Funding pack 2015

Fundraising pack to support Consumers International Members and partners to raise external funds to attend CI World Congress 2015

Contents Introduction _________________________________________________________ 1 Why should donors have interest in the World Congress? _____________________ 2 Cost of attending the Congress __________________________________________ 3 Fundraising Guide ____________________________________________________ 3 Who to request funding from _________________________________________ 3 Writing your Application: Basic Ingredients ______________________________ 4 Useful tips _________________________________________________________ 4 Follow up _________________________________________________________ 5 Sample Letter ________________________________________________________ 6

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Introduction The aim of this pack is to support the efforts of Consumers International (CI) Member organisations to obtain funding to enable them to participate in the 20th CI World Congress 2015.

This pack includes:  Donor approach;  Cost of attending the CI World Congress;  A fundraising guide;  A sample letter of application.

Why should donors have interest in the World Congress?

Donors generally want to promote action, which will help to ensure that the world develops in a way that will enhance peace and security, health, sustainability and cleaner environment.

They have an interest in improving the well-being of citizens through ensuring that their needs and rights as consumers are met.

CI convenes its World Congress every four years in order to help shape the agenda for the consumer movement in the years ahead. It presents the global consumer movement with a unique opportunity to achieve change and consistency in global policy while empowering consumers at national, regional and global levels. It is also an excellent networking opportunity, much valued by our Members, enabling them to share knowledge, skills and ideas.

The overarching objectives of World Congress are to strengthen civil society capacity to put consumer rights at the centre of the international development agenda; to increase knowledge sharing, networking and dialogue among consumer organisations and other stakeholders; to directly contribute to CI’s accountable, democratic and transparent governance structure.

CI’s World Congress carries strategic importance by providing CI’s diverse membership with a platform to voice their views and those of their constituencies. It is an opportunity to inspire global campaigning action and commitment based on the principles of consumer citizenship: awareness, ethics, speaking out and action. It reaffirms CI’s commitment to a democratic and accountable framework of governance, whilst legitimising CI’s standing as the leading and true representative of the international consumer movement.

It enhances the profile of consumer issues and consumer organisations throughout the world and raises awareness of:  The link between consumer policy and international development policy.  The importance of the consumer movement’s role within civil society.  The integral part consumer rights and responsibilities have in achieving sustainable social and economic growth, corporate transparency and accountability.

The forthcoming 20th World Congress will take place in Brasilia from 18-21 November2015 and will be co-hosted by Brazil’s consumer protection secretariat, SENACON, which is also marking the 25th Anniversary of Brazil’s first consumer protection law in 2015.

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An estimated 700 delegates from civil society, governments, funding agencies, UN bodies and the academic community are expected to attend the event to join discussions and debate with leaders from the global consumer movement.

The theme for CI World Congress 2015 is Unlocking Consumer Power: A new vision for the global marketplace. It will explore the assertion that consumer power stands at a tipping point and assess how consumer empowerment can make an essential contribution to trade and development. Our increasingly globalised, digitalised society presents profound challenges and unprecedented opportunities for consumer empowerment. Further information can be found on our Congress website.

Cost of attending the Congress When calculating your request for funding, the following information may be useful. Please bear in mind that the financial information below is an example and costs vary from country to country.

The table below gives an average for transport costs and per diems for five days. Please note that in your own calculations you need to check and add costs for visas, which differ from country to country.

Budget Heading Cost of travel Per diems for five days Visa Hotel costs approx for five nights Registration fees for the Congress TOTAL

GBP £ Average: £1300 £400 - £2200 depending on country £210 Depending on country £250 No registration charge for up to two representatives from CI Member Please check full cost according to your travel, visa and accommodation needs.

Fundraising Guide Who to request funding from 

A good place to start is to approach donors who are already supporting your work or who have supported you in the past.

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Your national or municipal government authorities – in particular consumer affairs departments, trade and industry ministries, ministry of environment and any other government department that have an interest in consumer issues.

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Try also researching Human Rights Donors in your region/country and aim to link your projects with the donors’ work in this field.

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Local offices of donor agencies – for example the United National Development Programme, other UN bodies, FAO and WHO offices (ensure to link the application to the part of the Congress that is relevant to their interest).

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Other NGOs that support work in your country.

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The British Council or similar bodies.

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The European Union’s mission in your country.

Writing your Application Unfortunately, there is no secret formula that will guarantee success to your application.

