Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!
30 November 2022
Post No. 276
The Week’s Contents
• Festive Shopping and Donations Needed!
• Impact Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, Development and Action Plan from the Month of Economics of Education and Skill Formation (Skills Development Month)
• Guidance Programme for Not-for-profit Investors in Africa; In Focus for Week Beginning 28/11/2022: Not-for-profit Investment Choices in Africa
… And much more!
Coming Next Week: WINTER E-DISCUSSION ON VOLUNTEERING 
Key Messages
• Festive Shopping and Donations Needed!
As we enter the festive month of December, anyone can help raise funds for CENFACS through their shopping without giving any penny. It does not cost them any money to give to charities like CENFACS while shopping, whether online or in-person, and being asked either to tick a box or to name or choose a charity to benefit from their festive shopping activities.
By ticking a box to donate to charity or naming or choosing CENFACS, they can enable CENFACS to receive a no-direct cash donations from their shopping; donations which we need to help those suffering from poverty and the cost-of-living crisis.
Please remember that around the festive period millions of shoppers do not claim their points, discounts and rewards. These points, prizes and rewards could have gone to good causes like CENFACS‘ noble ones.
So, it does not cost you as a shopper anything if you tick a box or name or choose CENFACS as your favourite charity to receive your points, prizes and rewards which could otherwise become unclaimed, unused and wasted.
Please this festive season, do not let these free offers resulting from your shopping to go unclaimed or wasted. CENFACS wants them. CENFACS needs your loyalty shopping points, discounts, vouchers, prizes and rewards that you do not want or need.
We need them to help people living in poverty and hardships. These people require them. We are demanding your no-direct cash gift and support through your festive shopping to help them.
Please tick a box or name or choose CENFACS to benefit from your festive shopping activities.
More on ways of supporting CENFACS’ beneficiaries through your festive shopping is given under the Main Development section of this post.
• Impact Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, Development and Action Plan from the Month of Economics of Education and Skill Formation (Skills Development Month)
Through this ending November month of Skills Development, we have focused on Data Skills to Run your Household, in particular data storage, process, security, insight and analytics skills. In order to know the progress and achievements made as well as the to examine our performance against objectives, we are carrying out two exercises:
a) Impact Monitoring and Evaluation
b) Learning development and Action Plan.
Let us explain what these two exercises are about.
• • Impact Monitoring and Evaluation of Data Skills to Run your Household
We are now carrying on with the systematic process of observation, recording, collection and analysis of information regarding our 4-week work on Data Skills to Run your Household in order to get its impact or at least its output. This routing process will help to examine the activities of the data skills developed and identify bottlenecks during the process to see if they are in line with objectives we defined.
Also, we are undertaking the sporadic activity to draw conclusion regarding the relevance and effectiveness of the data skills presented. This activity will contribute to the determination of the value judgement regarding the performance level and attainment of defined objectives for Data Skills to Run your Household.
The findings from this Impact Monitoring and Evaluation will help to figure out what has been achieved through this work and give us some flavour about the future direction of Skills Development month.
As part of this Impact Monitoring and Evaluation exercise, we would like to ask to those who have been working with us throughout the last four weeks to share with us their feelings and thoughts about these two areas:
(a) The overall “Data Skills to Run your Household”
(b) Any of the data skills they have been interested in or used in the context of running their household.
You can share your feelings and thoughts with us by:
∝ Phoning
∝ Texting
∝ E-mailing
∝ Completing the contact form with your feelings and thoughts.
• • Learning Development and Action Plan for Data Skills to Run your Household
As part of keeping the culture of continuous learning and professional development within CENFACS, we are examining what the running of Skills Development and Skills Focus have brought and indicated to us. We are particularly looking at the learning and development priorities and initiatives. In this exercise, we are considering the action points and plan we may need to make in order to improve or better change the way in which we deliver our services and work with users.
For those who have been following the running of the Skills Development Month with us, this is the time or opportunity they can add their inputs to our learning and development experience so that we can know the skills gap that need to be filled up in 2023 and beyond. They can as well have their own action plans on how they would like to take forward the contents of Skills Development month. And if they have a plan and want us to look at it, we are willing to do so.
