February 2022
Stephanie Moraille – IFRC
On 3 March, in the lead-up to the 2022 Council of Delegates, the Virtual Fundraising Hub will host “Virtual Fundraising Hub 2.0 – A commitment to growth”, an interactive workshop on reinvigorating Movement fundraising and delivering on the Movement-wide principles for resource mobilization.
Staff members and volunteers from across the Movement will take part in the workshop, which will be chaired by Bernt Apeland – secretary-general of the Norwegian Red Cross and chair of the Movement-wide Principles for Resource Mobilization Steering Committee. Participants will share the achievements of the past two years and discuss and agree on a new plan for the hub. The goal is to provide an inspirational vision and tangible landmarks for the Movement components to work towards.
Background
In 2017, the Movement set out a bold vision for Movement fundraising, underpinned by three goals and by the Movement-wide principles for resource mobilization, and includes three deliverables: :
- working together to develop a fundraising hub
- creating a fund to invest in the development of National Societies’ fundraising capacity
- improving the Movement’s access to and analysis of strong fundraising data.
Significant resources have been invested in implementing these deliverables, notably to create the hub, led by the Movement-wide Principles for Resource Mobilization Steering Committee. The hub has taken over the coordination of pre-existing Movement initiatives, has started several pilot projects and is making progress. Moreover, new Movement fundraising opportunities have been pursued – as a result of the efforts of the hub and its contributors – and have shown that there is potential for fundraising success through strong collaboration.
The hub now needs to develop and evolve, adjusting its focus, objectives, and structure so the Movement can overcome the current limitations and deliver the transformational change required to maximize its fundraising potential and achieve the vision and goals set out in Resolution 2 of the 2017 Council of Delegates.
As resource mobilization enters a new strategic phase for the network of National Societies and their federation, and for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), looking ahead to 2030, the Council of Delegates 2022 offers an opportunity to recommit to the Movement-wide principles for resource mobilization and to establish practical initiatives for delivering on our collective vision.
The workshop objectives are to:
- review our ambition and mandate: We will revisit the Movement-wide principles and the hub’s purpose to highlight the collective role of the Movement components and the hub in implementing the Movement-wide principles.
- celebrate success and reimagine the future: We will provide an overview of progress made by the Movement-wide Resource Mobilization Steering Committee on the deliverables and consult participants on an aspirational plan for the hub to deliver on the principles.
- commitment to growth: We will encourage Movement components to make commitments on implementing the principles, maximizing the Movement’s fundraising potential and supporting the new vision and plan for the hub.
At this workshop we will ask questions such as “What areas of collaboration or principles requiring collective action could we explore further to better achieve our individual and collective fundraising goals?” and “What practical steps can we take to ensure that Movement components achieve fundraising growth?”. The aim is to gather feedback and build consensus on the strategic vision for the hub, within the context of the Movement-wide principles for resource mobilization, goals and vision.
The workshop will be held virtually and last one and a half hours. Two identical sessions will be held, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The chair of the Steering Committee, Bernt Apeland, will facilitate and the chair’s group will present.
