The Resource Alliance Capacity Development Programme

Building a more just, equitable, and thriving future for social impact organisations and their leaders

With more than 30 years of experience in knowledge sharing and delivering training – and with a network of expertise that spans the globe – the Resource Alliance receives requests from organisations large and small for help with their resource mobilisation and fundraising development needs.

By taking part in the Emerge Fundraising Capacity Development Programme, NGOs around the world can benefit from strengthened organisational capacity in fundraising and resource mobilisation, including the development of appropriate organisational structures and processes. 

Drawing on experience and insights gained over ten years of delivering tailored capacity development programmes around the world, the Emerge Programme has recently been enhanced and expanded. Download the new Emerge brochure.

The guiding vision for this programme is the emergence of organisations capable of delivering on their mission – a vision that we share with many sector stakeholders and donors. The programme has been successfully implemented with partners in regions and countries across the four corners of the globe. The structured approach – incorporating in-depth needs assessments, carefully curated training workshops, strategy development, and executive coaching – has enabled the work to build the capacities of organisations and influence their culture. 

What this has achieved includes: 

• Strengthened organisational capacity in fundraising and resource mobilisation, including, if needed, the development of appropriate organisational structures and processes 
• Enhanced resource mobilisation skills, competence and confidence amongst key staff
• A functioning resource mobilisation strategy with plans and tools to support the process
• Mentoring for increased and diversified funding in the short, medium, and long term

Over the years, the programme has been implemented with input and insight from our unrivalled network of fundraising and resource mobilisation professionals around the world to deliver a comprehensive capacity building programme. 

However, with the ever-shifting and evolving social impact landscape the programme has needed to adapt accordingly. Funders are challenging everything: from transparency to ethics, from impact to operating models, and from accountability to governance. 

We have seen this as more of an opportunity than a need. Why? Because we have learned that traditional models that rely on a narrow approach to fundraising are not necessarily the answer to an organisation’s long-term financial sustainability, scalability, or greater social impact. Interventions, we believe, need to be more holistic, more visionary, more dynamic. More now.

For more information on the Emerge programme, contact Sarah Scarth.

What is the Emerge programme?

Emerge is a capacity-building programme the aim of which is to help organisations devise and implement a fundraising strategy that enables them to diversify their income sources and improve the prospect of long-term financial sustainability. The delivery process is designed to help organisations improve their resource mobilisation skills and strategic thinking and to enable them to critically assess other areas of organisational functioning, including governance, leadership, and management. The change that the Resource Alliance wants to see is for organisations to take ownership of and sustain new resource mobilisation activities that diversify their income base.

The programme is delivered by Resource Alliance associates (consultants), who are carefully selected and matched with the organisation in terms of skills, experience, and location.

Who is the Emerge programme aimed at?

The main beneficiaries of this programme are small to medium-sized organisations that need help and support to diversify and grow their funding portfolio for growth and/or sustainability. 

What are the benefits of taking part in the Emerge programme?

• Strengthened organisational capacity in fundraising and resource mobilisation, including, if needed, the development of appropriate organisational structures and processes
• Enhanced resource mobilisation skills, competence and confidence amongst key staff
• A functioning resource mobilisation strategy with plans and tools to support the process
• Coaching and mentoring to support the organisation in increasing and diversifying funding in the short, medium and long term
  

What happens during the Emerge programme? 

The intervention combines the expertise of a consultant with local market knowledge and a diverse range of skills and experience matched with each Oak grantee, as well as an opportunity to participate in peer learning activities. The grantee is then supported by the Resource Alliance through the following process over 12 months.

The ultimate aim of the programme is for the participants to become more resilient, sustainable, and capable of affecting change in their areas of work. It also aims to make organisations more robust, less dependent on a small number of donors, and better able to leverage funding from a wide range of sources for the changes they wish to make. The project focuses on the critical areas of leadership and resource mobilisation, which are crucial to an organisation’s survival and its ability to grow and bring about sustainable outcomes.

What has been the impact of the Emerge programme? 

• Foster confidence and skills amongst staff, which can be applied to other areas of fundraising and to ingrain a culture of strategic thinking with regard to resource mobilisation 
• Develop a fundraising culture within the whole organisation so that resource mobilisation becomes a collective effort and an integral part of organisational functioning rather than a silo activity that is the responsibility of a few
• Help establish an exit strategy for the organisation so that the financial dependency on any single funder is reduced 

Who has taken part previously in the Emerge programme?

Since 2014, the Emerge programme has supported 42 organisations across 15 different countries in Asia, South East Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

What do NGOs need to do to apply for the Emerge programme?

Organisations interested in the programme should contact Sarah Scarth.

What can funders do if they’re interested in funding the Emerge programme?

The Emerge programme has clear benefits for NGOs requiring help with building their fundraising capacities. However, funders whose aims and mission concern the building of the fundraising capacity of their grantees may also benefit through investing in the financial sustainability of their grantees.

Funders and investors interested in finding out more about the Emerge programme should contact Sarah Scarth.