SOCIAL MEDIA AS A POTENTIAL STRATEGY FOR MEETING RURAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION’S FUNDRAISING NEEDS; SYSTEMATIC APPROACH BASED ON THE SKILLS GAINED FROM CTA REGIONAL WEB 2.0 TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

By Robert Kibaya, Executive Director,  Kikandwa Rural Communities Development Organization – KIRUCODO  www.krcdevorg.weebly.com 

This presentation below was made during the CTA-RUFORUM Open Space Session for recent Expert Consultation – Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation Practices in Agricultural and Rural Organizations which took place in Uganda at Imperial Royale Hotel from 21st – 22nd November 2011. 

Robert Kibaya Presenting during the open space session

Presentation In considering my situation and as a young graduate right from the university, founding and managing an organizationwith very limited financial resources has been the biggest challenge! The Internet provides access to resources and information, but it can also provide a platform for working in collaboration with other people and organizations. The applications for collaboration and communication on the web (social media) have evolved from simple e-mail person to person transactions, to advanced tools for working in distributed groups using multimedia and complex databases for advanced project management techniques. Social media software applications that facilitate the interactions of working groups foster collaboration in the group and make processes more efficient and productive. With groupware you can provide group members with more options for obtaining, changing and sharing knowledge within the group, especially if you need to work with groups that are geographically distributed and cannot meet frequently in person.

Personal Practical Application of web 2.0 to meet major Organization needs

Before I move on, I SINCERELY THANK CTA for giving me a chance to participate in one of its regional Web 2.0 training opportunities in Uganda 

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  and for again providing me with a scholarship to attend a United Nations Institute for Training and Research E-Learning  Course in Innovative Collaboration for Development. CTA Web 2.0 learning opportunity introduced me to Groupware applications which support Communication, Conferencing and Collaboration. Though Blogging was not understood to me, at the moment I own a blog which has helped in my Organization’s fundraising campaigns as you can have a look at this particular Post  Though I had previously created a LinkedIn account, I had no idea of turning it into a fundraising platform but due to the skills I gained during training, the same has pulled a scholastic material donation for a rural community school in Kikandwa village of over 300 pupils. The Facebook organization Group which actually created during the Web 2.0 training, has so far pulled scholastic material donation to be distributed to three schools of over 1200 pupils as per these confirmation letter and as per request message to facebook group indicate. Other opportunities have come up such as Equipment Donation for our Skills Development Centre from Work Aid International among others. It is now a challenge though a very big opportunity that the organization is rapidly growing and this year has been considered for Special Status with Economic and Social of the UN Lastly, Improved Reputation, Content Generation and Issue Awareness, Increased Relevant Visitor Traffic and Page Rankings are key issues in a successful online fundraising at Social Media platforms.

I thank you

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