BNHS selected to train environmental NGOs by US Government under Fulbright Fund
Year-long programme intends to train 125 NGOs in India

Mumbai: 3rd July:

Bombay Natural History Society
Hornbill House, Opp.Lion Gate,
Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road,
Mumbai 400 001, Maharashtra, India
Tel - 91-22-2282 1811
Fax - 91-22-22837615
Email - [email protected]

In a worldwide competition held by US Government under Fulbright Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund, BNHS has been selected from among the 685 entries. The BNHS project is “Capacity Development of Mid-level Professionals from Environmental NGOs into Master Trainers through Management Workshops”. From the 50 finalists two projects were selected from India. The BNHS project is led by Dr V Shubhalaxmi along with other Fulbright Alumni from Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, New Delhi, Imphal and Bhubaneswar.

About the programme

The year-long programme intends to train 250 employees from 125 environmental NGOs (eNGOs) across the country. The programme includes three-day management workshops followed by a mentoring phase and concluding with a two-day follow-up workshop. All participating eNGOs will be enrolled on a network that will provide continued technical support to the participants by the regional Fulbright Alumni. The first in the series of workshops is scheduled to be held in Mumbai, followed by Imphal, Chennai and Delhi.

The three-day workshop will cover topics such fund raising, grant writing, project management, team management, volunteer management, networking and PR, marketing management, leadership styles, developing business plans and strategic planning. The workshop format will be mainly AV shows, brainstorming, hands-on activity for individuals/groups and home assignments.

The programme is open only to employees of eNGOs. An eNGO with good track record and in operation for more than five years can apply. The head of eNGO can nominate any two mid-level employees who can be trained into management master trainers for the organization. The participants should have experience of minimum 5 years of service in the organization.

Needs of eNGOs in India

In India, there are around 2342 eNGOs. As eNGOs work in the field of wildlife and environment, most of the times it becomes difficult for them to provide a human face for their work. Thus, they fail to appeal to the donors leading to paucity of funds. Moreover in the broader NGO sector, eNGOs get least funding as their work is not directly related to human beings. Therefore, these organizations constantly grapple with their own sustainability issues. The financial instability spirals down to mismanagement in the organization.

There are four important management factors that limit an eNGO from becoming financially sustainable, viz. Fiscal Management, Human Resource Management, Marketing Management and Networking and Public Relations (PR). If the mid-level employees of eNGOs are equipped with these skills, they can aim to become sustainable and grow progressively. These skills are however not easily available for eNGOs as they cannot afford management professionals. Therefore, the aim of this project is to develop master trainers among eNGOs who will conduct these management trainings on regular basis within as well as outside their organizations.

For details, please write to engosindia(at)gmail(dot)com or call 9323738622 / 95949291073 / 9594953425.

Regards,
Atul Sathe,
Manager - Communications,
Bombay Natural History Society,
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
91-22-22821811
www.bnhs.org