This is one of three toolkits commissioned by the Danish Refugee Council’s Diaspora Programme to UNU-MERIT/Maastricht University as part of its Diaspora Dialogue in Europe programming.

The Diaspora Programme is implemented by DRC’s Civil Society Engagement Unit. DRC engages civil society actors rooted in and/or with direct ties to the Global South, and therefore considers diaspora transnational civil society actors an integral part of the civil society they work with. The toolkit series intends to offer practical guidance to diaspora actors in three main areas: (1) Diaspora Fundraising, (2) Community Outreach and (3) Networking and Alliances Building.

The aim of this toolkit is to familiarize diaspora organizations with a diverse range of funding sources and provide guidance on how to establish successful fundraising mechanisms and access opportunities for diversifying sources of financing. Following this introduction, the  first section  of the toolkit provides a brief overview of the funding landscape for diaspora organizations and discusses the importance of diversifying sources of finance. Section 2  then offers a step-by-step guidance on how to develop a fundraising strategy with the right fundraising tools that aim for the appropriate sources. Section 3  introduces the method of crowdfunding with a specific focus on organizing online campaigns through internet-based platforms.  

The toolkit concludes with recommendations based on the inputs from the training “Diaspora Philanthropic Fundraising Training for Diaspora” delivered by Dr. Martin Russell and Sir Kingsley Aikins of The Networking Institute as part of the DRC Diaspora Dialogue in Europe programme. The potential barriers to resource mobilization by diaspora organizations and ways to address those barriers are evaluated in the recommendations section