The plan could be on the following data skills presented throughout this month: data storage, process, security, insight and analytics skills. In particular, we can look at how any household making our community wants to make a plan for them or would like CENFACS to work with them on their chosen area of data skills.
Have an action plan for your skills development and want CENFACS to look at it, please do not hesitate to contact us. To add your input to our exercise on learning, development and action plan; just contact CENFACS.
• Guidance Programme for Not-for-profit Investors in Africa (1); In Focus for Week Beginning 28/11/2022: Not-for-profit Investment Choices in Africa
Through our guidance programme, we can work with potential not-for-profit investors and help them to choose the types of investment they want. In particular, they can choose from the following: asset classes, organisation to become part of governing body and market segment.
• • Types of investment to consider
There are two types of investment that not-for-profit investors can choose in order to engage in, which are: physical or real investment and financial investment.
In the context of the not-for-profit development, we shall work with not-for-profit investors to choose investments that bring high return of poverty reduction for project and programme beneficiaries in Africa.
• • Choice of asset classes
We can work with the prospective not-for-profit investors to help them identify and choose the asset classes (e.g., cash, shares, bonds, equities/stocks, real estate, exchanged-traded funds and mutual bonds, etc.) they need in order to penetrate the organisations they would prefer to invest in.
• • Choice of governing body or board of directors
We can as well work with prospective not-for-profit investors to help them choose the governing body or board of directors that suits them or matches with or best represents their need and interest to invest. The bodies or boards that we are talking about are those of not-for-profit organisations (whose activities are not for the financial benefit of individuals or board of directors) registered as charity or non-registered as charity.
Organisations that are registered as charities could be charitable incorporated organisations or charitable companies limited by guarantee, unincorporated associations or charitable trusts like in the UK.
Besides that, we shall use the classification and terminology of the given African organisation within their country as well as their business structure to find out whether or not they can be classified as not-for-profit. And if they are because of their status of not-for-profit, we shall search on implications in terms of foreign direct investment in those organisations.
• • Choice of market segment
The African not-for-profit development and poverty reduction Africa are a huge market for poverty reduction goods and services. We can help select or pitch which segment of the market investors want.
For example, a potential not-for-profit investor can make a decision to pitch the market segment of children’s needs, or water projects, women’s needs, energy projects, projects targeting COVID-19 induced hardships, etc.
For those who would like to invest in the not-for-profit organisations in Africa and need some guidance, CENFACS can work with them so that they can make informed choice on the types of investment, asset class, governing body and market segment they may consider.
Interested in Not-for-profit Investment Choices in Africa and in Guidance Programme, please do not hesitate to contact CENFACS.
Extra Messages
• Financial Security Analysis Project (FSAP)
• Activity of the Festive Season: How to Make your Triple-Value-Initiative Activity Raise Money for Good Causes
• CENFACS’ be.Africa Forum Debates Forest Cartelization
• Financial Security Analysis Project (FSAP)
FSAP is part of the Three Tiers of Security Against Poverty. The two other levels of security being Energy Security Project and Food Security Project, as we explained last week.
This week, we are providing more information about FSAP and what we can do together with those members of our community who need support to analyse their financial security. Particularly, as we are entering the festive month of December many people are forced to spend to stay in the mood of the festive period even if they do not money or enough money to spend. In this respect, financial security analysis is important to raise awareness on how to stay financially secure.
• • What is FSAP?
FSAP is a poverty reduction initiative that helps to analyse if households making our community have enough income to cover all their expenses and save for their future.
FSAP, which may not be a financial support in terms of cash or assets convertible into cash, can help to work with financial insecure people so that they can progressively navigate their way towards financial security.
For example, through this project we can carry out an express analysis of the financial security of our household users from their data. The analysis will help to determine the financial position of a given household user of our project. The analysis can provide some valuable information to potentially avoid financial poverty. In this respect, FSAP will help to level up those who are looking for sustainable solutions to financial crisis they are facing.
There are different types of analysis we can conduct.
