| Name: | Study on Financial Sustainability Strategies of Civil Society Organisations |
| Year: | 2012 |
| Client: | EC/Government of Botswana |
| Country: | Botswana |
| Background: | The Non-State Actors Capacity Building Programme (NSA CBP) is a result of the Cotonou Agreement, a wider Agreement between countries in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions and the European Union relating to development cooperation. In this Agreement, to which Government of Botswana (GoB) is a signatory, the participation of NSAs in development processes is emphasized. The Programme commenced on 6th January 2008 and is due to close on 31st March 2012.In the Financing Agreement, it was identified under Result 4 of the Programme, that Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) should be enabled to formulate and implement strategies for financial sustainability. It also specifies that the Programme will assist CSOs to develop and implement long term strategies to ensure financial sustainability that will empower them to implement their missions. Where possible, there should be effort to show how NSAs can enhance South-South and South-North engagement as a means towards financial sustainability. As such the role of the NSA CBP in relation to the above is to identify appropriate financial strategies, provide capacity building and advisory support to CSOs.This assignment therefore, was to undertake a study on the “Financial Sustainability Strategies for Civil Society Organisations”. |
| Objectives: | The overall objective will be to provide GoB and the NSA CBP with an overall description of experiences of different countries in the regional and internationally, on financial sustainability strategies for CSOs that will support the implementation of Result 4.The specific objectives of the assignment are:1) to identify and document good practices relating to financial sustainability of CSOs (especially in Botswana, but also regionally and internationally);2) to assess the appropriateness and advise on various financial sustainability strategies for CSOs in the Botswana context, taking into account all aspects including financial capacity, planning and financial management;3) to propose strategic and crucial aspects that have to be addressed in the Botswana context, to achieve/enhance financial sustainability of CSOs; the study should give some advice on how such strategies can be formulated and implemented. |
| Activities: | Based on the objectives, the specific tasks of this assignment were, but not limited to:Documenting CSOs experiences and practical financial sustainability strategies (especially nationally, but also regionally and internationally);Identify and analyse, in Botswana, the vulnerability context of CSOs to financial drag or what pre-disposes one CSO not to have adequate resources to realise its mission;Advise and analyse options on appropriate support measures that could be adopted by various funding organisations;To advise the NSA CBP and government on the types of capacity building and advisory support to assist CSOs to develop and implement appropriate long term strategies (including assistance on such issues as administrative regulations/ legal requirements and financial management) for ensuring the financial sustainability of CSOs;Indicate what the output of the NSA Programme should be in terms of improved financial sustainability for CSOs and the relevant indicators for the output;Recommend financial sustainability strategies that can be adopted and implemented in Botswana. |
| Special Recognition: | |
| Publications: | http://www.opml.co.uk/sites/opml/files/DSS%20Capacity%20Assessment.pdf |
