21Jan 2020 by Nigel Ring

In conversation with Scott Marques 2 – Transformation in Mozambique

Poor
When the Zimbabwe economy 'hit the wall' a few years ago Scott and his family, in typical pioneering fashion, moved to neighbouring Mozambique to continue to advance the Kingdom of God through church planting and various social initiatives. To fund this and to provide employment for local people he started various businesses and also set up a school to give good quality education that was not otherwise available. In this interview Scott ranges from church planting to politics, and from education even to crocodiles! They are now building a High School and seeking funding. I encourage you to watch the video from the Love Moz website which gives both the vision and practicalities of giving. Meanwhile here is his interview - click on the crocodile!
Read More
08Jan 2020 by Nigel Ring

In conversation with Scott Marques 1 – Zimbabwe

News
I have known Scott Marques, who leads the Newfrontiers apostolic sphere Disciple Nations, for many years. Recently I was able to catch up with him as he visited near my home area and to record three interviews, which will be posted over the next few weeks, in which he tells us about the situations in Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and also how he is seeking to work with other apostolic spheres in a spirit of collaboration and cooperation. Zimbabwe has been going through many years of dictatorship during which the church has remained resilient and un-bowed despite deep nationwide poverty. In this first conversation Scott shares about the nation, and also how he and his sphere of churches are facing the very challenging circumstances with hope and practical action. Watch this…
Read More
17Dec 2019 by Nigel Ring

Good practice in fund raising Pt 9 – Top tips for Writing a fundable funding application    

Uncategorized
In this concluding part of the series on fund raising Julia shares her top tips for success and reasons why things can go wrong. But she also stresses that there is a lot of information available online to help you write a good funding application.   . Reasons applications might get rejected, regardless of the competition: It did not link the project well enough to what the funder wants to fund It was submitted after the deadline Not all the information requested was sent in The budget did not make sense or it looked unrealistic The organisation did not demonstrate that it was well run, stable or financially viable – such as accounts being filed late, little or no reserves It did not clearly state what it wanted the funder…
Read More
11Dec 2019 by Nigel Ring

Good practice in fund raising Pt 8 – Demonstrating your Impact; Measuring and Monitoring Outcomes

Poor
Understanding outcomes will help you not only to be successful with your grant applications but also in how you monitor the funded project during and after the funding period. Monitoring the use of funds Some monitoring required by funders is very light touch; others can be very rigorous and will require significant time. Big Lottery funding (Reaching Communities) and ESF (European Social Funding) are examples of funders with quite stringent requirements for reporting. They expect you to budget in some regular admin hours to enable the grant finances and activity to be monitored effectively. Outcomes – What you are planning to do and what difference do you want to make? There are two main types of outcomes you can record and monitor to ensure your funded project is achieving what…
Read More
08Dec 2019 by Nigel Ring

Books for Christmas

Equipping, News, Poor
There are three books I would like to recommend: Multiplanting by Colin Baron Establish the Work of our Hands: Work, Enterprise and God's mission by Nick Priggis We need to talk about Race by Ben Lindsay Multiplanting For decades Colin has carried a prophetic vision to plant churches and now has a track record of success going back over 25 years. So his wisdom is worth reading! Manchester is the context from which Colin has drawn the experience he shares in this book where he has planted church congregations across the city. Unlike the multi-site model that has become popular in recent years – several geographically separate congregations of one church with common teaching and eldership – the multiplanting model seeks to build church congregations that work closely together, but…
Read More
05Dec 2019 by Nigel Ring

Good practice in fund raising Pt 7 – Match Funding and Sustainability

Poor
In part 6 we looked at getting your income mix right. We are now going to look at Match Funding and Financial Sustainability, which often come up on grant application forms. Match funding It’s always worth checking if a funder is expecting to see some level of Match Funding. Match funding means that the amount you are requesting from the funder is matched by the amount you are also able to put into the pot. For example if your project costs £12,000 you may request £6,000 from the funder but must show where the other £6,000 will come from. Your 'match' can be in monetary form from another income source or from your reserves. It could also be in terms of volunteer time, or other costs paid for by the…
Read More