Co- creation: Shifting Power to upcoming non-profits.

Life Aid for Community Development Initiative, like most growing non-profits battle with raising funds and gaining visibility for the work we do amongst women and girls in the North Eastern part of Nigeria. Our mission is to create levelled playing grounds for the most vulnerable so that each one of them can get holistic help that will equip them to tap their potentials ,so that they can thrive and be change makers in their communities.

Our thematic areas are Education, Reproductive and Mental health, Economic Empowerment, Safety and Rights, leadership and Participation, Environmental Sustainability and Technology.

Our work started out on personal funds which clearly could not go far. For each time personal funds were exhausted, the work paused until more funds are raised and by just an individual. Then we moved on to sourcing for funds through crowd funding on social media. We had collaborations with other organizations too.

Those worked for a while too. But as more people became aware of the work, needs increased and so other means of funding were sought for ,like writing proposals and seeking for grants. Sustainability was key.

We have not been able to access funding for projects which are touching the lives of the ones we serve. Just recently we got a feedback from a funding organization on our expression of interest we sent early in the year. We did not meet up with the criteria even though we strongly articulated our work from a feminist / women's rights perspective. The feedback we got indicated that for two out of the five criteria we needed to meet, our letter of expression did not clearly state it. Though this can be discouraging, but we have learnt that in making change, nothing comes easy.

We came up with these recommendations for what small non-profits like ours can do having learnt from our numerous rejections and inablities to secure funding. Knowing fully well that there is stiff competition for limited funds for humanitarian work coupled with stringent criteria required to access them,going forward as an organization, life Aid for Community Development Initiative will be focusing on :

1. Community Engagement and Inclusion.

   We will ensure Participatory Decision-Making. This is so that people in the communities have a voice in decision-making processes on the different projects we have. This will be done using participatory methods such as focus groups, community advisory boards, and public forums. The communities better know what their problems are than any other people and should be involved actively in solving their problems. Detailed Needs Assessment must be conducted thoroughly to understand local priorities and challenges. Solutions must be inadapted in the local context of the communities.

2. In practice, we must ensure we are bridge builders and facilitators of change . That means we are intermediaries to facilitate communication and understanding between funders and communities. We will focus more on working to help our communities harness the "power within" and the " power with" to solve their problems.

3. Work with other Community-Based Organizations. Represent and advocate for community needs and priorities in funding discussions. Build collaborative Networks and coalitions with other organizations to amplify voices and increase collective bargaining power. And also build Innovation Hubs as incubators for innovative solutions to local challenges, supported by flexible and responsive funding.

Our recommendations to funding Organizations are as follows.

1. Flexibility in Funding.

   Funding organizations should adopt adaptable Funding Models and provide flexible funding that can adapt to changing community needs and priorities.

They should be open to offering unrestricted funding to allow organizations to cover essential operational costs.

Multi-year Funding: Support multi-year grants to ensure stability and long-term impact.

2 .Equitable Resource Distribution. They should prioritize marginalized communities. Focus on historically underserved and marginalized communities to address inequities.

 Conduct equity audits to identify and address biases in funding distribution. There are biases based on duration of operation, location,gender, race, registration, scope of work, size of organization or even the amount of funding they have acessed or if they have worked with them before etc. These do not necessarily mean effective or ineffectiveness. Grant or fundseeking organizations should be treated based on the merit of their work and application.

Biases could further marginalized already marginalized organizations. Donors and funding organizations should use data to inform funding decisions and ensure resources are distributed equitably.

   - Learning Partners. Engage in continuous learning and adaptation based on feedback from communities and grantees.

   Transparency Leaders: Maintain high standards of transparency and accountability in all funding practices.

3. Funding organizations should promote Capacity Building of fund- seeking organizations through Training and support. They can offer training and technical assistance to community organizations to enhance their capacity to apply for and manage funding. These can be done through mentorship Programs. Implementing mentorship programs,pairing experienced organizations with emerging community groups will go a long way to balance the power to small NGOs.

   - Long-term Investments: Commit to long-term funding and support, allowing organizations to plan and implement sustainable projects.

These can all be said to be co- creation . Through co- creation, funders can shift power to upcoming non- profits like Life Aid for Community Development Initiative. In co- creation grantees can clearly proceed solutions to the problems in their communities and funders can make informed decisions on funding these organizations.

By implementing these recommendations and leveraging the roles of various organizations, a more equitable and effective relationship between communities and funders can be realized.