Fundraising

2017 was an excellent year for fundraising and acquisition. Both ENDS has acquired an important new donor in DOB Ecology, who are supporting two long-term programmes, one for regreening the Sahel and the other for protecting wetlands in Latin America. We have also been able to extend our relationships with existing donors, including the KR Foundation and the Open Society Foundation for our work on export credits; the C.S. Mott Foundation for our work on international financial institutions; and the Wallace Global Fund for our work on making the Green Climate Fund accessible to local NGOs. Not all of our efforts were successful: our applications to the European Commission for a good governance programme in Bangladesh and to the National Postcode Lottery Droomfonds, for example, were turned down. Nevertheless, over the course of 2017, the majority of our programme applications were successful.

We have also continued to work on building our ties with Dutch and foreign foundations, especially through the funders’ networks to which Both ENDS is affiliated, including the European Foundation Centre and the EDGE progressive funders’ network. Our initiative to organise ‘Divest-Invest’ dinners for Dutch philanthropists was supported by Stichting DOEN and Her Royal Highness Princess Laurentien. All of these activities have generated new contacts that offer possible opportunities for further exploration.

The positive results in 2017 offer scope to focus in particular on building relationships with potential new donors in the coming years. Indeed, Both ENDS will continue to work on acquiring support from a broad and varied group of donors in 2018.