On 26 August, we were happy to join the third and last workshop in the series hosted by Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen (VwV).
These workshops were organised as part of an ongoing collaboration between VwV and the URC.
During these workshops, we were able to hear from some of VwV´s great experts, who have invaluable knowledge and experience of working in the Belgian non-profit sector.
With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at each workshop.
Fundraising
The first workshop in the series was on fundraising. It was given to us by Manu Van Roosbroeck, Head of Fundraising & Communications.
During the workshop, we not only learned the theoretical knowledge related to fundraising, but also were able to see the relevant data and hear about Manu’s own experience, which made the view of the topic holistic and much more tangible.
Advocacy, policy influencing, and socio-legal support
Joost Depotter, Head of Policy & Support, and Helene Asselman, Team Lead, Socio-legal Support, presented how VwV approaches advocacy and policy influencing, making a big emphasis on the interplay of it with the support their organisation provides.
The speakers also talked about VwV’s model for first-line socio-legal support, how they train their volunteers, and what kind of profiles they look for.
At the end of the workshop, we were able to compare our approaches and exchange ideas.
Project Development
Last in the series but no less important, the project development workshop was given by Geert Bossaerts, VwV’s Senior Project Developer. During it, she explained how to support participants in project development as well as covered where to find project calls and who funds civil society.
Together, we were able to discuss areas of our interest and explore the kind of joint projects we might have in the future.
These workshops emphasised the role of building partnerships, avoiding competition with other organisations, and fostering collaboration. We also discussed the importance of efforts’ coordination and division minimisation amongst organisations and actors as a way to increase initiatives’ impact.
Also, the sessions were instrumental in acquiring new knowledge and exchanging reflections on each other’s ways of work.
At the end of each workshop, we were able to compare our approaches and exchange ideas by having discussions.
We are very grateful to Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen for making this possible. We cannot wait to integrate the newly acquired knowledge into our work and make our impact on the cause even more meaningful.
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