However, there are some basic points that need to be addressed in any funding application.

It can be presented as a letter, a response to questions on a form, an appeal letter or a combination of all these. In addition to the application being concise, easy to read and addressing the main points, it also needs something to make it unique and distinctive.

A good way to address all the necessary point is to ask the basic questions a funder would ask:

Who is your organisation?

What is the mission of the organisation.

What does your organisation do?

Describe the services/activities of your organisation.

What do you want?

Request financial support for your participation at CI World Congress.

Describe how your organisation will profit from your attendance and how you will contribute to Congress.

Include a budget

Why should I support you?

Give the funder reason for supporting your work, e.g that CI World Congress is the biggest meeting of consumer organisations and other stakeholders in the world.

Support this by giving examples of how you will make use of the outcomes of Congress afterwards.

Useful tips 

Do your research. Find out about your donor, their interests, their concerns, their motivations, and their past behaviour, i.e what type of activities and themes they funded. The more you know the better an approach you can make. See more tips on research below.

Note: Many donors consistently complain about the number of requests they receive asking their support for work that they have no interest in and have stated this clearly in their publications and guidelines. Ensure that you have completed your research before approaching any donor.

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Think about the amount you ask for. Be realistic in estimating your costs.

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Find out the name of person to send your letter and/or application, if possible.

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Send the letter/application/proposal from an appropriate person in the organisation – the Director or President is often best.

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Make a file and keep records of every contact.

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Enclose all the information required, e.g annual reports, references, but do not send anything the donor does not want. If they want or need more information they will

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ask for it. 

Find out if it is the right time to ask for support.

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Meet the application deadline.

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Double check the final documents, no spelling mistakes or missing pages, good presentation and consistency.  Do not use jargon.  Do not assume the donor knows about consumer rights or consumer issues.  Make it simple and understandable.  Check all figures and data.

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Keep in touch.  Follow up and call after a week or two to check they have received it and whether they need any further information.  Respond to their requests or phone calls quickly and efficiently and always with your file in front of you.

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If they say NO it does not mean they will always say no. Maintain and develop the relationship.

Follow up 

Once the application has been submitted it may be worth asking some key supporters of your work to lobby for its success. The key is to identify who will make the decision and who will influence that decision. Then focus your lobby on those. For example, if you are seeking funding from your country’s Ministry for the Environment and already have good relations with the Ministry for Consumer Affairs you could ask the Consumer Affairs official and/or Minister to support your application by contacting their appropriate counterparts.

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You could ask some of your influential members or partner organisations to also write a letter of support, or your partner organisations and so on.

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Your organisation itself may also have opportunities to lobby by involving senior people in the organisation.

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It is important however to bear in mind that some funders may not appreciate too blatant lobbying. Be sensitive to the situation. It is a delicate balance between getting it right and upsetting people.

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Sample Letter Please fill in or choose accordingly from the grey highlighted areas

Dear [insert name] Request for support to participate in 20th Consumers International World Congress, Brasilia, Brazil 18-21 November 2015 [Insert name of your organisation] is a local organisation working to protect and promote the rights of consumers in [insert name of your country]. Our focus is to provide [information on your organisation’s priorities, name the 3-4 top priorities]. [Insert name of your organisation] has been working in this area for [insert number of years] and achieved some significant successes [provide example of a few achievements of your organisation].

[Insert name of your organisation] have been a Member of/has been working with Consumers International (CI), the international federation of consumer organisations, since [insert year].

Every four years CI organises a World Congress, which brings together figures from industry, government, academia and civil society who join leaders from the global consumer movement to address the major consumer issues and discuss ideas, exchange information and experience, participation in trainings, and support the development of policy and strategy for the global consumer movement.

For an organisation like ours it is a valuable opportunity to educate and inform ourselves, to form partnerships and alliances and to input the needs and views of our constituents into the debates and discussions taking place.

We therefore ask [insert name of donor] to provide a grant of [insert the cost of attending Congress in local currency] to [Insert name of your organisation] to enable the participation of [insert name and title of person attending from your organisation].

I do hope you will be able to support this request and would welcome the opportunity to discuss it with you further. Please do contact me if I can provide any further information.

In the meantime I am attaching for your information a programme of the conference as well as some background information about Consumers International and [Insert name of your organisation].

I thank you in advance for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

[Insert name and title of the person writing on behalf of your organisation]

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