From 7-28 October, the Fund the Front Line campaign is inviting members of the public to make donations directly to six small organisations working at the frontline of development in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific.
These local charities may be dwarfed by the big, international NGOs in terms of scale, reach and profile, but their impact is no less significant. Highly focused, they know their communities better than anyone, and their local expertise and networks mean they can offer immediacy and long-term sustainability in their work.
The six organisations that will benefit from Fund the Front Line are already known to do outstanding work, as they are the 2012 winners of the Stars Foundation Impact Awards. Their work on issues such as sexual health, literacy and child exploitation has already been proven to make a real difference.
The aim of Fund the Front Line is not just to raise money for these organisations, but to let them take the lead in how it's used. Too often, small NGOs struggle along on precarious and conditional sources of funding, with restrictions on how and when it must be used. By donating through Fund the Front Line, members of the public can empower these six organisations with unrestricted funding, giving them the freedom to use the money in a way they know will be most effective.
Donations will be made through the GlobalGiving UK platform, with members of the public able to use a simple online process to pledge support of any amount they wish.
It's possible to donate specifically to one of the six NGOs, but any donation given to the campaign as a whole is being matched 100% by the Fund the Front Line campaign, led by the Stars Foundation with the support of Charities Aid Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Pears Foundation – so that every donation is worth twice as much. That total funding will then be divided equally amongst the six organisations.
