Daunting challenge ahead

Lack of funding is still the main concern for most grassroots NGOs operating in China

Zhang Jufang, executive director of the Capacity Building & Assessment Centre. Wang Jing / China Daily

For many non-governmental organizations operating in China, the biggest bugbear has been paucity of funds.

Zhang Jufang, who runs a nonprofit organization for the betterment of grassroots NGOs, says the lack of financial resources has prevented many NGOs from spreading wings in China and her Capacity Building & Assessment Centre (CBAC) is no exception.

Zhang, the executive director of the Beijing-based CBAC, who has traveled around China offering about 400 training sessions to grassroots NGOs including 60 sessions on fundraising, is fighting the battle of her life to secure funding for her organization.

Despite mastering the skills needed for mobilizing financial resources, the 48-year-old says that securing finances is a challenging task, considering that many international foundations and government agencies, the traditional funding mainstays, are exiting China.

"Nearly 85 percent of the 3.32 million yuan ($527,400, 401,410 euros) that we got in 2011 came from international organizations. This year we are staring at a shortfall of over 76 percent in our external funding, as many Western donors believe that China has the resources to look after its NGOs. This has put us in a spot, as we are forced to focus on funding rather than training," Zhang says.

According to statistics from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, official development assistance to China from developed countries shrank from about $1.37 billion in 2008 to $702.76 million in 2010.

Though there is no official data about the level of support provided by international organizations to Chinese grassroots NGOs, it is universally recognized that the local grassroots NGOs rely heavily on the support from international organizations, because the majority of China's local donations go to government-backed NGOs.

As a localized organization of the Washington DC-headquartered Pact, an international nonprofit corporation helping grassroots NGOs to achieve further development through capacity building, Zhang's CBAC is in a dilemma as financial support is fast dwindling, while demand for free lessons from grassroots NGOs in China is increasing.

"For many NGOs, no funds means no projects. Our organization sees a growing demand for our projects due to the increasing number of grassroots NGOs in China over the last decade," Zhang says.

"Compared with well-established international NGOs, Chinese grassroots NGOs are like newborns without any basic skills. There is a lot that can be done to solve this problem by organizations such as ours," Zhang says.

She says Pact, which was founded in 1971, has a well-established management system in training grassroots NGOs. Through assessment, training, technical assistance and mentoring, they can offer tailor-made approaches to increase the effectiveness of individual NGOs.

With the competition for grants getting even more tougher in China, many grassroots NGOs are also expected to seek more professional training services, to augment funds.

According to Zhang, the demand for training sessions from her organization has risen dramatically in the past two to three years with local governments from Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen availing the services.

"When governments do that, they choose qualified NGOs, which can carry out projects effectively. The higher standard set by the government has pushed grassroots NGOs in China to pursue a more sustainable and professional development model," Zhang says, adding that the number of people trained by her organization jumped from 728 in 2008 to about 4,000 in 2011.

It is not only about government requirements. A scandal involving Red Cross in China last year also focused public attention on transparency. More donors in China now want their money to be spent in the most effective and most transparent way, which calls for higher standards in NGO management and accountability.

Zhang expects rising demand from local grassroots NGOs this year. However, apart from keeping her fingers crossed, she has no solutions to find the money she needs to support her programs.

"We cannot charge grassroots NGOs for these lessons because they are also suffering from financial problems. Our only option is to keep on meeting more Chinese foundations to see if they can help us," she says, adding that of the 15 Chinese foundations she met last year, only two eventually offered grants.

"The majority of foundations in China haven't realized the crucial impact of NGO supporting organizations, such as ours. After all, our support can have a much deeper influence on the long-term development of NGOs in China," she says.

Contact the writer at mengjing@chinadaily.com.cn