THE USE OF ICTS FOR FUNDRAISING AND AWARENESS RAISING IN NGOS OF THE GLOBAL SOUTH: AN ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIES OF NGOS IN NEPAL

Abstract

The study examines the relationship between Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), bottom-up development, and fundraising and self-promotion among local and subregional non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Nepal. It looks at the effect of contemporary ICTs, namely the Internet, on the communications work of this type of Nepali NGO in terms of the degree of bottom-up development and social change it supports. The study examines how these NGOs are communicating their work and advocating for their causes with donors and stakeholders, with respect to the communications technology they are utilizing. It explores the effect of this technology on the relationship between the NGOs and their supporters, regarding the ICT¿s assumed ability to increase an NGO¿s capacity to generate awareness about the issue being communicated. The researcher examines to what extent ICT use is helping these NGOs carry out bottom-up development work. The central questions are: 1. How are local and subregional NGOs in Nepal using ICTs, namely the Internet, raising funds for and awareness about their work? 2. How are local and subregional NGOs based in and around the capital city of an extremely poor country¿organizations simultaneously signify the agents and objects of development practice ¿ effective in using contemporary ICTs to support bottom-up development initiatives? The research serves as an investigation of the experiential dimension of local and subregional Nepal-based NGOs¿ use of contemporary ICTs, particularly the Internet, for awareness and fund raising, and the effect of ICT use on empowering these organizations, focusing on bottom-up development and its communication. The study reflects a situated analysis of the effect of contemporary ICTs on the interconnected and at times oppositional structures and processes of development practice in the global south. As part of this analysis, the researcher looks at how the relationship between NGO and funder is affected by contemporary communication technologies. The roles that the NGO plays, such as development stakeholder, funder, and intermediary, are seen as part of a larger process of development, with the situation of ICT use in an urban capital in the global south as both backdrop and active ingredient. The research reveals enthusiastic adoption of new media technologies by small-scale NGOs in fundraising and self-promotion efforts, and greatly strengthened support for NGOs¿ bottom-up development strategies and projects as a result of ICT-enabled fund and awareness raising. There is also found a need for further exploration into the extent to which the relationship between NGOs and their funders (both individual donors and organizations) influences and reflects the relationship between the stakeholders (both individuals and communities) and the NGOs assisting them. The findings imply that local and subregional NGOs¿ use of contemporary ICTs for fund and awareness raising empowers them to assert more agency in development work, enacting more genuinely bottom-up initiatives in the continuous yet changing process of development. The research design involves a case study of selected NGOs that operate and carry out project activity solely within certain marginalized areas and social sectors of Nepal, and have an office in Kathmandu Valley. Qualitative methods of in-depth, semi-structured interviews are backgrounded with secondary materials on ICT and development discourse, global south NGOs¿ use of contemporary ICTs, particularly the Internet, and theories and practices of development communication, focusing on the oppositional, intertwined characteristics of alternative and mainstream development.