News & Inspiration

Announcing Giving for Change: new partnership from the Dutch government takes community philanthropy to the next level

Change the Game Academy is delighted to announce our participation in an exciting new partnership with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to invest in community philanthropy development in eight countries. The programme will promote local giving as a strategy for achieving community-led development by increasing local ownership, buy-in and rights claiming and by challenging the notion that development is something that is “done to” communities by external actors. >>

Ethiopian successes in mobilising support and local fundraising

What happens when those who are successful at obtaining lower interest credit or saving money share their stories with those who want to learn? A cascade of success follows! As part of Civic Engagement Alliance (CEA), 40 farmer cooperatives and 50 associations of self-help groups were trained in Change the Game Academy's mobilising support curriculum by our Ethiopian partner Development Expertise Center (DEC). One part of the training included the group's role models sharing stories of success. This far-reaching initiative stimulated learners to lead productive dialogue with local governments, access to markets, and crucial items like fertilizer and seeds. >>

A local development model fundraises for the empowerment of vulnerable women and girls

A unique and successful local social development initiative, BIANCA COUTURE won attention of the Kingdom of Monaco and their own government. This Burkina Faso based organization took part in Change the Game Academy trainings. Mrs. Denise Ouedraogo opened a coaching and vocational sewing and weaving training centre to help schoolgirls, orphans and women become independent in life. So far 200 girls and women, who were stigmatized by their communities due to early pregnancies have been trained. Read her full story in this article. >>

Accredited certificates now available

After finishing any module, you can now purchase a personal certificate accredited by the NCOI University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. The e-course on Local Fundraising is also endorsed by the The Resource Alliance, a global network for fundraisers, and the e-ecourse on Mobilising Support is endorsed by CIVICUS, global alliance for civil society. >>

Gamechangers in times of Challenges

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about challenges that had not been anticipated by civil society organisations across the world. They have necessitated changes to the way organizations work and respond to the needs of the communities they serve. In this edition of the CtGA newsletter, read the latest stories of change from organisations in Asia, Latin America and Africa who are finding ways to address new needs and work in their communities in these changing times. Change the Game Academy (CtGA) builds the capacities of a broad range of organizations at the grassroots level in middle and low-income countries across the world to raise funds and mobilise other forms of support. >>

CESE reinforces its support to projects and fundraising campaigns helping movements to resist the pandemic

Latin America has achieved the global distinction of being the current epicentre of the pandemic – and, according to the World Health Organization, Brazil is the country of greatest concern. As at the end of August, the country had surpassed 121,000 deaths from coronavirus, with a record number of 3.86 million infected people according to WHO. >>

India Shares; Responding to Vulnerable Communities During Covid-19

Smile Foundation, a partner of Change the Game Academy in India launched a campaign dubbed ‘India Shares’ in March following the declaration of the Corona Virus pandemic and the ensuing lockdown in the country. This was set up primarily to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable populations in their community during a time when the whole world is facing the COVID-19 pandemic. Gloria Chemutai caught up with Swatantra Gupta, the General Manager, Corporate Partnerships & Alliances at the Foundation to share more about how they are coping during this time while giving tips of how organisations can emerge stronger. Read on... >>

Supporting CSOs to be Resilient Amidst [and Post] Covid-19

Despite the ease of some of the restrictions introduced in March by most West Africa governments to stem the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), major restrictions including public gatherings, physical distancing, freedom of movement, which limit civil society’s operations in the region (social and civic services) are still in place. The situation is more alarming with the rapidly increasing number of cases in Africa after the continent hit 1.2 million cases at the end of August. As a result, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating in Africa and stressed that it took 98 days for Africa to reach the first 100,000 cases, and only 18 days to move to 200,000 cases and now had recorded over 1 million cases. >>

Digital Transformation: Shifting CtGA Training Online and Adapting to the Pandemic

Just like the situation was in many countries across the world, the month of March brought with it what looked like a bleak future for many civil society organisations (CSOs) in Tanzania. The COVID-19 pandemic struck and immediately ‘normal’ was disrupted and organizations were left thinking of how to adapt fast. >>

Disrupt Development Podcast: ShiftThePower

The call to change the balance of power in development cooperation is getting louder and louder. It is time for more local ownership of the global agenda. The development community has been talking about this for decades now, but what has changed? In this new Podcast series of Disrupt Development Alexander Medic unpacks the #ShiftThePower debate with great minds. >>