Association Burkinabè de Fundraising

There are many reasons why local organisations mobilise support to bring about change in their communities. This module provides an introduction to the various approaches to mobilising support and gives good reasons for engaging in support mobilisation initiatives.

Why

CBOs and NGOs seek to promote the improvement of the living conditions of groups that deserve to enjoy all their rights. Mobilising support seeks more systematic and sustainable solutions for these groups with the support of other citizens and national or local authorities.

What you can expect

This introductory module explains how various approaches to mobilising support can bring about positive change. Various actors present examples from their own organisations and let you discover the various steps in developing a strategy and the principles for effective implementation of activities.

Knowledge and skills

You will learn about the reasons why organisations initiate support mobilisation actions in addition to their activities that directly help people or groups in need. With this initial understanding of support mobilisation, you can try to determine whether these approaches are already part of/could be part of your organisation's activities.

This module looks at the obstacles that have caused the situation you want to change and the possible solutions. It explains, on the basis of this analysis of obstacles and solutions, how you can define your theme for mobilising support (the specific problem on which you should focus your efforts).

Why

Formulating the support mobilisation theme is an important step in developing a support mobilisation strategy. A well-defined support mobilisation theme allows you to decide what to do and what not to do.

What you can expect

In this module you will identify the key problem to be solved, formulate the theme for mobilising support and decide on the solution you wish to promote.

Knowledge and skills

At the end of this module you will have learned to:

• Analyse and understand the issues that determine the situation you want to solve 
• Choosing solutions to these problems
• Formulate your support mobilisation issue

This module focuses on how to conduct a good environmental scan. It begins with an overview of the various reasons for conducting a context analysis. It then goes on to discuss all the aspects that make up a context. These are:

• Factors: political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental elements that form the context in which problems occur.
• The actors (also called stakeholders): your beneficiaries, your own organisation, and your allies and opponents.
• The decision-making and implementation process.

Why

If you fully understand the context in which you are working, you will be able to develop a good strategy for mobilising support. Therefore, doing a context analysis is crucial to the success of your activities.

What you can expect

In this module, you will learn how to formulate the policy issue and solution (the first message) you want to promote. You will build on the expectations of the beneficiaries, how to involve them, and learn different ways of dealing with your allies and opponents. Finally, you will analyse the decision-making process that you want to change in favour of your beneficiaries.

Knowledge and skills

At the end of this module, you will have learned to analyse the various aspects of the context, including your own organisation, to better take into account the dreams and wishes of your beneficiaries, to differentiate between your allies and your opponents and to base your activities on this, and to determine whether you should focus on lobbying for compliance with existing rules or decisions, or lobbying for a new policy decision.

When writing a plan for a support mobilisation project, all the elements of the analysis fit together: they will suggest several possible options for actions and activities from which you will have to choose. Once the initial topic and message are clear, it is important to develop a strategy for deciding which activities to present in your plan. You will also need to determine what resources you will need. In this module you will look at the information you need to present in your plan. In the rest of this module you will develop all the elements of your plan. The plan also includes how you will monitor and evaluate your action.

Why

Careful planning will help you to make your support mobilisation project as effective as possible. A good plan will help you tailor your activities to your capacities and resources. It will also help you to communicate your project to your allies and colleagues.

What you can expect

In this module you will learn what information should be presented in a support mobilisation plan. You will formulate the objectives. You will learn how to use your analysis to design a workable plan. You will be encouraged to make clear strategic choices before presenting the activities, budget and indicators for monitoring changes during and after your project.

By the end of this module, you will have written a comprehensive plan for a support mobilisation activity.

Knowledge and skills

By developing a concrete project plan, you will be able to draft similar plans for other problems and obstacles that require support mobilisation. 

In this module you will learn how to better communicate your message of support mobilisation. We will focus on positioning and conveying skills through listening, framing, writing, presenting and negotiating. You can choose the skills you want to improve: this course is tailor-made for you.

Why

Once you have formulated a support mobilisation plan, skills such as active listening, presentation, negotiation and writing are needed to successfully communicate your message.

What you can expect

You will learn to distinguish between positioning and delivering a message. Profiling your audience, active listening and choosing the right frame are skills for correctly positioning your support mobilisation initiative. Through writing, presenting and negotiating, you will effectively convey your message.

Knowledge and skills

By the end of this module, you will be able to choose the right audience for each message, listen better to what is said (or not said) and know how to question your beneficiaries. In addition, you have chosen the right framework for your initiative, for example by talking about rights rather than needs. Through advocacy group visits, advocacy letters, presentations and negotiations, you can convince your stakeholders of your position.

What you get

Tools

• The audience profiling matrix
• Tools for active listening
• Instructions on how to interview special groups
• The RAIC tool for finding legal arguments
• The ingredients for an appeal letter
• Model on how to prepare a presentation
• Exercises on negotiation techniques
• Checklist for an advocacy group visit

In this module you will learn how to evaluate your project. We will assist you throughout the process: from designing your evaluation approach, to collecting and analysing information, to writing your report and preparing a learning plan.

Why

People often evaluate for reasons of accountability: you have to show what you have achieved and how you have used your budget. But evaluations are also excellent learning opportunities.

What you can expect

In addition to the informative know-how sessions, videos and exercises, you can use this module to write your own step-by-step self-assessment report.

Knowledge and skills

By the end of this module, you will know when to use your evaluation for accountability or learning purposes (or both), how to write an evaluation report, and how to translate the lessons learned into learning plans and free publicity.

Competencies

• you can separate efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and do a cost-benefit analysis
• you can write conclusions and recommendations
• you can develop an individual and organisational learning plan
• you have tested your progress by completing a final organisational capacity assessment
• you know how to mobilise support and overcome resistance to change

This course is about power relations, diversity and gender. Gender roles are often linked to power relations, but there are many other power relations. We will explore how power relations, diversity and gender roles influence your daily life, work and lobbying practices.

Why

This course is useful if you want to :

• understanding and negotiating gender roles and power relations.
• understand the role of diversity and increase a respectful and inclusive attitude.

What you can expect

After this course :

• You will be able to constantly reflect on existing power relations and gender roles and your attitude in this context.
• You will recognise the importance of diversity and be able to respect others from different backgrounds.

Knowledge and skills

Knowledge

• You will recognise how power relations are constructed in lobbying contexts.
• You will learn how gender roles and stereotypes influence everyday life and lobby contexts.

Competencies

• You will develop the skills to negotiate power relations in your work and lobbying activities.
• You will develop the skills to work respectfully with others from different backgrounds and in different (political) contexts.