How to Own an NGO in Nigeria will be discussed in this article. This is to give you a proper guide on the right things to do. Happy reading!
How much money do you need to start an NGO
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An NGO is a non-profit organization that operates on its own without any direct funding from the government. It is typically operated with the main purpose of addressing social or political issues, such as issues that erupted from the insurgency in the northern parts of the country leaving a lot of children without homes and families.
The need for more NGOs is high, especially in developing countries such as Nigeria. People need to take up the responsibility of preserving human lives, providing alms for the needy, and safety for the weak.
As long as Nigeria is still in the development stage, a whole lot of Nongovernmental organization needs to spring forth to tackle various challenges facing the nation as well as address issues affecting the well-being of people and the ecosystem. But before you launch out in starting your own NGO, there are a few things you must do.
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How to Start an NGO in Nigeria
Here are Guides on How to Start an NGO in Nigeria:
1. Serve first!
Volunteer to work in an existing NGO which addresses a need similar to what you will be addressing in yours. It is never advisable to step out into the waters with both feet because you’ll never know the depth of the water simply by looking at it.
While you suddenly develop a passion ‘for the lost souls’, get trained by experience in an already established and functioning institution because sadly, if you step into running an NGO later to discover the stress and associated risks involved in running it, you’ll only realize that it’s too late to jump out and end up failing yourself because against popular beliefs, when passion meets with pressure, sometimes, passion dies.
When you work in an established NGO, you’ll truly discover if starting your own NGO is the right step to take in approaching the challenge you are beholding.
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2. Have a Vision for Your NGO
It is very important to start your NGO with a vision. Yes, we know that you want to accommodate the internally displaced people (for instance) but that is not a vision enough to run an NGO with.
After you house them, what next? What will you be known for? After the people, in your house gets back on their feet and decide to do something meaningful with their lives, what will be the fate of your organization?
You also need to be careful so that your organization does not employ you instead of you enjoying the freedom of being a boss. So many people just run NGOs without this understanding.
You should build your NGO to a point where it becomes independent of you and you can travel on a vacation to Dubai while the operations of the organization are running swiftly.
3. Practice the Art of Becoming Obsolete
Practice the art of becoming obsolete and you’ll be able to help more people in more profound ways and enjoy the experience in its totality.
If you try to maintain control of every situation all the time, total dependencies will develop, and once dependencies start, they are completely difficult to bring to an end.
When everyone depends on you for everything it makes work tedious and saps passion out of people and even the people you try to help will begin to lose trust in you.
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4. Setting Achievable Goals is one of the procedures on how to start an NGO in Nigeria
You must have heard of the term ‘BHAG’ which simply means Big Hairy Audacious Goals. When it comes to NGOs as well as other organizations, you’ll need to chop them to achievable goals.
5. Take Action
A dream stays an illusion until the dreamer wakes up and takes steps to make the dream a reality. No matter how much of your time you volunteer in another NGO, you may not achieve anything until you decide to take calculated steps towards getting to where you want to get to.
Truth is, the real experience and information you need to run an NGO will never come to you as long as you don’t take a step, you will not know the right words or message to send across to investors, and you may not even see the shortfalls of NGO until you step into the field with Lion’s heart.
The step you take should be backed up with resilience. You aren’t just going to give up on your NGO vision simply because you met a little resistance. You just need to start and get determined to see it till it achieves the essence of its birth.
6. Go Global!
If you intend to run a traditional NGO that is limited to funding from local philanthropists, you’ll be living in the 21st century with the mindset of a 17th-century NGO director.
Get a website that will publicize what you do. The cost of having a website is little compared to the huge benefits of having one. When you build your website, make it attractive and good enough for prospects to see.
You never can tell who will see your activities on your website and decide to be a blessing to your organization. There are those organizations that give grants to NGOs but most of them will require that you have a website.
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This would not be a challenge if you have one already instead of rushing and ultimately losing out on the opportunity. There is also some website hosting sites that give out free hosting to NGO site for a period of time.
You just have to do your homework well. It is also worthy of note that the information you post on the net shouldn’t be ambiguous and too long. Shortness and simplicity should be the key.
In conclusion, you also need help from a lot of people to make your dream a reality. Connect with people, you never know who may be holding your Aladdin’s box of luck.
Follow these guides on how to start an NGO in Nigeria and you’ll be successful!
