Fundraising Target

Starting in 2011, the Dragonfly Community Foundation aims to raise an annual amount of 3 million Thai Baht (3 000 000 THB), from individual donations (20%), groups and organizations (40%), and corporate donations (40%) from both within and outside of Thailand.

Spending Breakdown

For the 2011 year, we plan to use donated funds following this spending structure:

Administration = 20% or less (salaries, legal fees, rent and office costs, etc.)

The Dragonfly Community Foundation runs with a lean management system that minimizes costs so that more funds can be directed to projects.  Our small staff team works in Thailand where the cost of living is low, and casual staff work on a voluntary basis only.  As a small foundation, we have a certain operational budget that must be met in order to allow us to continue our projects, however we ensure that administration never exceeds 20%, aiming closer to 15%, of the DCF’s income.

English Teaching Project = 15% (towards program development, volunteer costs, etc.)

Our Volunteer English Teaching Project in its current form is self-sustainable.  Participants pay a small fee of 3000 THB to join and this covers their training including accommodation.  Following this, lunches and housing are arranged by the host schools and volunteers cover their own other costs.  Into the future, however, we wish to extend this program to very remote schools and other learning centers and orphanages which won’t have the money to support a volunteer’s stay.  To help us expand, we will use a small portion of the foundation’s donation income for project development into these areas.

Building Education Project = 15% (materials, transportation, accommodation, etc.)

The cornerstone of the DCF’s mission is to empower local people, and in the area of building this means sharing knowledge and spreading sustainable technologies to local people to give them affordable options that they can learn and develop.  To this end, we have created a workshop program focusing on adobe (mud brick) building but with cob and straw bale technologies also suggested.  The workshops allow staff to travel to meet interested groups of people and organizations who can learn and then spread these easy, cheap, and environmentally friendly technologies.  We have been extremely fortunate to have volunteer architects, engineers, and experienced builders join us to contribute to these workshops and we aim to complete at least 10 workshops per building season.

Construction Projects = 30% (for materials, labour, transportation, and tools)

Each dry season (November-April), the DCF works on a number of building projects, large and small, to contribute infrastructure to communities and organizations in need of support.  Through our construction projects, we also teach the principle of sustainability and provide social proof of the legitimacy of natural building technologies.  The DCF has performed 2-3 building projects per season and aims to increase this number to 4+, including larger-scale operations such as construction of whole orphanages.  Projects use variously volunteer and hired labour depending on accessibility and local conditions.

Sponsorship Projects = 20% (direct donations to children’s homes)

The DCF ran a child sponsorship program from 2004-2009, begun in the wake of the 2004 Tsunami that struck Southern Thailand.  This program successfully helped over 20 orphans and children from poor families.  We are beginning a new project with a new approach, to connect regular payments from sponsors (individuals and groups) with orphanages in need of support. While government orphanages in Thailand are generally well-funded and well-staffed, a number of independent homes exist to care for children who fall through the cracks of the official social services system.  These homes struggle daily to provide children with the quality of life that they deserve, and a sponsorship program can greatly relieve pressure on staff to find support.  Now in its organizational phase, this project will begin in December, 2011.