort; up until now, SEX vs THE STORK has not had any employees, just collaborators and volunteers.There have been identified two ways of responding to this need: (1) by multiplying the source of income in a relevant manner (at least 2 of the sources of financing representing 20% of the organisation’s annual budget); (2) by creating fundraising mechanisms that will involve: knowledge transfer in the fundraising area of expertise, for all the team members, developing dedicated human resources (hiring a fundraiser) and a donor care infrastructure (donor management software), planning and implementing long term fundraising strategies (for both individuals and companies), developing an intensive 3 months fundraising campaign.The project will contribute to the development of the Romanian sexual education sector, by improving the sustainability of Romania’s most successful NGO within this sector (SEX vs THE STORK) as well as to the implementation of the intensive fundraising campaign. The goal of the campaign is to finance 5 educational resources for comprehensive sexual education. These resources will include lesson plans, educational videos and teacher’s guides and will be available to use both in schools (in the absence of any official course programme for sexual education) and in the NGO sector, for teenagers and parents alike.
Summary of project results
The project addressed the Association''s need to enhance financial sustainability. Before the project, the organization had not engaged in fundraising efforts.
To build the skills of association members, the project offered courses, mentorship, and intensive training, resulting in the following achievements: an internal fundraising course for three staff members and two board members, CRM donor system training for the staff, and a mentoring and evaluation process that culminated in an external audit and the development of a fundraising strategy. Additionally, a six-month intensive fundraising initiative was undertaken by the fundraiser and project manager.
Participants were trained in fundraising according to their roles within the organization: board members received an introduction to fundraising, while employees participated in practical efforts to professionalize their work. To diversify the organization''s funding sources, the project implemented a multi-channel fundraising campaign targeting individuals and companies.
The fundraising campaign resulted in 102,479 RON (20,594 EUR) raised from individuals, two campaigns targeting the tax redirecting tool (Form no. 230), and the integration of an online payment provider, which increased the number of donors through the website from 80 to 210. Additionally, 43,864 RON (8,815 EUR) was raised from companies, with one deductible sponsorship and two recurring sponsorships from one Romanian company, along with three sponsorships from international brands. The fundraising campaign reached a total audience of 2,366,147, generating 41,900 RON (8,420 EUR) for a pilot sex education program in schools. The campaign also involved 13 influencers, five media partnerships, out-of-home (OOH) advertising in five cities, and a TV spot broadcast on two national channels.
Fundraising knowledge was shared with all team members to ensure the smooth operation of the new fundraising mechanisms. The functionalities developed through the project are expected to continue delivering results, with a high likelihood of retaining individual and corporate donors involved in the initiative.