Campaigns to End Violence against Women and Girls - Virtual ...

Where campaign funds are held in the accounts of one alliance member, who disburses
funds to other alliance members for their part in the campaign activities, several levels
of accountability must exist. Each alliance member must be accountable to the
campaign secretariat for the funds and other resources it receives from the secretariat;
the secretariat must present accounts to its host organization and the campaign board,
management team or steering committee; the host organization of the secretariat must
report to the donors. In addition, all these different levels are morally accountable to
those whose lives they intend to improve with the campaign.
To prevent confusion, leakage or misappropriation of funds, written agreements and
procedures taking into account these different levels of accountability must be
established and shared with everyone who handles campaign resources. Financial
control must happen on all these levels, at appropriate intervals: for example, alliance
members present monthly consolidations of their accounts and original receipts to the
secretariat; the secretariat prepares consolidated quarterly reports to campaign
management and the host organization; the host organization presents consolidated
semi-annual reports to donors.
Campaign alliances who are not experienced with multi-layer accountability structures
should seek advice from an accounting or auditing company, or consult with other
groups working with such complex structures, e.g. micro-finance organizations.
See also The art of collaboration in alliances for ways of working together on a
campaign.
8.4 RESOURCES ON FUNDRAISING
� As of mid-2010, the most recent and comprehensive guide for fundraising on VAW
campaigns is part of the 2010 activists’ kit for the global Sixteen Days of Activism
Campaign. It includes practical tips and short briefs on major donors for women’s
human rights campaigns.
� The short Global Fund for Women’s Women’s Fundraising Handbook (updated
2007), available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese and Russian,
provides comprehensive advice and useful links. It is mainly directed at small and
medium-sized organizations focusing on women’s rights advocacy, but it many of its
tips are fairly generic.
� The CIVICUS guide on Writing a Fundraising Proposal includes an overview of the
advantages and challenges linked to different donors.
� Women Thrive Worldwide offers a comprehensive Fundraising Guide for Women’s
Community-based Organizations. It includes extensive guidance on cultivating donor
relations, and short profiles of some 25 donors, some of which are known to provide
significant grants to campaigns and medium-size organizations (i.e. not only to
community-based groups).
� AWID’s WITM Compilation of Resource Mobilization Tools gives an overview of
online good quality manuals, toolkits and guides produced by various organizations
on how to mobilize and access funding.
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Campaigns December 2011