[Chapter-delegates] LoA for good or bad?
John More
morej1 at mac.com
Wed Mar 28 06:13:03 PDT 2012
Norbert and Veni 1+
Having paid staff and an office are essential tools for any successful chapter in any worldwide NGO, such as ISOC. Volunteers are essential for leadership and contacts, etc., but without staff to plan for and carry out events on an ongoing basis and to supplement the efforts of volunteers who often must manage their businesses and jobs, the chapter cannot really be that effective. One successful model is for the central organization to train interns and then second them.
I have previously put forward the importance of paid staff. Naturally the availability of funding (and training) is important for Chapters located in regions with fewer resources. At the same time, it should be a requirement that the Chapter raise some money (even a nominal amount). Charity is not a good model. No financial contribution, no ownership -- a primary principal of organizing.
John More
ISOC-DC
On Mar 28, 2012, at 3:15 AM, Veni Markovski wrote:
> Correct. We got also additional support through the Global Internet Policy Initiative - a program ISOC should have been funding today, as they stopped functioning because of lack of money. It was through GIPI that we got the legal expertise we needed about 10 years ago, and support for going to meetings, etc.
> Worth considering from Isoc.
>
>
> Btw, it seems we are sharing here ideas how not only to make Isoc better, but to make it a great organization. It would be good to see some follow up on those ideas. They are based on experience from many chapters, different cultures, etc., and could be perhaps the missing part at Isoc.
>
> On Wednesday, March 28, 2012, Eduard Tric wrote:
> +1 here , too.
> When we were proposed to start a Romanian chapter long time ago, i've asked a friend , chair at that time of another chapter , what do we need to run a chapter, the answer was "energy and a mailing list" .
> We still have the energy , but wee needed more than the mailing list to function , it was an investment so far : office space (people like also to have physical meetings ) , internet , electricity. Having all that + energy was still not enoug , for years Isoc Romania was more a club of Internet enthusiasts running Internet -related projects than a well-known and respected local NGO.
> The boost in terms of awareness was the Inet Bucharest and our bold position and initiative on ACTA issue.
> Now we are well known,it's a fact.
> To become respected, we need (at least ) : synchronization with other chapters and HQ , especially on policies issues, and yes, some funding to run the chapter (especially the legal part of our actions is very costly , we cannot be efficient on policies without a local lawyer support ).
> Regads,
> Ed
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Veni Markovski" <veni at veni.com>
> To: president at isoc-kh.org
> Cc: chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org
> Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2012 9:37:27 AM
> Subject: Re: [Chapter-delegates] LoA for good or bad?
>
>
> Norbert, +1.
> Isoc Bulgaria started being active, when we got some funding. Before that it was mainly thanks to the efforts of the board members, who were spending their own money and time to keep the chapter moving. If I wasn't a CEO of an ISP, and co-founder, AND my business partner wouldn't have agreed to let me allocate the time for that... I wouldn't be even on this list now.
> Paid staff brought the chapter in another dimension. Our committed, humble and totally workohollic people are known to many of you. Julia and Dessi have made wonderful things at Isoc BG and continue doing them.
> But I've argued many years ago that Isoc HQ could afford pay staff at chapters, which would have.made the chapters stronger. HQ chose a different path, and so far they've used only one person from the chapters world - Jacek, who is now working for Isoc. The regional directors are a good idea, but they need more support - from the chapters to do their job. And that's a problem, as you properly point out, chapters don't have staff to work for free. So, a suggestion might be for HQ to create a pool for supporting not just projects, but chapters personnel hiring. My bet is that on average $ 10,000 per chapter will be enough. Average, because some don't need it, and some need only $ 1,000 per year.
>
>
> V.
>
> On Wednesday, March 28, 2012, President ISOC-KH wrote:
>
>
> On 03/27/2012 05:33 PM, Victor Ndonnang wrote:
>
>
> Dear Norbert,
>
> Thank you very much for your message. Talking about building up a Chapter, supporting its growth and making it sustainable, many Chapters are in the same situation that you are describing. It is easy to recruit volunteers members for the Chapter but very few of those members are prepared to do mandatory work of the Chapter for nothing (unpaid). From developing world perspective, It is also very difficult to recruit members and ask them to pay (membership fees) for doing unpaid work for the Chapter.
>
> I hope all this will be taken into consideration in the LoA introduction process. Globally from my personal view, the LoA is not a bad thing.
>
> Thanks one again.
>
> Best regards,
> Victor
>
> Dear Victor,
>
> thanks for your response, sharing information about similar problems when developing a new chapter in a difficult economic environment. You understand our situation, as I understand yours.
>
> We all just got a reminder mail about the deadline for submitting applications for Community Grants.
>
> We will not submit a request – we had made preparations last year, but had to move towards applications in 2012, as our Secretary found it too difficult to line up the precise detailed data much ahead of time; we hoped to be able to assemble them on the way towards two mayor events. But our Secretary resigned, and it seems to be extremely difficult to find an – unpaid – replacement.
>
> I am not arguing against a program for well designed grants with elaborate reporting structures etc. But as far as I can see, there are no Chapter Support grants, only for “projects.”
>
> This is true also for the Information Society Innovation Fund (ISIF) aiming at stimulating creative solutions to ICT development needs in the Asia Pacific region.
>
> The ISIF objectives list, among others: “Successful and sustainable models for the provision of Internet services.”
>
> But how could a young Chapter work on such objectives without a basis in the form of a small secretariat with at least one paid staff, working on the maintenance and development of the Chapter?
>
> The present Cambodia model for Internet service providing is to have 10 or 12 (changing frequently) ISPs competing in a tiny market (but the authorities prevent real market-based solutions by administrative interventions, protecting some turfs, not allowing price based competition). - Some of our members are discussing this; but the volatile situation, with frequently changing challenges which would call for quick responses, can hardly be met without a flexibly organized secretariat. - Our March ISOC Monthly Newsletter gives an example how we are till able to act strategically, having established a bit of a reputation, in a way which never could have been part of “project” planning.
>
>
> Norbert
>
> -----Message d'origine-----
>
>
> De : chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org [mailto: cha--
> Best,
> Veni
>
> == Sent from my phone, so any spelling mistakes are caused by the touchscreen keyboard. That's a nice excuse, isn't it;-)
>
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> --
>
> --
>
> Eduard Tric ,CEO, Axetel
> I encrypt therefore I am.
> http://www.axetel.com
> eduard at axetel.com
> tel: +40740300740
>
>
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> 6839f52116af1166f4a01e64ad209459f17ecc995c1456a68c7040072a9a58d6
>
>
> --
> Best,
> Veni
> == Sent from my phone, so any spelling mistakes are caused by the touchscreen keyboard. That's a nice excuse, isn't it;-)
>
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