• • Types of financial analysis we can conduct for beneficiaries
We can work with them to analyse or assess the total value of their household. In this respect, we can conduct with them the following three types of analysis:
a) Fundamental financial analysis to calculate the intrinsic value of their household by studying the fundamental factors that affect them
b) Technical financial analysis by using forecasting techniques to predict the household’s future performance
c) Quantitative financial analysis by referring to basic financial measures or ratios to work out households’ financial health and wellbeing.
Through these three analyses, we can work out the following:
√ Current living expense of FSAP beneficiaries
√ Saving plan or safety net to protect from unexpected things
√ Financial plan to live below their means
√ Built-in funds to cover the unexpected
√ Plan to pay off debts for those indebted beneficiaries
√ Financial plan that includes festive expenses and income
√ Investment plan for those who are capable of investing
Etc.
These analyses will help financial insecure people to progressively navigate towards financial security and support those who are looking for sustainable solutions to financial crisis they are facing to level up.
For those who need financial security analysis over this festive period, they can contact CENFACS. Working with them on financial security analysis will strengthen them and put them in a better position to end 2022 and start 2023.
For those who want more support on financial issues, we would like to inform them that from next week, we will be running a Financial Stability Campaign which they can join.
• Activity of the Festive Season: How to Make your Triple-Value-Initiative Activity Raise Money for Good Causes
You can help CENFACS raise funds it needs for its noble causes while you are undertaking your Triple Value Activity or All Year-Round Project. How can you do it?
If you are Running or Organising a Run Activity to Reduce Poverty in 2022, you can dress like a Santa and raise money depending on the challenge (e.g., running laps or distances) and ask people around you to donate accordingly. You can organise a virtual or in-person run.
If you are Playing the CENFACS League for Poverty Relief, you can organise a festive tournament and ask participants and your audiences to the tournament to donate.
If you are Voting your 2022 African Poverty Relief Manager, you can set up a knowledge challenge in the form of Questions-Answers to find out your 2022 African Poverty Relief and Development Manager. You can ask people who would like to attend or participate or watch the challenge to donate.
With some inspiration, the above shows that it is possible to raise funds for CENFACS’ noble causes while applying any of the three Triple Value Initiatives (or All Year-Round Projects).
However, before embarking on raising funds via Triple Value Initiatives, you need to discuss the matter with CENFACS so that together with you we can plan How to Make your Triple-Value-Initiative Activity Raise Money for Good Causes.
To discuss the possibility of raising funds for good causes via Triple Value Initiatives (or All Year-Round Projects), please contact CENFACS.
• CENFACS’ be.Africa Forum Debates Forest Cartelization
Can South-South Rainforest Trilateral Alliance (between Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia) or the New Forest Cartel become true leaders of climate action and security?
In search for climate solutions, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia launched on 14 November 2022 a working partnership (2) to preserve their vast forests threatened by exploitation and agriculture. They are asking for the following:
∝ Compensation from the international community to reduce deforestation
∝ Climate finance
∝ Carbon pricing of a tonne of carbon credit market
∝ Increase for the value of tropical forests to climate and people
∝ Development of fossil energies to provide solutions to climate change
Etc.
Further to this new forest group’s demand, CENFACS’ be.Africa Forum is asking the following sub-questions deriving from the above-mentioned main question:
What is the weight of the tropical forest economy in the global economy given these three biggest rainforest nations hold 52% of the world’s tropical forests?
Is the triple alliance between the world’s three biggest forest countries with vast forests a genuine leadership/partnership or a protest drive?
To what extent can this newly formed group be a true leader that can shape the climate action and security?
Can this forest cartel fix or influence the price of forest global products like other cartels (like the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) do?
How can the trilateral alliance use its forest comparative advantage to improve its competitive advantage to provide poverty reduction and a genuine climate security that the world needs?
The above is the last debate of 2022 for CENFACS’ be.Africa Forum. You can enter this debate on forest cartelisation by contacting CENFACS on this website.
Message in French (Message en français)
Soutenir les nobles causes de CENFACS via vos achats festifs
Les fêtes de fin d’année sont l’occasion de faire quelque chose contre la pauvreté.
