Building Donor Trust with Local Partners: Center of Concern

The Global Partnership Centre

Under our Irish Aid commitment, the Global Partnership Centre (GPC) has four strategic goals, one of which is to facilitate strategic networking and collaboration between GOAL’s partner agencies. To this end, the GPC began hosting monthly Community of Practice webinars for all GOAL Global partners in April 2024. These quarterly webinars provide partners with opportunities to exchange ideas, challenges and solutions, access free expertise, and grow their networks.

These webinars demonstrate the value of learning through context. By exchanging questions and personal experiences, our attendees develop a deeper understanding of development and can integrate these insights into their own practices. The webinars also support constructive dialogue by facilitating intentional collaboration among our attendees, leading to tangible results and meaningful change.

Helping partners initiate and sustain learning fosters an environment of self-awareness and reflection. By embracing diversity and nurturing innovative ideas, the Community of Practice webinars have successfully established a culture of collaboration, continuous learning, and adaptation among our local partners.

Each webinar focuses on a specific theme, chosen by our partners and supported by subject matter experts. This month, that theme was Fundraising. One of our local partners in Ethiopia, Center of Concern, gave a presentation on their own journey of growth, highlighting how they developed more robust fundraising strategies and procedures with technical guidance and support from GOAL.

Mandy Yamanis, Director of GOAL’s Global Partnership Centre, visiting Center of Concern at the ChildSPACE compound in Addis Ababa.

Empowering Local Partners

Center of Concern has more than tripled its annual budget since 2015, with technical guidance and support from GOAL. Using the learnings and insights gained from supporting Center of Concern to undergo this transformation, the GPC is extending similar support to other partner organisations.

Center of Concern, established in 2005, is an Ethiopia-based civil society organisation and humanitarian development agency. It implements long-term development programmes aimed at addressing the socio-economic causes of poverty and inequality.

GOAL’s partnership with Center of Concern began in 2013. The first project implemented as part of this partnership was a female economic empowerment programme in Hawassa. Today, Center of Concern is GOAL’s primary implementation partner for the ChildSPACE programme – which supports homeless children in Addis Ababa and Hawassa with protection, education, medical care, psychosocial support, and vocational training.

Center of Concern’s areas of focus include education, child protection, and gender equality. In recent years, the organisation has also begun implementing emergency response, climate change mitigation, and peacebuilding programmes.

Implementing New Fundraising Strategies

Center of Concern encountered several challenges when it first attempted to diversify its donor base and grow its funding portfolio. These challenges included bureaucratic hurdles and financial constraints, in addition to a lack of resources and relevant expertise.

Center of Concern has since undergone a capacity-strengthening exercise, in partnership with GOAL, that has strengthened its ability to cultivate fruitful relationships with donors and prospective partners.

GOAL supported Center of Concern in establishing formal fundraising policies and procedures, which included the establishment of a fundraising department that focused solely on resource mobilisation. Accountability frameworks and procedures were also implemented, significantly improving transparency, which in turn enhanced donor trust and confidence.

Building Donor Trust

As part of this capacity-strengthening exercise, GOAL and Center of Concern discussed the importance of communication. When preparing grant proposals and project pitches, it is essential to present an honest assessment of an organisation’s strengths and weaknesses. In addition to highlighting the relevant expertise and resources your organisation brings; but it is equally important to acknowledge the areas where support is still needed. This openness fosters credibility and is key to building long-term donor trust.

Another element of building donor trust is displaying a willingness to learn. Whether this comes in the form of training, capacity-strengthening exercises, or even just acknowledging and integrating new perspectives and ideas into programming – organisations should show an active willingness to grow and evolve. This adaptability reassures donors of the organisation’s dedication to continuous improvement.

GOAL and Center of Concern also explored the importance of impact communication. To secure funding, an organisation must be able to effectively communicate the impact of the donor’s “investment.” This can be achieved by collecting and publishing beneficiary testimonials and impact data on your organisation’s website, or by inviting existing and prospective donors to visit your field operations in person, so they can witness the impact of their donations firsthand.

Partnership Driving Results

In 2010, Center of Concern had five partners; a number that increased to nine by 2015, and currently stands at eleven. Additionally, the organisation has seen remarkable growth in its annual budget, which has more than tripled since 2015.

This has enabled Center of Concern to significantly broaden its programmatic reach. While the organisation initially operated solely within the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR) in southeastern Ethiopia, it now implements over 150 humanitarian and development programs across nine regions and has reached 2.5 million people.

In 2021, Center of Concern managed an annual budget of 51 million Ethiopian birr (approximately €371,790). Today, that figure has risen to 170 million Ethiopian birr (around €1.24 million), enabling the organisation to scale its efforts and deliver greater impact.

Through its partnership with GOAL, Center of Concern has not only strengthened its fundraising capabilities but has also built the infrastructure necessary to support its growth, ensuring the long-term sustainability of its humanitarian and development initiatives.

Learn more about the GOAL Global Partnership Centre.