Open hands

An update on Bridgeway plans this fall

Mark Petersen — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 16:41:17 +0000

Applications are currently being received for grants to be awarded from the Cambridge and Innovation Funds. This emphasis with the Cambridge Fund continues our longstanding history of community engagement in our home town. The Innovation Fund offers grants by invitation only and will be directed narrowly towards transformational work in two unique post-conflict environments in the countries of Cambodia and Colombia. These grants will be announced in early December.

Bridgeway’s ongoing work at collaborating with other donors will be strengthened again next year as we join with others in our third year of Stronger Together. These grants are available for Canadian Christian charities. Watch for our Stronger Together announcement in the November issue of the Notes from the Margins newsletter.

Please contact us if you wish more information on any of these initiatives.

Filed under: Bridgeway grants, Collaboration, Grantmaking, Grants

On sustainability

Mark Petersen — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:41:36 +0000

We hear a lot from organizations that strive to have an element of their program moving toward sustainability. But what does this really mean? Here is an excellent piece by Paul Penley on sustainability and non-profit work to get us thinking.

In my opinion, every NGO that can cover its costs while avoiding mission drift should do it. In taking this stance, I am aware of the distractions that self-sustainability can create. For example, NGOs with little to no business expertise will try to start up profitable ventures and end up wasting resources. Pretending to run a profitable venture that actually drains organizational resources rather than creating revenue is a bad idea. If an NGO’s model focuses on social impact and tries to give lip service or a side project to revenue producing initiatives, it can be worse than just frankly acknowledging donor dependency.

Despite the mistakes that pursuing higher self-sustainability percentages can foster, it is well worth it. When you think about it, if the NGO doesn’t cover its costs from profitable ventures, then someone else will be asked to do so. There is no avoiding the fact that no-profit work must come from profitable work at some point.

I am excited to see smarter, integrated, self-sustainable models appear in every sector of social impact work. Healing Waters is doing it in Guatemala with fully self-sustainable water purification. CURE International has done it with cutting-edge orthopedic surgery in Zambia. One Acre Fund figured it out with agriculture, and Living Goods has used it in the last mile of healthcare delivery. Each one of these models could be critiqued by outsiders for ‘cashing in’ under the guise of the non-profit banner, but their social impact is unmistakable.

Filed under: Capacity building, Non-profit management

Interview with Missy Christie de Acosta

Mark Petersen — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 13:14:30 +0000

Next up is Missy Christie de Acosta who leads a remarkable, low-key, yet significant community development organization out of their Bogotá offices. CDA Colombia (Corporación Dios es Amor) is larger than you would imagine: only 15 years old, they have a continuum of programming from health care clinics, schools, and nutrition programs to microfinance and labour placement services. They operate on the margins of the cities with those most in need in the barrios of Bogotá, Soacha, Cartagena, and Barranquilla. Several thousands of people benefit from the empowerment programs they offer.

Filed under: Colombia

Interview with Edgar Florez

Mark Petersen — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 20:01:39 +0000

Now that I’m back home to access to a stable, high-speed connection, I can upload some of the short interviews I took with various organizational leaders in Colombia this summer. I’ll be putting these up over the next while.

Let’s start with a friend who I’ve had the pleasure of knowing now for six years or so. Edgar Florez, President of World Vision Colombia, gives an overview of their work. They work with 80,000 children and youth in the most demanding areas of ten locations: the cities of Armenia, Barranquilla, Bogotá, Bucaramanga, Cali, Ibagué, Medellín, Montería, Santander de Quilichao, and an indigenous community in Silvia (Cauca). There, on the fringes of the urban centres, youths opt for a life of violence and continuing the 60-year old Colombian conflict, or one of transformation and peace. World Vision is a national leader in modelling a new way forward.

Filed under: Colombia

Beyond Barrancabermeja

Mark Petersen — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 12:26:26 +0000

The Magdelena Medio region in the centre of Colombia is endowed with great resources – oil, gold, palm plantations. In this country, that unfortunately means armed groups struggle over ownership – the army, guerrillas, and paramilitary groups exercising influence and control – often to the detriment of innocent civilians. The past two days I spent with a remarkable organization, the Jesuit Refugee Service, and found myself witnessing a small community of 100 homes and families trying to live their lives under tough circumstances. Getting these was an adventure, as seen here:

But the remarkable sustaining power of presence by JRS as they accompany these people gives great hope and joy. Below, one of their small projects with chicken and egg production.

Filed under: Charities, Colombia, Developing world, Faith