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DEVELOPMENT CLINIC INTERNATIONAL (DECI)
Development Service Provider NGO

PREAMBLE:

In establishing a Non-governmental organization, you must first of all have a mission and a vision of what you want to achieve. Your aims and objectives must be targeted at addressing social ills in your community. Thereafter, you may coin a name for it.

Registration: How Do You Go About It?

It is not necessary that an organization be registered to operate in Nigeria, but for the purpose of effectiveness, identity, integrity, accountability etc, the organization should be registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) under any of the two options available for NGOs.

(I) Company Limited by Guarantee

(II) incorporated Trustees under Part C of CAMA (Companies and Allied Matters Act)

What Does It Cost To Register?

It may cost about thirty five to one hundred thousand naira ($900) depending on your consultant and the share limits (for limited by guarantee).

What Documents do you need to provide?

You will require

Your Constitution
CAC Availability (of name you intend to use for the NGO)
Form a Board of Directors (for Limited by Guarantee) or Board of Trustees (for Incorporated Trustees)
Organization’s Seal
You can also register with State and Federal Ministeries. Fro e.g. If you have HIV/AIDS as one of your projects, you may have to register with the Ministry of Health. This can be done easily. All you need to do is to get in touch with their Public Relations Department or any appropriate agency or department responsible for NGOs in the Ministry.

Any Special Qualification?

Not necessarily. But it is important that you have basic skills of communication and a passion for your mission, and the ability to win people to your mission both as volunteers and as contributors of links, funds and skills. Some vital skills are also important depending on projects you seek to pursue. But statutorily, there is basically no special qualification you must have to register or participate in an NGO. Qualifications needed is dictated by the need for efficiency, not by statute. This is what makes it easier for lawyers to function as human rights activists, but a law qualification is not necessary to run a human rights NGO. To develop professional qualification in NGO Management you can enroll with Development Clinic International's Governance Institute or participate in the NGO Leadership Development Programme.

ORGANIZATION

You may decide to rent an office for a start, then proceed to construct an office of your own as need arises and as you grow.

Membership

How Do You Recruit Members?

Ans Like I mentioned earlier, you will have to decide what you want to do first. Any one person can be recruited and he/she may not necessarily be a full-time staff except it’s something you decide to make a living from. Moreover, membership has to be on a voluntary basis since the idea behind establishing the NGO is to contribute positively to the Society. It’s a Development Service.

It depends also on your Mission, strategy and constitutional provisions of your organization.

FUNDING

How do you get funds?

You may source for funds from individuals, corporate bodies and donor agencies as well as from investments.

Where Do you mobilize funds from?

Ans. You can develop a strategy for fundraising. You may approach corporate organizations and individuals for funds. Donor agencies give funds but the percentage of NGOs who succeed in getting donor funding are few 1% of the total and usually, it is not sustainable.

OBJECTIVE

Does Your objective have anything to do with your ability to raise funds?

Yes and No.

Yes in the sense that people who will contribute to your organization will like to believe that they are contributing to something worthwhile before they can buy into the vision and contribute funds. No, in the sense that it depends on your soul force. Your mission comes first then the funds, not the other way round. You need the inner drive, the ability to convince people to buy into your vision. That is the centre for fundraising.

REGULATION

(a) Are NGOs regulated by the Government

Yes and No.

Government is expected to regulate NGOs, but as at now, the regulatory function is weak and poor. My organization Development Clinic International is working on a programme for a comprehensive NGO law to regulate NGO practice in Nigeria. Nevertheless, you will only have to ensure that you are duly registered and operate within the confines of legality and constitutional boundaries.

GENERAL

For you to succeed in the NGO World, you must network with other NGOs, organize projects, launch them and attend seminars organized by other NGOs. Stay focused.

You may at your convenience attend workshops. They are rewarding. There are also a lot of training workshops organized by foreign organizations as well. You can search for those ones on the net.

Networking

There are a lot of NGOs and it is important that you network and partner with those in the same focus area. it is also important that your NGO is a visible player in the NGO community.

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