FUND RAISING AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Overview

Over the years TaTEDO has been depending on donor community for about 80% of its annual budgets. Traditionally, non- profits have depended so much on grants and donations, but of recent and in future, own earnings will become much more important. This fact poses a challenge that required TaTEDO management to work out strategies to ensure financial sustainability for her activities.

In practical terms, an NGO that is autonomous of critical financial dependencies should raise enough revenues to cover operating costs plus at least a 30% surplus. No single source of support should be so dominant that it is impossible to carry out the mission if it ends. No one source should provide more that 60% of funds. The types of revenue should be adequately diversified among grants, donations and earnings that are local as well as international. Skills to acquire or create wealth are likewise being diversified among members of staff and Board. It is against this fact, that TaTEDO developed fundraising strategy with an objective of ensuring financial sustainability. Specific objectives of the strategy involves:

•  Increasing organization income through:
  • Strategic financial and business planning
  • Diversify and increase granted and donated funds
  • Use a non-profit business model and increase earnings through cost sharing, cost cutting and cost recovery.  
•  Improve cost saving and management through:
  • Improved organization cost saving, utilization of assets and productivity
  • Prepare more “ high performance” program model
  • Managing financial information to keep score in business terms.
• Strengthen leadership and organization capacity for sustainability through:
  • Strengthening leadership with a strong vision and commitment to sustainability and build a fundraising Board
  • Strengthen organization teamwork spirit and capacity for sustainability Intensify efforts towards financial sustainability 

As the organization continues to grow, diversification of income sources is critical as it complements financial and activity planning that would create more sufficient, diversified stable income. TaTEDO has vast opportunities and competence for sustaining availability of its finances for its services in a sustainable manner. Such opportunities ranges from negotiating contracts with government or agencies in/outside the country, charging modest fees to customers, offering program goods and services for sale to others, saving through cost -sharing from various projects and programmes TaTEDO is undertaking and making other kinds of investments. Although efforts and initiative to tape income from the above mentioned means have already been initiated, still could be improved and strengthened further to yield more impact on TaTEDO budget. Initiatives already established include SEECO and SEDC.

Promoting RE & EE business market development

FRED department do also support entrepreneurs undertaking or plan to undertake sustainable energy enterprises that use clean, efficient, and renewable energy technologies to meet energy needs of under-served populations, thereby reducing the environmental and health consequences of existing energy use patterns.

The department offers rural energy entrepreneurs a combination of enterprise development services (EDS) as well as linking entrepreneurs with viable RE & EE business idea with credit institutions for financial support. This integrated financial and technical support allows these entrepreneurs to plan and structure their businesses in a manner that prepares them for growth and makes eventual investments by mainstream financial partners less risky. The department is also coordinating the UNEP “African Rural Energy Enterprise Development” project www.areed.org

SEECO

SEECO is a subsidiary non- profit sharing Company, an autonomous entity involved in commercialization of proven renewable energy technologies and services on commercial basis.  The goal of the company is to market on large scale, improved energy saving products such Charcoal Stoves, Charcoal Ovens, Woodstoves, Biowaste Stoves, Solar Cookers, Fireless Cooker and other modern appliances and services. The company does commercialize other energy efficient technologies and products from those of solar PV technology to those of wind and hydro technologies. It also extends business development support services for fee to other entrepreneurs dealing with similar products.

SEDC

Sustainable Energy and Development Centre  (SEDC) is a proposed multipurpose centre intending to promote studies, tailor made training, applied research in energy technologies, policies, strategies and capacity building programme at National and Regional level; and   sustainable development issues. The SEDI will be the first Tanzania training institute specialising in sustainable energy and development. The training and research activities at SEDC will involve trainees from different energy related fields and be will for fees. The institute will also house activities of the TaTEDO Consultancy Unit (TaCU) to provide multi-sectoral professional consultancy services in sustainable energy and, environment management in order to contribute to greater uptake and use of modern energy technologies and services, better for livelihoods and poverty reduction.

Vision: Poverty free society, knowledgeable on sustainable modern energy technologies and services.

Mission: To advance knowledge on sustainable modern energy technologies and services in Tanzanian communities