Chaque occasion ou chaque saison est une opportunité de faire quelque chose contre la pauvreté et les difficultés. Les fêtes de fin d’année, qui sont un temps idéal pour partager des moments précieux avec vos proches, est aussi une période pour répandre un peu plus de ce bonheur à ceux /celles qui n’en ont pas.
Nous comprenons que de nombreuses personnes, y compris nos sympathisant(e)s, continuent de souffrir sérieusement de la crise du coût de la vie. Cependant, pour les personnes qui vivent déjà dans la pauvreté, ces effets sont même intolérables et insupportables pour elles. Il y a une raison de les soutenir pendant cette période des fêtes.
Pour les soutenir, il existe plusieurs types de dons en espèces sans contrepartie directe lors de vos achats que vous pouvez utiliser. Dans le cadre de notre demande de soutenir les nobles causes de CENFACS via vos achats festifs, on peut envisager les deux types suivants:
a) Dons qui ne sont pas une transmission directe en espèces lors de votre visite à la boutique en ligne de la charité CENFACS
b) Dons qui ne sont pas une transmission directe en espèces via des achats dans d’autres magasins / boutiques.
En gros, vous pouvez faire un don indirectement lorsque vous magasinez sur la boutique en ligne du CENFACS et dans d’autres magasins.
Pour faire un don indirect au CENFACS via la boutique en ligne du CENFACS, rendez-vous sur: http://cenfacs.org.uk/shop/
Pour faire un don indirect au CENFACS via votre activité d’achat à d’autres magasins / boutiques, veuillez vérifier ou leur demander s’ils ont un programme qui soutient les organisations caritatives. Parfois, ils peuvent vous le proposer eux-mêmes.
Merci d’avance d’envisager de soutenir les nobles causes de CENFACS pendant la période des fêtes de fin d’année.
Main Development
• Festive Shopping and Donations Needed!
Two items cover the contents of this Main Development, items which are:
∝ Festive season as an opportunity to do something against poverty
∝ No-direct cash donations as a result of your shopping.
Let us summarily look at them.
• • Festive season as an opportunity to do something against poverty
Every occasion or every season is an opportunity to do something against poverty and hardships. The festive season, which is a great time to share precious moments with your loved ones, is also a period to spread a little extra of that happiness to those who do not have.
We understand that many people including our supporters continue to seriously suffer from the cost-of-living crisis. However, for people who are already living in poverty, these effects are even intolerable and unbearable for them. There is a reason to support them during this festive season. One of the many ways of supporting them could be no-direct cash donations through your festive shopping.
• • No-direct cash donations as a result of your shopping
CENFACS needs donations from your festive shopping, in particular we need no-direct cash donations, to support those in need. Some shoppers who could donate no-direct cash may not understand what it means. This is why it is better we explain the following:
∝ What do we mean by no-direct cash donations?
∝ Types of no-direct cash donations we are talking about and asking for.
• • • Brief explanation of no-direct cash donations
A no-direct cash donation is an amount given as a gift and which is not a direct transfer of cash, cheque, or a debit or credit card. No-direct cash donations should not be confused with in-kind donations. In the context of Festive Shopping, the donor gives money indirectly through their shopping activities. If there is no shopping, there is no-direct cash donation linked to the shopping.
What are those types of donations that are the result of one’s shopping drive?
• • • Types of no-direct cash donations
There are two types of no-direct cash donations when shopping, which are:
a) No-direct cash donations when shopping at CENFACS Charity e-shop
b) No-direct cash donations via shopping at other shops/stores.
Let us look at each of them.
• • • • Indirectly donate when you shop at CENFACS e-shop at http://cenfacs.org.uk/shop/
• • • • • SHOPPING or DONATING GOODS at CENFACS Charity e-Store
You can give your unwanted and unneeded goods or pre-loved items to CENFACS’ Charity e-Store, the shop built to help relieve poverty, including poverty induced by the cost-of-living crisis. You can buy second hand goods and bargain priced new items and much more.
You can do something different this Festive Season by SHOPPING or DONATING GOODS at CENFACS Charity e-Store. You can even make this e-store better.
