Fundraising in Emerging Markets: Challenges and Opportunities

The widespread use of the Internet amongst the young provides a way to reach a generation whose attitudes toward nonprofits are very different from their parents’. Korea is a good example where nonprofits are making effective use of the Internet to engage young people with their causes, laying the foundations of a relationship with a future generation of donors.

As with culture and banking systems, the degree to which governments tax nonprofits or offer any form of tax incentives to donors varies enormously. Even where progressive measures are in place, the procedures for gaining the necessary official certificates can be bureaucratic and might even involve a nonprofit being asked to pay a bribe.

But some countries do have tax regimes that are favourable to nonprofits. In Brazil, for example, any corporate donation to an organisation officially recognised as working for education and culture (a specific category of nonprofit) is 100 percent tax deductible. ume.org.br”>Expedition Firefly, which creates community libraries in the Amazon, has used this law very effectively to garner corporate support on a significant scale, including flights and other transport, books, publicity materials, and advertising spots. Along with the success stories, I have, of course, met a great many people from nonprofits in developing countries with little idea where to begin in fundraising — but eager to learn. Often their organisations essentially are project implementers living hand to mouth and engaging in activities as funds become available. Some lack any clear sense of independent identity and mission, and most do not have any kind of forward-looking financial plan. Used to communicating only with grant-making institutions, their literature is full of the most turgid development jargon. Some will fall by the wayside as donor funds are withdrawn to be focused on other needs. The need for education and training — based on real examples of what is working in these countries — is huge. FS