KAMPALA: The Senior Research Fellow/Advisor Policy Research and Strategic Partnerships at Centre for Basic Research, Richard Ssewakiryanga on Tuesday, December 21 during the 2021 philanthropy symposium at Silver Springs Hotel, Bugolobi – Kampala, pointed out that while giving as expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic across Uganda and around the world, institutional giving as also dwindled.
The philanthropy symposium was organized by the Uganda National NGO Forum in partnership with Open Space Centre, focusing on the ‘Give for Good’ campaign aimed at engaging youth in community philanthropy awareness drives at various levels, mobilizing youth to actively support community philanthropy at various levels, engaging youth in debate and dialogue around community philanthropy and other pertinent issues in the community to generate issues that will inform ongoing policy advocacy.
Presenting a keynote speech, the senior researcher noted that many nonprofit organizations are increasingly being asked by donors and governments to do more with less.
“The call for organizations to cut costs and build sustainable models may lead, at least in the short term, to exacerbating the starvation cycle, in which funders only pay for program costs and not for administrative costs,” he said.
Ssewakiryanga explained that very often, organizations supported by NGOs are faced with numerous conditions, where donors want to only fund organization activities but not cater for workers’ salaries, and rent office space.
To solve this bottleneck, he suggested that donors ought to understand that there is a need to design a process that gives money to organizations to do work, and also generate local money, to break the starvation cycle of dependency cycle.
“To overcome this starvation cycle will require innovations in local giving and local resource mobilization,” said Ssewakiryanga, adding that the expansion of avenues of local giving and the building of strong financing models is critical.
“Developing capacity and influencing and expanding the generosity mindset will be critical for the growth of local mobilization and philanthropy as a whole,” he added.
Addressing the urgent need to promote local resource mobilization and community philanthropy, Samuel Kavuma a Public Policy Analyst and Youth Worker as one of the panelists at the symposium, said that there is a need to learn to give back to the community either through services, funds, and other means, to shift the giving power from foreigners to locals.
“The way of development is done has to change by raising resources in our communities,” he noted, adding that communities need to take care of their problems because by doing so, they are able to define the kind of help they need, where they need it, and how they need it.
Shedding more light on community philanthropy, Kavuma said, “community giving needs to be guided, there is need for accountability through in some structures like churches and some institutions where accountability can not be demanded, we need to set certain policies”.
Kavuma also emphasized the need to empower communities to enable them to run like business entities to avoid the dependency syndrome, by looking at how they can develop themselves and make themselves independent.
On promoting community philanthropy and cutting down dependency levels on foreign powers, Open Space Youth Leader Wakibu Bunnya urged the youth to give without expecting anything in return. He encouraged the youth to give by passing on skills, handing over clothes they no longer use, and so on, because giving is for everyone hence one doesn’t need to be a billionaire to give.
“Instead of waiting for the government to give, we need to also support our communities,” said encouraging the youth.
In June 2021, Open Space Centre with support from the Uganda National NGO Forum launched the Give for Good Campaign aimed at engaging youth in community philanthropy awareness drives at various levels. The Campaign was supported under Uganda National NGO Forum’s Philanthropy for Development Programme with a bold vision for transforming how “development is done” by focusing specifically on the recognition and importance of domestic resources in increasing local ownership, unlocking agency, and strengthening communities’ ability to claim entitlements from different actors.
According to the philanthropy symposium concept note, with a reach of over 2 million youth, the ‘Give for Good ’ Campaign has been at the forefront of engaging youth in conversations around community philanthropy and tapping into their energy, ideas, and knowledge to bring about positive change in their communities.
The “2021 Philanthropy Symposium” being the first of the planned annual symposia, brought together over 120 youth, their leaders, organizations, and key community decision-makers for a grand celebration featuring panel discussions, an open exhibition, and interactive presentations around models of youth giving, sharing successes and best case practices around the community and domestic giving.