Τεύχος 2, Ιούλιος 2007

Terra Cypria Organises Seminar on NGO Success
By Costas Orountiotis

The Environmental Studies Center in little Kritou Terra village has been a very busy place so far this summer. No sooner had the International Conflict Resolution program been successfully completed, than Terra Cypria Foundation held its own bi-communal seminar/workshop on 23-24 of June and we understand that three more UNDP programs have already been scheduled.

Terra Cypria's seminar was titled "NGO Success: A Perspective from Across the Atlantic" and it was attended by Greek and Turkish Cypriot NGO representatives from all over Cyprus. The European Union has many bright examples for us Cypriots to follow and to a very large extent we do. However, the EU is not the only model for a small country to learn from. There is no denying the enormous successes of American businesses and this of course is mirrored by the equally successful American NGOs. Many people know how businesses in the USA succeed, or at least they think they do... hard work, shrewd marketing, good management, historical circumstances, good luck, etc. However, very few of us have any inkling how the NGOs in the USA have managed to be so successful. So Terra Cypria decided to invite an NGO representative from the USA and ask her how they do it over there, on the other side of the Atlantic. The presenter was Margaret Bruce, Environmental Director of Silicon Valley Leadership Group, appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger to the California Water Resources Control Board for the San Francisco Bay Area, founder of Sustainable Silicon Valley and with several other titles and qualifications covering at least another half a page.

Margaret gamely undertook to tell the secret for the success of American NGOs. That took care of the first ten seconds of the seminar - hard work -. The rest of the weekend was spent learning how to work hard. For those of you that want to learn what we learned, tune in to our next newsletter; we will publish a How-to-Handbook that we developed with Margaret's assistance. I will give you however a little teaser of things included. So then, this is the 'elevator conversation' section:

What if you found yourself alone in an elevator with the ONE person you most wanted to enlist as a supporter of your organization?  What if you had from the ground floor to the 6th floor (about 40 seconds) to tell this person about your organization and what you wanted from them?  What would you say? 

In reality we're seldom alone in an elevator with just the right person.  But often enough we find ourselves in social situations or in business meeting,  where we do meet people who are in positions to help us, and could be inspired to support.  So it's a good idea to have your 'elevator speech' tuned up and ready to use any time.

Be able to sum up in 40 seconds or less:

• what you do
• why you do it
• why they should care
• what you want from them

By the end of the seminar, Turkish and Greek Cypriots were able to not only distinguish between vision statements and mission statements, but could also discuss a SWOT and develop a business plan.

We also focused on the FUNDING aspect of running an NGO. The secret of funding was unraveled during the seminar. However you will have to read our next newsletter to acquire this coveted knowledge. Alternatively, you can send us an envelope stuffed with unmarked euros and we will call you collect to reveal the secret, four whole weeks before the rest of Cyprus finds out.

We at Terra Cypria have learned an additional lesson: Never, ever again, organise a seminar in June during a heat wave! It turned out that we chose the hottest weekend so far this summer to have our seminar. Happily, all participants survived the experience and even told us they enjoyed it. Of course we had the keys to the bus and they really did want to go home.

This was a good occasion for me to meet a lot of interesting people. Meeting our Turkish Cypriot colleagues was a real joy, because inevitably they turn out to be so much like us, Cypriots with similar aspirations and problems, fighting the same battles as we, to protect the environment, educate the youth, promote sustainable development. There was a momentary feeling of melancholy that came over both of us when I asked a Turkish Cypriot in his 50s - "where are you from"? He said Limassol and asked me where I was from; I said "Famagusta". We both sighed and went on with the workshop. 

  

 

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