Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are involved in a wide range of activities. As defined by the World Bank, NGOs are: “private organizations that engage in activities to alleviate suffering, promote the interests of the poor, protect the environment, provide basic social services, or undertake community development”. The tendency of Greek citizens to aid and community action is encouraging. Many are those who want to bring about a change and express themselves through participation in a small (and not only) NGOs.
Difficulties in finding funding
Due to the economic crisis in Greece, new NGOs face several difficulties. The biggest one, perhaps, is that of finding funding. The operation, finding goods, using services, finding volunteers and other activities of an NGO need financial resources. Finding these is a special case that requires a know-how that is difficult for small NGOs to possess. The will and willingness to contribute is pervasive within an NGO and it is the finding of funding that will make it properly used. Understanding the difficulty and inexperience of small NGOs in finding funding, p-consulting.gr in collaboration with partners from Europe created the e-Patterns project.
The importance of E-Patterns
The main target group of the project is executives and employees of small NGOs. E-Patterns aims to upgrade their skills related to fundraising practices.
For this purpose, the project partners have created a digital platform where a stakeholder can follow a training programme with a variety of digital material in 6 different languages (Greek, Finnish, English, German, Italian, Spanish).
The digital platform also includes a self-assessment tool on fundraising skills for an NGO. The self-assessment tool enables the stakeholder to identify the level of his/her fundraising skills and competences.
The e-Patterns is in its final stages of implementation and is expected to be completed soon.
Stay tuned for further updates!