You can DONATE or SHOP or do both:
√ DONATE unwanted pre-loved GOODS and PRODUCTS to CENFACS Charity e-Store during the festive period and beyond
√ SHOP at CENFACS Charity e-Store to support good and deserving causes of poverty relief during the festive period and beyond.
Your SHOPPING action and or GOODS DONATIONS will help to the Upkeep of the Nature and to reduce poverty, particularly poverty induced by the cost-of-living crisis.
CENFACS Charity e-Shop is open for both online festive purchase and goods donations.
Please do not hesitate to donate goods or purchase what is available at CENFACS Charity e-Store.
Many ordinary people and families are struggling to make ends meet at this challenging time of the cost-of-living crisis. Many of them do not know how they are going to make ends meet of the month; let alone how they will meet their festive expenses as prices and bills continue to rise. They need help. We need support as well to help them come out poverty and hardships caused by the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.
Amongst the goods to donate, we are asking net-zero goods as well.
• • • • • Donation of NET-ZERO GOODS this Festive Season
You can donate carbon neutral or net zero greenhouse gas emissions goods to help reduce the adverse impacts of climate change and poverty, while creating an opportunity to save non-renewable natural resources. This type of donation can boost the circular economy and improve the upkeep of the nature.
CENFACS’ Charity e-Store needs your support for Festive SHOPPING and DONATIONS.
To donate or purchase goods, please go to: http://cenfacs.org.uk/shop/
• • • • Indirectly donate when you shop with other stores/shops
You can help CENFACS raise funds through your festive shopping to other shops and stores, whether online or in-person. You can do it via the following avenues:
∝ Raise free funds for CENFACS with your online shopping
∝ Choose CENFACS as a donation recipient of some of the profits raised from online shopping
∝ Donate your unwanted and unused points and cashback to CENFACS as your chosen charity from your loyalty shopping rewards or good causes’ gift cards
∝ Pass to CENFACS no-direct cash won from shopping surveys; cash you do not require or want
∝ Give away to CENFACS any vouchers received or earned from your shopping; vouchers you do not need or want
∝ Hand out to CENFACS any proceeds from unwanted or unneeded prize draw or award from your shopping
∝ Donate any unwanted excess points of your loyalty card from online shopping apps that may support good causes
Etc.
You can use and or get informed about a variety of ways that many stores and shops offer to support charities through customers’ shopping, particularly during the festive period. You can use them to support CENFACS‘ noble cause of poverty reduction via your shopping action without directly giving money. CENFACS will acknowledge and thank you for your no-direct cash contributions to its mission and causes.
To sum up, you can both indirectly donate when you shop at CENFACS e-shop and with other stores/shops.
To indirectly donate to CENFACS through CENFACS’ e-shop, please go to: http://cenfacs.org.uk/shop/
To indirectly donate to CENFACS via your shopping activity to other shops and stores, please check or ask them if they have any scheme that support charities. Sometimes, they may propose you it themselves at their counters.
Thank you for considering our ask for no-direct cash donations via your festive shopping activities.
_________
• References
(1) cenfacs.org.uk/2021/11/24/guidance-for-investing-in-africa/ (accessed in November 2022)
(2) https://brazzavillefoundation.org/en/news/582-g20-drc-brazil-and-indonesia-sign-agreement-to-protect-tropical-forests (accessed in November 2022)
_________
• Help CENFACS keep the Poverty Relief work going this year
We do our work on a very small budget and on a voluntary basis. Making a donation will show us you value our work and support CENFACS’ work, which is currently offered as a free service.
One could also consider a recurring donation to CENFACS in the future.
Additionally, we would like to inform you that planned gifting is always an option for giving at CENFACS. Likewise, CENFACS accepts matching gifts from companies running a gift-matching programme.
Donate to support CENFACS!
FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ NOBLE CAUSES OF POVERTY REDUCTION.
JUST GO TO: Support Causes – (cenfacs.org.uk)
Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.
Thank you as well to those who made or make comments about our weekly posts.
We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support until the end of 2022 and beyond.
With many thanks.
