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Uraia Trust is made up of leaders who know how to acquire donors and maintain fruitful long-lasting relationships with them. Stemming from our last conversation with the European Union mission to Kenya, we discovered that Uraia Trust is one of the major players who received donor funding to conduct civic education.
We were at their offices in Lavington and sat with Executive Director Oliver Waindi who has led that organization to greater heights of success consistently. He is a sharp, apt man but funny. His leadership style is unique. Though he wears his authority up his sleeves he interacts freely with his staff giving them quirky jokes while letting out a hearty laugh.
Oliver has an unmatched level of confidence as he interacts with people he’s meeting for the very first time. He lavished me with his humour and told me to smile a little more as he ushered me into his well-kept office.
Many organizations missed out on key donor funding this year to facilitate election work. But Uraia acquired all the funding they needed. In fact, Oliver said that their annual budget is Kes. 1 billion. He attributes their success to consistency and reliability.
“If I borrow ten shillings from you and I say that I will use the money to accomplish different tasks, then I should honour my word. Our donors know that when they give us their money we will implement the programs that we agreed upon. Because of our reputation as an organization that utilizes donor funds diligently to accomplish different objectives, different entities apply to fund our programs,” said a passionate Waindi.
He urged other civil society organizations to develop a reputation of accountability and trust with donors. “CSO leaders should preach water and drink water. Once a level of trust is established with the donor, they’ll keep supporting your work and what you do. For example, we have a longstanding relationship with Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). It’s simply because we involve them in everything we do.
Once we complete the projects and the programmes, we usually send reports to our donors where we account for how we spent the money. Additionally, we account for the funds to the last detail. Another tip that works for us is inviting the donors to our events and updating them on what we’re doing. Even when it doesn’t concern them. It helps us maintain the friendship and the partnership,” advised Mr Waindi.
