The South Asian Fund Raising Group (SAFRG) conducted its flagship event - the 21st South International Fundraising Workshop at Jaypee Palace Hotel and Convention Centre, Agra, India from August 7-10, 2010

The SAFRG workshop has, over the years, acquired a great reputation for being the most popular event on fundraising and communications in South Asia and South East Asia and is eagerly awaited for by organisations across this region and beyond. The goal is to provide state-of-the-art tools and techniques relevant for fundraising professionals in the region.

As always, the workshop provided a perfect opportunity to build and cultivate knowledge of the fundraising profession. The communion of different skill sets and capacities made the effort more holistic.

The theme of this year's workshop was Interact Inspire Innovate.

The workshop was an effective platform for:

o    Learning critical skills for raising more funds

o    Getting practical lessons in relationship-building

o    Sharing practices from the field

o    Meeting and networking with other fundraisers

o    Hearing and learning from international and national experts.

Owing to new stringent visa rules, the workshop had a lower attendance than last year. However, there was a healthy male-female ratio and many grassroots-level organisations participated.

While the majority of the delegates were from India, there was representation of nine other countries. Cambodia and some others were being represented for the first time indicating the reach and reputation of the workshop.

SAFRG offered 15 workshop bursaries (of various levels) enabling 34 participants, particularly women, from small- and medium-sized organisations with limited resources to attend the workshop. Many candidates were attending a workshop of this stature for the first time.

The workshop attracted world-renowned and successful speakers from across the globe to share their expertise and experience in fundraising. Some of the best names in the international fundraising scenario such as Tony Elischer, Ted Hart, Julian Marland and Joseph Scaria were invited to make presentations at the workshop.

Each delegate had the option to choose from 10 workshop slots of 1.5 hours each. The workshop offered a choice of five concurrent sessions. To ensure greater choice and flexibility, some sessions were repeated. The workshop had a diverse line up of topics and was grouped in the following tracks;

• Fundraising and Beyond
• Fundraising Strategy
• Communications
• New Media Fundraising
• Individual Fundraising
• Corporate Fundraising
• Government
• Earned Income
• Institutions
• Funders' Forum
• CSR Panel
• Case Study Panel.

SAFRG's annual workshops have and will continue to make a contribution to the development sector across South Asia and South East Asia. It has contributed tremendously in impacting mindsets of development professionals that sustain-ability and independence of their organisations are not achievable unless they professionalise their fundraising skills.

Courtesy: SAFRG