Every finish is really a start! The second stage of the FUNdraiser challenge continues: mentoring support for the winners

To begin, let's recall: what, where and when? FUNdraiser is not just a fundraising platform but also a venue for building competencies and strengthening youth organizations. From June to early August 2023, selected youth teams competed against each other, mastering a variety of fundraising tools. These active changemakers completed 15 mandatory learning modules, olympiads and additional tasks that helped them develop their skills and earn points to improve their positions in the ranking. And in September 2023 came the grand final, at which 15 winners received not only recognition but also additional funding of USD 6,000 (13 teams from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine and two teams from the United States Agency for International Development, USAID) to carry out their projects in community safety and social cohesion.

What comes next?

After the winners were determined and received the grant, it was time for the next important stage: carrying out the projects. And to bring them to life successfully, comprehensive mentoring support is provided. Such support is an important mission, because it is meant to help the winners turn their ideas into real projects, provide the necessary support, and give them the knowledge and skills to manage their initiatives effectively, both now and in the future.

As part of this stage, mentors work actively with the teams, taking into account their needs, interests, values, aspects of their work, fears, pain points and objections. During their introductions and conversations with the mentors, the winners named their main expectations of the mentoring support:

Legal and financial aspects: advice on the legal, including tax, aspects of the organization's work, on proper bookkeeping and financial planning, and on the first steps to take after receiving the grant.

Organizational capacity: measuring the organization's level of effectiveness and adaptability, its ability to perform its functions and tasks and achieve its goals and planned results amid constant change and challenges.

Organizational development plan: help in creating a strategy for the organization's further development and for carrying out its mission, aim and goals.

Creating a communication strategy: developing an effective communication strategy that will make it possible to effectively promote one's idea, ignite the public's interest in it, and interact productively with other organizations, government structures, business and other stakeholders.

Effective planning and reporting: drawing up realistic and effective action plans, as well as keeping records of task completion and the use of financial resources, which is important for ensuring transparency and accountability to the community and partners.

Expanding partnerships: help in establishing new partnerships and developing existing ones, which will help attract additional resources and expert support.

Developing leadership skills: support in developing skills in management, communication and motivation, which will help them be leaders in their segment and in their community/region.

Our mentors - guiding stars and navigators of success

Roman Brytanchuk - an expert and trainer in fundraising, strategizing and team building. His training experience spans more than 400 hours of trainings delivered: from the local to the international level, from beginners to professionals, from the civic sector to business. He has taken part in organizing more than 50 social and business events and projects. He has brought together (mainly for social events and projects) more than 60 partners and clients, including Vodafone, Microsoft, Deloitte, Facebook, Intel, KIA Motors, DTEK, NovaPoshta, Luxoft, 1+1 media and others. He is currently co-organizer and manager of the charity project "1000 Computers of Good" for children from families experiencing financial hardship who live in small villages of Ukraine.

Serhii Zamidra - an expert on the EGAP e-governance project, a member of the working group on developing the state program for regional digitalization at the Ministry of Digital Transformation (2021), a member of the working group on informatization at the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine (2014), and a member of the working group on developing communities' institutional capacity through digital transformation at the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development (2021). He is currently Chief Specialist for work with government authorities at ACTED, a World Bank expert in Ukraine, and First Deputy Head of the All-Ukrainian Association of Communities.

Volodymyr Oros - a specialist in community and business development, head of the NGO "Dobropillia Youth Center 'DOBRO'", with 12 years of experience in developing and managing social and business projects in partnership with active civil society institutions. Within the NGO's work, more than 30 social projects worth over UAH 10 million have been carried out. Volodymyr has extensive experience in developing and implementing grant projects with support from USAID and the U.S. Embassy, UNHCR, UNDP, UNICEF and others. His priority competencies are regional development, fundraising, resource management, project management and cultural project management.

In what format is the mentoring support provided?

The mentoring program began on February 5 and will run for three months in an online format. All 15 teams are divided into groups of five, and each group of five has its own mentor. After general introductions and mutual presentations, the mentors began working with the teams. Every week there are individual meetings, meaning each team has a one-on-one conversation with its mentor. At these meetings, the current issues, results and plans of each project are worked through. In addition, joint meetings are held that bring together all five teams. The joint-meeting format is undoubtedly effective given the teams' ability to share their own experience, successes and failures, and this mutual exchange fosters effective learning. In total, three individual meetings and five joint meetings are planned for each team.

At the start, the mentors initiated a conversation about the most effective approaches to the work: from introductions and expectations of the cooperation (described in the previous section of the article) to the final stage - assessing achievements. The cooperation will continue throughout the entire period of the project's implementation.

It is worth noting that the mentors provide not only theoretical knowledge but also share their practical experience, their own success stories, personal examples of effective partnerships and examples of cooperation with various partners, which invariably gives young people valuable insight and inspiration for further action.

Thus, the mentoring stage of the FUNdraiser challenge reflects the importance of active cooperation and comprehensive support for young people in order to advance positive change in society. Providing expert assistance and mentorship is an absolutely essential component for those starting out and enables youth organizations to successfully realize their potential.

The "Fundraising Challenge" project is implemented by the NGO "International Agency for Change" with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine, with the financial support of the European Union provided under the project "EU4Recovery - Empowering Communities in Ukraine."