Capacity Development of Environmental NGOs of India: NGO Management Workshop in Imphal

Capacity Development of Environmental NGOs of India: NGO Management Workshop in Imphal: REPORT ON IMPHAL  WORKSHOP 25th - 27th  SEPTEMBER 2012 Introduction A three day workshop on capacity development and management...

NGO Management Workshop in Imphal

REPORT ON IMPHAL  WORKSHOP

25th - 27th  SEPTEMBER 2012

Introduction

A three day workshop on capacity development and management  for environmental NGOs was organized by BNHS-India along with State Level Nodal Agency, Planning Department, Government of Manipur in The Classic Hotel Imphal, Manipur for Eastern Zone comprising of 8 NE states, Jharkhand, Odissa and West Bengal from 25th to 27th September, 2012.  It was  the second workshop of the series to be held during the AEIF project.

Workshop Announcement

The workshop was announced through press releases, Engosindia website, e-groups and Facebook. The call for applications were sent to 120 NGO across the Eastern zone of India. 25 NGOs from nine district of  Manipur  and Assam responded with 33 participants.  

Workshop Registration

Due to bandh call on the 23rd of September in hill district of Manipur, altogether 19 NGOs with 23 participants attended the workshop. Due to some misunderstanding in registration fees, only 19 participants paid the fees. Some of the participants assumed that the fees of Rs. 500 was for two participants of the same NGO.

Workshop Proceedings

Day 1: 25th September 2012

The workshop was inaugurated by the Governor of Manipur as part of a parallel workshop scheduled on the same day.   The first day of the workshop covered three modules; Know Your Organization, Project Management and Grant writing.   This was followed by session on ice breaker, where the participants were divided into groups. 

The participants were introduced to the workshop and explained the usage of “the Training Manual” by Dr. V. Shubhalaxmi, Deputy Director, BNHS- India. Dr. Shubhalaxmi also covered the sessions on “Know you organization”.  The participants, through the brainstorming sessions  learnt about internal and external challenges of NGOs. They then learned about SWOT and PEST d Analysis. 

  The post lunch session on Grant Writing, conducted by Dr. Shubhalaxmi, pointed out the fact that Grant Writing is the ability to tell a good story. The session highlighted need for good communication skills and transparency in budget for a successful grant. She also gave sample project proposals and discussed them as case studies. 

            Later in the afternoon session, “Project Management” module was conducted by Rajkumari Sunita Devi, GIS Expert, SLNA, Manipur and Regional Co-ordinator of the eastern zone. She addressed about the iron triangle of project management - scope, cost and time.  Case studies about why a project succeeds and why it fails was also studied during the session.

Day 2: 26th September 2012

            The second day covered   Public Relations and Networking, Panel discussion with media persons, Leadership, Team Building and Volunteer Management. The day began with a presentation from Dr. Isaac Kehimkar, General Manager (Programmes), BNHS on Public Relation and Networking. Mr Isaac on his  session on “Public Relation (PR)”   emphasized the idea of importance of PR for NGOs. The session also gave importance  upon the alternate mode of publicity like Social Networking sites, blogs, websites and Youtube as mode of PR.  This session  was followed by panel discussion with media panel consisting of Mr. Rupachandra Yumnam, News Editor, ISTV Network, Ms. Valley Rose, Editor, AZA Daily, Mr. Shobhabati Samom, Journalist at Hindustan Times and Assam Tribune,  and Mr. Aribam Chaoba Sharma, Senior Journalist at Imphal Free Press.

            During the panel discussion media persons whole hearted discussed and gave their opinion why an environmental issues could never make a headlines in a state like Manipur and what are the drawback of the NGO in releasing a news article.  They highlighted the fact that in a conflict situation, stories about shoot outs and encounters will always make headlines and environment issues are often neglected. They also addressed that the NGOs working in the field of environment needs to come up with ideas and innovative which will benefit the whole and which is for a cause.

              The post lunch session on “Leadership Skills” conducted by Mr. Raju Arumughum explored the various leadership styles as well as the various types of individuals in an Organisation. The exercise on difference between Managers and Leaders helped participants understand their role in the organisation. The“Team Building” began with game on “Making Tower using drinking straws” The competition for tallest towers brought out the leaders and their leadership qualities. The participants commented that this kind of exercise is being taught for the first time and they were really benefitted by it. They  also learnt about the elements of team.

Later session of the day was “Volunteer Management” by Dr. V. Shubhalaxmi. The session emphasized the need of Volunteers for sustaining organisation. The brainstorming brought forward the various help available from volunteers and the problems which could arise due to volunteers. The session also covered on the ways of retaining the volunteers through small actions like appreciation. Dr Shubhalaxmi session was highly appreciated by the participant and they gave their opinion that it has help them realised where they were doing wrong in the past.

Day 3: 27th  September 2012

 The session on “Marketing of Products and Services” by  Dr. Shubhalaxmi      was conducted on the third and last day of the workshop. In her session, Dr. Shubhalaxmi  emphasized on the importance of marketing and  the process of Marketing through demand-supply chain and management. The  need for innovation and scaling up for marketing of product and services was also covered during this session. As part of the activity work, the participants were made to develop their own marketing plan and strategies.

In the last session of the workshop which was again taken up by Dr. Shubhalaxmi, she talked about  “Art of Fund Raising” . Some of the activities during the  brainstorming session was on ideas of Fund raising. It also helped the participants understand the need for financial planning by planning a Fundraising calendar. The participants   came up with  various  fund raising   event to be organized by their organisation .

The final session was of the same pattern as the First workshop where it  involved participants networking by making their services available for the other organizations. A matrix of the same was drawn. The participants were briefed about mentoring phase and the deliverables during the same. The participants were informed that they will be enrolled on eNGOs Google group which be the platform for future communication. among the members.

Feedback and Conclusion

The workshop ended with feedback and acknowledgement to AEIF and U.S. State Department for funding the project. The team from BNHS felt that the issues and problems face in this part of the region is quite unique and different from the rest of the country. They thanked the participants and also the RC of eastern zone. The participants also appreciated the training imparted by the project team as they felt this was a unique training which they have attended for the first time in their life.  All mentioned that they have developed a new attitude towards their profession and they promised themselves that they will use the knowledge learnt and skill developed during the training as soon as they reach their organisation.  The participants also thanked the Regional Co-ordinator for conducting such a training programme for the first time in Manipur or NE region in specific. The workshop ended with a song from one of the participants and some poems. Overall, the workshop was highly a  successful one.

Documentation

The photography and video shooting of the entire workshop was carried out Mr. Deepak Shijagurumayum, a free lancer from Manipur . He is paid a nominal fee for his work  to develop the workshop videos. The movie will be put up in Youtube, engosindia website etc.

By

Dr. V.Shubhalaxmi & Rajkumari Sunita Devi