Making local to global connections

Tanya Cothran

Understanding community-based organizations

'Our next proposal for your consideration is from Welfare Concern International (WCI), a local organization in Zambia.' I continued my presentation of this funding request to the Spirit in Action's board of directors with a description of the group's history, size, leadership, programmes, etc., and then I shared their current plans. 'WCI wants to build a meeting room which they can use and also rent out for additional income. They already have the piece of land to use as a building site.'

The board reacted with curiosity and puzzlement. It was not that they did not understand WCI's request. They did. It was only that they had not funded a community-based organization (CBO) before. They had many questions about how a grant to WCI might actually function.

Spirit in Action's philanthropic tradition is to fund individuals or families with small grants. Even grants that benefitted community groups, such as a training centre or workshop, were usually funnelled through an individual. As the executive administrator for Spirit in Action, a small, international, grant-giving organization, it is my job to filter grant proposals and work with applicants to hone their requests before presenting them to the board for consideration. What I saw in this request from WCI was a strong fit with other criteria for our grants; it was a self-help project and had an eye towards sustainability. I also liked that it brought together many people, not just one family, to work toward prosperity and change.

WCI is registered in Livingstone, Zambia, has its own board of trustees, and helps women in their community start income-generating activities. Unlike an individual grant request, this group already had an organizational structure, and both formal and informal recognition within the community. This increased WCI's ability to make connections and work in their context in a way that Spirit in Action International, located in California, was unable to do. In the past, WCI had received support from another California family foundation, including training in grant writing. The clear proposal, along with the modest requested amount, prompted me to bring the proposal to our board of directors. The twelve board members, most of whom were not professionals in the non-profit sector, peppered me with questions.

'Why do they need administrative expenses?'

'How long have we known the organization's leader?'

'With the name, Welfare Concern International, is this a local organization?'

What I realized was that the questions reflected a misunderstanding about CBOs, or community-based organizations. To them, WCI was a middleman. The discussion seemed to reduce the whole of WCI to its leader, when it was clear to me that their efforts were collectively led by community members. Clearly, there was a need for deeper understanding before we proceeded with the partnership with WCI.

Probably the reason Spirit in Action's board members had a hard time initially grasping the concept of a CBO is because they don't often hear stories about organized people in Africa, or African-led organizations. NGO brochures and websites show needy, desolate, and despondent individuals, which creates a tendency to offer direct aid, such as emergency food programmes or microgrants for individuals, like the ones Spirit in Action offers.

For example, child sponsorship programmes plaster their sites with pictures of children, effectively removing evidence of the caring hand of the children's current guardians. Heifer International's famous glossy gift catalogue asks people to pick a cow, goat, or other animal to give to an individual family, though this support is offered through wider community programmes on the ground. Kiva, the microloan organization, encourages donors to choose a specific individual to give a loan to, then reveals the fact that loans are often granted by local microfinance institutions prior to being listed on the site (Karnofsky, 2011).

These approaches appeal to donors by making people feel closer to those to whom they are donating. And so, the stories persist, even if they little resemble the way that most aid actually works. Money may not be given to the individually-sponsored child, but more likely used for community-level projects that benefit many children in a village. Similarly, the cow may have been given to the family or community group before the donation is made.

Communities and local groups are not in the catalogue, but they are central to the mission of most international organizations. In fact, you don't have to look far to see that Heifer International's (2016) mission is 'to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the Earth'. In narratives of global development, lost are the stories of the women's circles, church organizations, food cooperatives, collective animal husbandry groups, and self-help and savings associations that already exist to assist their members and community – even though these groups are often perfectly situated to serve the needs of the community.

Further obscuring the role of community-based groups as key community actors are newspaper articles, like the 'DIY Aid Revolution' by Nicholas Kristof (2010) of the New York Times, which lauds several US citizens who travel abroad to 'do good'. High praise of such social entrepreneurs perpetuates the idea that, for other places to develop, the interventions of outsiders are necessary. Often referred to as the white-saviour narrative, this scenario plays often in the back of people's mind, consciously and unconsciously, and it feeds into their decision-making processes when they are considering how to give money.

Zambian-led CBOs simply did not fit within these traditional narratives of aid and development. We are used to hearing about international NGOs working in Africa, helping individuals. How could I further educate myself, the Spirit in Action board members, and our donors, about the role, value, and structures of CBOs? Could I shift our story to tell the work of the communities and CBOs as part of our work?

When I moved to Toronto from California, I wanted to get to know my new community. Looking to see where I might volunteer, I realized that I was surrounded by CBOs – grassroots groups of friends and neighbours coming together to better their community. Though not explicitly called 'community-based organizations', they were all around: parent-teacher associations, community garden projects, immigrant services, local independent newspapers, and more, all acting in ways that are comparable to WCI and CBOs throughout the world. I wondered if relating our local non-profits, for example the Sierra Club, to one with which the board members and donors are unfamiliar, such as an anti-female genital mutilation group called Community Initiatives for Rural Development (CIFORD) Kenya, is one way to get them comfortable with funding CBOs.

Another example is Abrigo Centre, a community organization in my neighbourhood with close ties to the community, much like WCI in Zambia. Both are using local expertise to implement projects that will help citizens and improve their communities. Also, they are able to leverage small amounts of money using passionate volunteers and local resources. Abrigo recruits volunteers who speak Portuguese to help newcomers to Canada. Similarly, WCI has volunteers who contribute their skills to train women who are starting small poultry businesses. Most importantly, both groups are better situated than outsider organizations to engage the community's support and buy-in for the work.

