A one-day evaluation meeting took place on Saturday April 10th 2024 at the GRACARO office, up station, Bamenda. The main aim was to evaluate activities carried out in the month of March. Its was an opportunity for the to reflect on the achievements and failures and the strategies to be implemented for the glorious future. Individual participants presented their challenges, experiences, lessons learned and proposals for a way forward. After the evaluation of the month of March, the CEO thank every body for their individual contributions and encourage team spirit to continue as the process of building am impactful GRACARO continues. He reminded the entire team that they are not workers in GRACARO but team members, therefore the success and failure of the organization is a responsibility of both of us.
Also, during the evaluation meeting on Saturday April 10 2024, the GRACARO team in their quest to mobilize internal funds for the organization, proposed various ideas in which they think and believe that as an organization, they can be able to raise internal funding for certain activities while waiting mega external funding. Some of the strategies discussed are;
To produce peanuts and place in some stores and documentations for sale, it was proposed that, the staff of the organization can organize training on peanuts, then produce theirs and sell. It was also proposed that, the team was encourage of campaign around their areas of locations for stores, super markets, etc. for us to supply at a reduced price. As concerns cloud funding, a flyer could be created to be posted on social media handles, which could create awareness of our different activities and upcoming events. Also, sharing, commenting and liking posts on our Facebook page can create traffic on the page. This is a great strategy.
It was also decided that, appeal letters can be drafted and given to higher authorities which would in turn generate some income for the organization. “We can use the training center as a tool in writing appeal letters given that appeal letters are not just written in any way. We can use the training center to raise funds for other activities”, as proposed by the CEO, Mr Chiabi Martin. According to Mr Martin, we must have passion for the organization in order to make things work.
It was as well proposed that, the organization can work on a garden and sell the produce, revamp the mushroom farm and make income from it. All these can be done if the organization gets a plot with enough land and plant some food items.
Organizing holiday classes was also top of the agenda as one of the staff proposed that, she could be taking students for holiday classes which is a step ahead in raising funds.
The CEO proposed that, a board could be printed announcing that, we print passports and as well do photocopies. It would yield some income. This is especially in the case where we reduce the prices of what we are doing to gain the market.
Launch internship programs was one of the proposals made. Making this proposal, the organization is looking at technical students and even students from the department of Communication and Development Studies from the University of Bamenda, as well as transport and logistics students. With the technical students, given that some pay 5,000 for the internship as revealed by a teacher in Progressive and Longla comprehensice College, some students do not have the opportunity to do the internship, giving GRACARO the opportunity to launch a call for internships and reduce the price which would generate them some income.
According to the CEO, if we want to succeed with campaigns, we must plan. People would want to see what we have been doing. Wherever you go in the rural areas for any activity, it is important to snap pictures and send with a report as GRACARO for visibility. The activities we do this year, we can use it the next year to do a campaign. 60 percent in the month of April would be focused on one activity which is resource mobilization. Top of the discourse was on grant writing. Grant funding plays a crucial role in supporting organizations’ missions and initiatives. However, with limited resources available, it becomes essential to evaluate grant proposals effectively to identify projects that align with the funding organizations’ goals and maximize the impact of grants within the organization.
It is in this light that GRACARO has recently brought in a grant’s writer, Mr Albert Tamanjung, to lead the grant department.. He intends to form a partnership with GRACARO. His aim is to be able to assist the GRACARO team in drafting compelling proposals for the international community such that the organization can be able to have funds for their projects.
The CEO as well encourages the grants writer, Mr Albert Tamanjung to launch a refresher course with all team members to train them and as well advices the staff that, every week each and every one can develop a proposal and send to him for editing. In sending proposals to funders, they need to see proof of what you have been doing with photos and videos such that they would be able to fund other projects.
All the above points need to be developed as projects to get funding. When we have ideas, it was agreed upon that, it should be sent to grant writer, where he builds a project idea such that we can forge it together to move ahead.
Partnering with other organizations like the Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC), was one of the recommendations made.
Effective evaluation meetings are crucial for sorting through grant proposals and selecting deserving organizations for funding.
