APAY Green Challenge 2013

The aim of the APAY Green Challenge is to raise environmental awareness through green activities in the YMCAs of the Asia and Pacific region. This event motivated the youth to be aware of their responsibilities towards the society and engage themselves in environment friendly activities in the YMCAs. Through this campaign they came to know more about their organizations and act responsibly towards global issues? We are concerned about the things happening around us and the YMCA movement needs to respond to address these and also share ideas on how the YMCA can become a Green Movement.

About 52 Local YMCAs of our region took part in the APAY Green Challenge Campaign through programs like cleaning roads, planting trees and organizing awareness programs, art competitions, film shows, discussions, zero carbon living experience, reduce plastic bags, advocating for ecology, collect pet bottle tops, reduce garbage, organic farm, vegetable garden in YMCA, recycling and reuse, ecofriendly, dying reusable shopping bags, no plastic water bottle, no disposable tableware, light meal, oratorical contest, protect mangrove tree, conservation of coastal areas, clean beach, run waste management, clean-up drive at the river etc. It has been estimated that more than 16,000 youths participated in these campaigns.

The participating YMCAs can post as many green photos or video of their events to APAY Youth Committee (YPLD) and Change Agents Facebook page to enter to a contest. There will be two categories for photographs and video. There will be an award for the post which has the highest number of “like”s (from 18 October 2013 00:00 GMT+8 – 30 November 2013 24:00 GMT+ in each category. The award shall be presented at the APAY Executive Committee meeting in March 2014.

APAY Youth Committee (YPLD) and Change Agents Facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/pages/APAY-Youth-Committee-YPLD-and-Change-Agents/508521019162451

~ Roger Peiris, Youth Programme Officer, APAY

YMCA MADRAS, Kilpauk Branch and Y’s Men International, Madras District jointly organized an oratorical and Seminar on “Impact of climate on Environment and natural resources” under the banner of APAY Green Challenge 2013, on 25th October, 2013 at YMCA KILPAUK, from 9.30 a.m. to 12.30 Pm. The programme commence with opening prayer by Mr. A.J. Balan, Member of YMCA KILPUAK, welcomed by Mr. Samuel Ashok Kumar, Branch Chairman, greetings by Y’s M. George Abraham, District Governor, Madras District. Chief Guest address by Y’s m. Mohan Punnen, (Red Corporate public relations manager, MRF Ltd) in his address he mentioned the service of YMCA and Y’s Men clubs. Soon after that the Oratorical contest was stated, there were about 13 participants from various schools in Chennai. The first prize won by Sornamall Matriculation Hr, Sec, School, Aynavaram. After a tea break Prof. Dr. Lesley Soundarraj, Associate Professor in Postgraduate department of Zoology, Voorhees College. Vellore, presented PowerPoint presentation on the same topic, which was very much use full for the students, there were 55 school students attended this seminar. Finally the General Secretary YMCA MADRAS, Mr. S. Edwin Abraham, distributed the prizes to oratorical contest winner. Mr. S. George Bernardsha, Secretary, Kilpauk Branch, proposed the vote of thanks. The entire participant received a Certificate and Eco-friendly folder sponsored by Mr. K.T. Kuruvilla, M.D of Kwiklight Pvt,Ltd.

~ S. George Bernardhsa, Secretary, YMCA Madras

As a part of APAY Gree challenge event, Uni-Y members of Sulthan Bathery YMCA conducted different programmes such as river bank protection- we planted bamboos on both side of the river, paddy cultivation- we helped the famers for cultivating paddy, 'changathapacha'- we gifted fruit bearing plants each other and planted it in our own gardens, nearly 150 members participated in this programme.

~ Sasrah Poulose, Program Coordinator, Uni-Y members of Sulthan Bathery YMCA

APAY Green Challenge 2013 took place by Matara YMCA on 27th October at Matara cleaning the beach. There are 100 outside participants participated and Youth Club members organized the event. Urban Council of Matara gave the fullest corporation including the public awareness building of value of cleaning.

~ Lesley Sudirukku, General Secretary, Matara YMCA

Resource Mobilization Workshops Year 2

South West India

The series of Resource Mobilization Workshops in South West India for this year included Training of Trainers and series of Year 2 Workshop in Nagpur, Kollam and Madurai YMCAs. The ToT was a gathering of 12 senior YMCA professionals from South West YMCAs. The areas of discussion centered on the five elements of resource mobilization: Case, Volunteer Leadership, Prospective Donors, Infrastructure, Plan and sharing of experiences for improvements. Further discussion went deeper as it related to the infrastructure required to move Resource Mobilization to the next level of impact.

The National General Secretary of YMCAs of India shared his desire for an RM workshop/session to be coordinated with the members of the National Council as well as to initiate strategic planning with the National Board/leadership and implemented with all the local YMCAs. He is interested in facilitating a cultural shift in RM as it relates to volunteer recruitment as well as investment in the YMCAs through the culture of philanthropy. .

