Need to implement best fundraising techniques stressed

A conference was told on Thursday that in an increasing competitive landscape for non-profit where organisations were fighting for the last rupee from donors, it was essential that Pakistan NGOs implement the best fundraising techniques, as “it can be the difference between surviving and thriving”.

The Pathways Pakistan Fundraising Conference 2017 took place at the Alliance Francaise and was organised to bring non-profit professionals together to learn about the latest fundraising issues and trends in Pakistan and in other parts of the world.

The event organiser, Mariam Mukaty, founder of Pathways, said it was vital for the growth of the Pakistani non-profit sector that modern best-practice fundraising techniques be adopted by all organisations.

She spoke about current fundraising practices, which emphasised building relationships with donors in order to make philanthropic fundraising a sustainable revenue source for non-profit organisations. She also stressed the need for organisations to look at the lifetime value of a donor, and not just what he or she could give immediately.

The event included speeches from Dr Ahson Rabbani, the CEO of ChildLife Foundation, Dr Abdul Bari Khan, the founder and CEO of The Indus Hospital, and Mr Malik Ahmad Jalal, the CEO of the Aman Foundation, one of Pakistan’s largest private foundations dedicated to sustainable impact within healthcare and education.

Dr Ahson Rabbani spoke of his experiences with the various non-profit organisations he has worked with. He urged non-profit organisations to focus fundraising efforts on the area they were strongest in. This would allow them to streamline their fundraising and not have to scramble around “like a headless chicken”.

Malik Ahmad Jalal spoke about using social media as a tool to disseminate stories about non-profit organisations. He said that social media had brought down the barriers to entry for smaller non-profit organisations to communicate their message to the public.

Dr Abdul Bari Khan talked about the rapid growth of Indus Hospital, stressing how this had been achieved through organisational credibility. He said that Indus Hospital had established an excellent reputation in a relatively short period of time, thanks to a history of accountability and transparency.