How to raise funds by charging membership fees
When it was originally set up, Solidarité des Femmes pour le Développement Intégral (SOFEDI) was made up of people who had previously worked together on the AIDS Prevention project in Bukavu. As SOFEDI began to do more activities and wanted to form partnerships with donors, we decided to formalise the organisation’s legal status by registering it. At this stage we did not have funding.
At the same time as registering SOFEDI we also decided to become a membership organisation and charge a membership fee because we had no funding. When we presented the funding situation and the solution to the group they accepted it. They were also very motivated to work together and introducing a fee was not going to stop that. In return, when members participate in the organisation’s various projects they receive a small amount for taking part, although it should be noted that their main reason for participating is their general motivation to do so.
Through these the SOFEDI membership fees we were able to rent an office and meet some of our operating costs such as water, electricity and rent.
From the very beginning, Coalition 14 was established as a membership organisation and members pay a monthly fee. The fee not only ensures that members are committed to the Coalition but also a portion of that fee contributes to SOFEDI’s administrative costs. This is because Coalition 14 benefits from SOFEDI’s sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) expertise and SOFEDI also houses the Coalition 14 secretariat in its offices.
Membership fees are collected by mobile money or cash, and members receive a receipt. These contributions are then recorded our accounts.
The financial resources raised by the contributions have enabled us to cope with certain administrative burdens, particularly with regard to state taxes. As members’ contributions remain modest (we charge dues according to members financial means) we also sometimes make a charge to our external partners working in the fields of health, mining, the environment, gender and good governance.
It is often necessary to pool resources to address certain problems in the life of organisations.
- A situation is never desperate, and initiatives must be taken.
- Small and medium-sized organisations in DRC and other African countries that have weak administrative governance, face untimely state taxes. So, asking for member contributions can sometimes solve this problem.
- Pooling efforts is the key to success.
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