Kollam YMCA Year 2 Resource Mobilization Workshop

The workshop was held on 4-6 October with 37 YMCA professionals and some lay leaders in South West India including Trivandrum, Kollam, Ernakulam, Trisshur, Madras and SWIR. A 45 minutes sharing and discussions on the Year 1 experiences after the opening, helped the Volunteer consultant to prepare an agenda for the 2nd day of the training. Discussion focused on the 5 elements of success for financial development campaigns: Case Development/communication, Volunteer Leadership/Expectations and Training, Prospective Donors and Donor Cultivation, Infrastructure and Plan.

Day 2 discussions focused mainly on:

1. More effective communication of the case for support and how to articulate the most effective case.

2. Donor prospecting and cultivation best practices.

3. Volunteer expectations and recruitment

4. Mapping out a campaign plan by month to create a 12-month process

5. Brief overview of major gift and capital campaign elements

The outcome of this workshop was that each YMCA prepared a Resource Mobilization action plan, incorporating 2-3 action steps for each of the 5 elements of success in their 12 month RM plan.

Madurai YMCA Year 2 Resource Mobilization Workshop

This workshop was held on October 7-9 participated in by 19 staff and lay leaders from six (6) YMCAs including Madurai, Trichy, Bangalore, Chennai, Shimoga and Kanyakumari/Marthandam.

The emphasis was on the facilitation of discussion and sharing of best practices and the 5 elements of success in a fund development campaign. In addition a “Fundraising 101” elements and how to further enhance current efforts was presented. The best outcome of this workshop was that each participant took with them a case for support for year 2, financial goal for year 2, participation goal and a list of 2 new aspects of each of the 5 elements of success that they plan to incorporate in the RM action plans over the next 12-18 months.

The workshop was followed by a one-on- one meeting with the local YMCAs to help build on their Year 2 plans. Specific tasks were discussed that will hopefully help support these YMCAs and their evolving RM program and new plans.

Philippines

On September 19-28 this year, another series of workshops on resource mobilization were conducted in the Philippines. A Training of Trainers was conducted on the 19th & 20th. This roundtable and workshop was attended by three (3) local General Secretaries from YMCAs Albay, Pangasinan and San Pablo, Laguna. The national trainers were prepared to lead sessions and help achieve their Annual Campaign goals.

The Year 2 workshop was held on September 21-22 participated in by 5 local YMCAs including Albay, Cagayan Valley, Davao, Pangasinan and San Pablo with total of 19 participants. The participants shared their accomplishments, challenges and some of the learning as all of the participating YMCAs achieved their goals and developed different strategies and approaches to raise funds. Discussions focused on development of the campaign case, reviewing the context of the communities and developing campaign materials in communicating and promoting their cases.

The Volunteer Consultants shared some proven successful concepts and principles in mobilizing resources from the North American experience. They also emphasized the importance of having stewardship plan for prospective donors in order to keep the relationship and continue their support. Informing the donors of the impact of their contribution and giving them opportunity to get involved would help boost their interest and meet their expectations.

One of the new concepts of the year 2 workshop was the introduction of major gifts and capital campaign. Although it is not a separate idea from the annual campaign, it maximizes the donors’ contribution in terms of incremental growth and their willingness to give within their means. Each YMCA has its own discretion to identify the level of their major gifts. These gifts are often made to support a particular program, a capital campaign or endowment development program. Other discussions included recruitment of volunteers and development of the local campaign leadership structure, composition of the campaign team which will also define the success of fund campaigns. Personal qualities and skills were realized to be needed to become effective campaigner and leader. Their network and connections must be wide and commitment must be remarkable.

The workshop concluded with practice on running a volunteer training event wherein each local YMCA was asked to present how they will introduce their cases, how to implement them and what their goals are for the second annual campaigns.

The Volunteer Consultant, Paul, together with NGS Pabs and Tintin of Albay as national trainer visited San Pablo, Nueva Ecija and Davao before proceeding to Cagayan de Oro, Misamis Oriental YMCA for a Year 1 Workshop.

~ Eloisa Borreo, Executive Secretary, APAY

YMCA New Zealand Announces New CEO

YMCA New Zealand announces the appointment of a new National Chief Executive Officer, David Gray.

David has spent the past 14 years as an independent management consultant working in the not-for-profit sector. In this time, he has led projects in governance, strategy, change management, human resources management and finance. The common thread running through all of the projects is a focus on improving organisational performance. Much of his work has been with Māori organisations.

David’s earlier background was in business, including banking with ASB Bank and management consulting with KPMG Consulting. He is also a former CEO of the Waikato/Tainui tribal governance entity. His qualifications are in Māori development and human resources management from the University of Auckland.

Immediately prior to this appointment, David was engaged by YMCA New Zealand in the role of change agent for several months. His brief was to review and reinvigorate the relationships between YMCA New Zealand and its 13 member YMCAs around the country, with a view to improving the effectiveness of the national organisation.

Outside of work, David’s contribution to the community has included governance roles in a number of community organisations, encompassing social services, local economic development and education. He invests much of his leisure time in a wetland restoration and regeneration project on the north Waikato farmlet where he and his wife reside.

David will divide his time between the YMCA National Office in Wellington and an office at YMCA Auckland.

Tentative Timetable of Executive Committee & Related Meeting, March 3-9, 2014