It was my hope that once board members and donors recognized the CBOs in their own community, it would increase their comfort with Spirit in Action International grants to CBOs in African countries and the value that they bring to the issues. Giving to a CBO and allowing them to define and implement solutions increases the independence and self-determination of the people we are serving.

So did the Spirit in Action board make the $3,000 grant to WCI to build the community hall?

They did. However, after just six months of construction, high inflation made it so that the group ran out of money to complete the building. They could not buy the rest of the supplies. While this was a real disappointment and setback, it was not a total loss. The group was able to sell back some of their unused supplies and, because of their relationship with the Livingstone City Council, they were later given an abandoned building that they were able to restore with volunteer labour.

This first grant disappointment was not enough to turn the Board away from CBOs – we know that inflation hurts organizations as much as any individual in Zambia. And though Spirit in Action International no longer chooses to support building projects, we are still enthusiastically funding CBOs.

Working through community organizations like WCI, we continually see good models of groups made up of active citizens, serving their neighbours and making life better for the people in their community. In our small way, we at Spirit in Action International are beginning to change the narrative, showing CBOs developing solutions rather than people in rich countries supporting individuals on the receiving end of charity.

Even after the grant, WCI lived on with its dedicated volunteers still organizing and serving women. And Spirit in Action's relationships with WCI lived on as well, watching and encouraging them along the way.

This year, I am bringing another WCI grant proposal to the Spirit in Action Board for their review.

Sharing ourselves

There is something equally important to having Spirit in Action's Board members understand CBOs and the local, on-the-ground reality of communities working together. It is having CBOs understand who we are as a small grant-making organization, whose usual grant amount is between $2,000 and $5,000.

I realized that CBOs and international NGOs learning about each other is a two-way street when I received a grant request for US$40,000 to build a school in Kenya. This amount may not have made a multi-million-dollar international organization bat an eye, but for us it was more than our total grants in the previous two years combined!

As a 501(c)(3), Spirit in Action can technically be lumped in with a vast array of NGOs. However, rather than acting as an international NGO along the lines of World Vision or CARE International with their large operating budgets, numerous staff around the world, and national fundraising campaigns, Spirit in Action is managed by a single person (me) and a volunteer board of directors. We are funded almost entirely by donations from individuals.

In Eldoret, Kenya in 2011, a discussion with a number of our partners had brought to light the disconnect between some of their beliefs about Spirit in Action and our reality. The group of local coordinators for our Small Business Fund (US$150 microgrants to families within the communities where our coordinators live) came to me with a long list of requests. For their work, they wanted Spirit in Action to cover: motorbikes, computers, scanners, printers, building projects, and logoed t-shirts.

I realized I needed to reframe Spirit in Action's narrative within the global aid field.

After listening to their requests, I shared with them how we keep costs low. For example, we do not maintain an office space and the board shares potluck meals at our meetings. We don't own organizational vehicles or even have t-shirts. But that was not what they had seen from other NGOs in their communities. In fact, these markers were what had come to define 'good work.'

Sharing Spirit in Action's cost-conscious way of operating put me in a strong position to turn down their requests. However, as our discussion continued, we unearthed surprising similarities between the funding needs of Spirit in Action International and our CBO partners.

Just as the Small Business Fund coordinators were facing more demand for their services and were desperately seeking funds, Spirit in Action International also receives grant requests daily and must regularly turn to our donors for more support. As the coordinators put their best face forward in their applications to get grants, so too do we put our best face forward on our website and in letters to our donors. Together we are learning about evaluation and reporting.

This open discussion helped us to understand and trust each other more and to better align our priorities. On our part, Spirit in Action International agreed to send them copies of our newsletter and financial reports and to highlight and use their own words in newsletters and blog stories about them: to no longer appropriate their work as our own.

The discussion was also a moment to reconcile strains. Some coordinators seemed unsatisfied with the denial of their requests, and they shared that they had to drift towards other wage-earning opportunities outside of Spirit in Action. The board then increased their stipend to cover costs, recognizing the need there.

Our grants might be small, and our costs may be low, but the coordinators realized that it is our agile structure that allows us to be flexible. This perfectly situates us to be a supporter of community efforts, rather than implement our own programmes, which is the experience the coordinators had with other international NGOs.

There is a larger movement towards openness among aid donors and NGOs. This is seen in increasing transparency commitments, such as those which intend to release key budgetary information to citizens (Development Initiatives, 2014). Transparency and simplicity in financial reports helps partners and potential partners understand the work of the organization. Failure reports, or publically presenting failures as a way to encourage risk-taking and encourage creativity, also create a relationship of openness and truth between grantors and grantees (Engineers without Borders, 2016). If we can admit when a campaign failed or how much an event costs us, maybe our partners will also be encouraged to share when their programme does not go as intended.

The need to communicate Spirit in Action's model more openly with our partners and potential partners became apparent that day in Kenya. Most importantly, the greater understanding that developed from our discussion alerted each side to the unique role that we play in our partnership. CBOs have the ability, knowledge, and access to implement poverty-fighting programmes directly within communities. Spirit in Action International has access to donors who want to support local efforts.

Summary points

• In every country and in every community – whether rich or poor – there are groups of citizens formed to address issues in their midst.

• Current global development narratives most often portray the international actor or organization, and rarely offer recognition of the crucial role of the local CBOs they partner with to get the work done at the community level.

• Just as international actors don't fully understand CBOs, CBOs may not fully understand the reality of external organizations. Developing trust is crucial to transparent and fruitful dialogue between partners.