Fundraising Drills in Dubai
By Fr. Allan Ggita, SJ
From September 2 to 6, yours truly attended a Project Management and Fundraising Training program at the Crowne Plaza in Deira, Dubai, organized by Tulip Management Consultancy Ltd. (UK) and co-
funded by BEGECA.org/de. This was a pioneering initiative aimed at empowering religious leaders to better serve marginalized communities across Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
The program attracted 60 participants from 28 countries and 34 congregations and dioceses. Of these, 44 attended online and 16 in person, thereby offering a flexible and accessible learning experience.
The program offered multilingual support with simultaneous translation in English and French enabling participants from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds to benefit from trainers’ expertise across Europe, the UK, and Latin America.
While the focus was on project management and fundraising, the skills taught went beyond these areas, improving participants’ daily social interactions and spiritual growth. For me, the highlight of the training was the new paradigmatic shifts in the fundraising sphere. To name but a few: making use of Artificial Intelligence, structural adjustments, virtual reality engagement, gaming, crowdfunding,
events fundraising and business models in local fundraising. The initiative also aligned with the “do no harm” principle, ensuring sustainable development in even the most challenging areas.
Yet Why Dubai? As the Germans say, it was a hammer! This is an emerging liberal space that encourages free-thinking, experimenting, but above all, Dubai showcases a real live success story that has unfolded before the world’s eyes in just 50 years. It beats most stereotypes that the world has about the East and invites one to re-think development in our fast-paced changing world. Indeed, it was the aha-moment for most of us used to doing things in a particular way […] that until you step into the unknown, you will never know what you are made of!
