Ghana government urged to develop legal framework to guide philanthropic environment
Some Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have asked Government to develop a legal framework to guide the philanthropic environment to encourage transparency and inspire more support from donors.
The legal framework will direct how funds are received, what they are used for, and ensure that they are accounted for.
Mr Jerry Sam, the Deputy Director, Programmes, Penplusbytes, said one reason for, which CSOs found it challenging to access funding especially during the challenging time of COVID-19, was as a result of their failure to be transparent and accountable to donors and beneficiaries.
“Some donors will say you haven’t accounted well for what you used the funds for and so we can’t allot any more funds to you, while some supposed beneficiaries will say, you use our situations to go and seek funding but when you come, you don’t use it to help us,” he said.
The CSOs made the call on Thursday at a virtual meeting organised by Penplusbytes on the topic: “Citizen Philanthropy for CSOs Sustainability: Possible?”
Mr Sam, therefore, challenged CSOs to be transparent and loyal to their donors, by using the right funding for the intended projects to make the required impact on society.
He said in some countries, tax incentives were given to philanthropists, including corporate institutions that donated to CSOs.
“There are many places, where the more you give to CSOs, the more you get tax incentives. We need such well-structured philanthropic environment in Ghana,” he added.
Sheikh Ali Abubakar Napari, Chief Executive Officer of the Light Foundation, urged CSOs to identify influential people such as traditional leaders, Assembly members and religious leaders to mobilise support from community members to enable them implement their projects successfully.
“CSOs need to collaborate with community leaders to encourage people to be part of projects they develop in their communities. Make community members support the project and own it,” he advised.
Mrs Emefa Ewoenam Eli, an Assistant Editor, Multimedia Group, said people only donated to CSOs when they saw a change in the lives of people within earlier project communities.
She also advised CSOs to utilise social media well to propagate their messages and publicise projects to earn more funds to support society.
“Please use the media, let people see your works, and don’t wait periodically to organise press conferences to let the world know what you do,” she added.
Source: GNA