Civil society organizations undergo an acceleration program, raise R$ 2.2 million in donations and expand their partnership network | EDP Brasil

The first edition of Reforça, a program that strengthens organizations on strategic issues, has brought great results for the 20 accelerated Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). The initiative of the EDP Institute, an organization that manages the social and environmental investments of EDP in Brazil, and of Phomenta, a social impact institution, helped the institutions served to raise more than R$ 2.2 million in funds for their activities.

In addition, the civil society organizations that took part in the program established 41 new partnerships and managed to implement 106 internal improvement initiatives. These institutions serve more than 7,500 people in six Brazilian states, as follows: Amapá, Ceará, Espírito Santo, São Paulo, Tocantins and Rio Grande do Sul. The acceleration program lasted seven months, 100% online.

“We already have a recognized history of investing in civil society organizations, but the pandemic showed us that we would have to go further. We decided to join forces with Phomenta and we had a very positive result. It is very rewarding to realize that the program has managed to expand the reach of institutions, raising more funds and internal organization”, highlights Fernanda Pires, Vice President of People and ESG at EDP in Brazil.

Overall, the Reforça program has brought an increase of 59 in the number of donors from social organizations, whereas 82% of the participating institutions increased the use of digital tools and 82% managed to increase transparency in their social networks and/or websites.

The program was split into modules, which included diagnosis of organizational maturity, with monitoring and progress reports, content on strategic planning, action plan, pitch, relationship with partners, among many other topics. The institutions also underwent legal and financial evaluation, in addition to introducing good management and transparency practices. At the end of the program, the institutions reaching 80% of the minimum score in this evaluation, will also receive the Phomenta certification seal.

Impact stories

The organization Rochativa (ES), for example, planned an on-site event to collect donations of basic food baskets before the pandemic. The worsening of the situation on account of Covid-19 pushed the adoption of a remote model, facilitated thanks to the tools learned in the program, such as user journey and relationship with partners. The civil society organization managed to surpass the initial goal, then raising 640 basic food baskets, increasing the number of partner companies to 44 and obtaining support from a new company to distribute 1,000 toys in the cities of Espírito Santo.

Instituto Suinã, active in Guararema (SP), was successful with digital strategy. The institution used social networks to disclose their actions taken, however no formal planning of its activities was taking place. After the training, the civil society organization changed the way the website was updated, included products for sale and made it possible to donate through the platform. In addition, transparency was increased thereby and an institutional blog was created.

On April 29 was held the closing event of the program with the presentation of the pitches of the projects submitted to the internal public notice of the program and EDP Institute. There were 4 projects presented by 4 different CSOs and, at the end, 2 of them were selected which, in addition to receiving technical support from the Institute for their realization, received a financial contribution (seed capital) in the amount of R$ 10,000.00 each.

About IEDP

Since its establishment in 2009, the EDP Institute has invested more than R$ 100 million in socio-cultural projects, which have benefited around three million people, in around 400 programs spread across the country. In 2020 alone, initiatives supported by the organization favored 96,500 residents of the communities surrounding the areas in which the Company operates. The EDP Institute is responsible for structuring EDP’s investments and social initiatives on fronts linked to the appreciation of the Portuguese language, education, local development with income generation, entrepreneurship and volunteering, through sport, culture and health.