To kick off the new process, we
developed a one-page application form. While simple and undemanding, the form
itself is a way to test an organization’s commitment to capacity-building, as
quite a few groups told us they were interested but never successfully filed a
completed application.

Among other questions, the form asked
groups to identify up to three areas from our Menu of Services
with which they would like help, explaining their choices by evaluating their
own weaknesses. Over twenty applications reached our inbox from a diverse group
of NGOs, including environmental groups, women’s and youth groups in ethnic
minority areas, disabled people’s organizations, academic researchers, groups
of drug users and sex workers, and even a group of young Beijing professionals
who raise funds for children in need by holding golf tournaments. While almost
all applicants highlighted their need for fundraising skills, the strongest
applicants spoke frankly about their challenges with mastering planning, staff
management and financial management.

We selected finalists using criteria
that we have learned are key to success: the existence of a core team of either
staff or volunteers who are able to work and communicate well together; a basic
understanding by staff of the organization’s strengths and weaknesses; the will
to learn new ways of doing things; and basic risk assessment and risk
management skills (essential for those doing rights advocacy in China). The
core team is essential; we have found that there are many groups that when
looked at closely, turn out to be only one individual. We have learned that no
matter how charismatic or visionary the individual founder, if she or he can’t
recruit and retain a team, s/he is unlikely to get much benefit from our
coaching.

Since our approach relies on intensive
one-on-one coaching of each NGO partner, a successful partnership requires mutual
trust that can only be developed through personal interaction. So, once we had
selected finalists, Meg and I arranged to meet our top eight candidates in
person in their offices in China, and scheduled additional phone interviews
with others. As I soon learned, it’s one thing to list a core team on paper, but
to get all of them to show up to a meeting is another. Equipped with an
extensive diagnostic questionnaire which gathers baseline information about
each organization’s management and structure, I travelled to several locations
in Yunnan and Beijing, while Meg went to Shanghai.

The travel was sometimes intense (on
one day, I spent 13 hours in cars on Yunnan’s back roads – audio books saved
me).  Meg and I learned quite a bit by
filling out the questionnaire, but even more by meeting potential partners in
person, observing how they presented themselves and interacted with one
another, and getting a first impression of the environment they work in
day-to-day. For us, it was a pleasure to meet highly-motivated and inspiring
NGO activists. For the applicants it meant an opportunity to ask us questions
about our work, and to analyze their own organization’s strengths and weaknesses
in new ways.

After this process, an intense yet rewarding
experience for us, Asia Catalyst is looking forward to working with the
following groups:

·
Tonghua She (通话舍), a lesbian support group in Kunming, Yunnan

·
Kangxin Home (康馨家园), a drug user/harm reduction group in Mengzi, Yunnan

·
Guiding Star (启明星), a prominent drug user group in Beijing

In addition, we will work with the
China Sex Worker Organization Network Forum (中国性工作者机构网络平台)
to provide coaching over a six-month period to a cohort of four NGOs from their
network.

We look forward to telling you more about
these organizations and their ground-breaking work as the year progresses. Stay
tuned!

Gisa Hartmann is the China Program Director for Asia Catalyst.