By Priscilla Rodriguez | m/Oppenheim Media Writer
It only took a group of farmers, a team of volunteers from the Foundation for Sustainable Development, and a $2,000 grant to develop a solution to the issue of failing crops that had so deeply affected the agricultural backbone of Uganda.
Within a few years, the model they developed for “seed banks” — safe storage rooms where the best quality seeds (as determined by local university experts) are deposited and available for use by farmers — spread across the country. Today, farmers all over Uganda access high quality seeds at their local seed bank.
“These types of projects tend to be very sustainable because most of what is needed to make [those projects] happen exists locally. Donors or volunteers are just providing that extra ‘spark’ or the initial seed capital to make it happen,” says Lisa Kuhn, Executive Director of the Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD), a nonprofit that provides kick-starter grants and manpower for sustainable projects around the world.
The Foundation for Sustainable Development stationed in Oakland, California, works with grassroots organizations and communities in six different countries to develop sustainable projects to meet the urgent needs of communities with very few resources.
In most cases, the sustainable projects are drawing from resources that are already available within their home environments, and using small grants from FSD to kickstart their ideas alongside a team of volunteers.
Volunteers are perhaps one of FSD’s greatest strengths, says Kuhn. Volunteers are trained and oriented by FSD staff to help communities develop plans for their ideas and in the process are asked to engage in self-reflection and to be attentive to the needs of the community.
“[Volunteers] are looking very honestly at what they have to bring to the table and they are developing with the community organization a project, or an initiative, that draws on those strengths that are truly complementary locally. We are working with volunteers to develop a ‘humility’ or an ability to listen to local wisdom and to be guided by that,” she explains.
The role of volunteers and students is primarily to use their field expertise to aid communities in developing their ideas into the most sustainable, and actionable plans.
“Our definition of sustainability is not only looking at economic aspects or environmental aspects, but also looking at social aspects – so they are sustainable in the sense that they can be sustained by the community itself for as long as that initiative is needed.”
Projects are often drafted, and redrafted to maximize the impact of the project and to ensure that it is self-sustainable for years to come. In the history of FSD, the sustainability rate of its projects, measured by whether the impact of the project “lives on” in the community, is 80 percent.
While 60 to 80% of the seed grant money comes from the FSD’s own earned income through program and training fees to volunteers and interns, the organization has also developed a “giving circles” website, where donors can review several sustainable project proposals and collectively decide to which project their money will go, much like a “mini foundation,” says Kuhn.
Giving circles are incredibly effective in that small grants can truly go a long way.
“These organizations that we support are excellent value for money, for any donor. [Grassroots org] cost structures are so much lower than those of international NGOs, and so effective on the community level,” says Kuhn.
While community projects are overseen by the FSD team, they can sometimes take a different route in the course of execution in order to adapt to unforeseen local changes, such as in weather or in resources.
“There is no one path that projects follow,” says Kuhn. “It’s not a linear process but more of a huge, complex tapestry with many different weavers each adding their part.”
At the end of the day, success can be measured in many ways, and the journey of the project becomes a learning process for everyone.
“The advantage we have is that we are right there in the community. We can see what’s going on and what’s going wrong, and we can support and encourage community members, interns, and organizations to adapt.”
–
Learn more about the Foundation for Sustainable Development (Oakland, California).
Learn more about donor giving circles.