Resource Mobilization (RM) has replaced the term fundraising as it expanded to account for not only funds but also human resources, goods and services. It is a fundamental component of programme and project development, delivery and impact, and focuses on engaging and negotiating with partners, managing the subsequent resources and then communicating the results.

Voluntary contributions (VC) account for almost two-thirds of the integrated budget of the Organization, making it crucial that existing relationships with resource partners be strengthened, and new ones formed.

For this reason, it is important not only to mobilize more resources but also to ensure that these resources flow behind agreed priorities.

Attracting and keeping these resource partners is critical if the Organization is to achieve the results foreseen under its programme of work. Only 38 percent of the total FAO budget planned for 2016-2017 will be mobilized through assessed contributions (AC) paid by member countries, which means FAO has to find the other 62 percent through VC from a variety of resource partners – including international financing institutions, the private sector, foundations and national governments. 

While the Organization's need for VC is greater than ever before, RM has become more challenging, demanding a mix of knowledge and skills to ensure results, as well as value for money. What's more, the global economic crisis and other factors have led both traditional and emerging resource partners to reduce their Official Development Assistance (ODA) and related expenditures.  

Against the backdrop of this challenging context, FAO must be both more strategic and more proactive – especially in communicating results achieved and the value of investments – to secure the resources necessary for the global fight against hunger and food insecurity. 

As such, it has identified 11 corporate areas for RM, each of which has concrete potential to boost the delivery of results at all levels and would benefit from further investment. At regional level, FAO focuses its work under 15 Regional Initiatives and at country level priorities are agreed with governments in Country Programming Frameworks (CPFs).

Recent evidence highlighting global and regional trends for the first trimester of 2016 suggests that the Organization is heading in the right direction. Prepared by FAO South-South and Resource Mobilization Division (TCS) and Office of Strategy, Planning and Resources Management (OSP), the report shows that during the 2014-15 biennium, the Organization enjoyed high levels of RM (despite a slow-down in RM performance in 2015 when compared with 2014, partially due to major changes in exchange rates against the United States Dollar, the currency FAO uses for budgeting and reporting purposes), with close to USD 1.8 billion mobilized.

According to Laurent Thomas, Assistant Director-General, Technical Cooperation and Programme Management Department (TC), FAO, “the good news is that we are starting 2016 on a good footing: As at the end of March we are up 12 percent over the previous year, and even higher than in 2014 for the same period.” 

In terms of trends, there is still a continuous concentration around core, global and interregional projects (+58 percent), a stable trend in field resource mobilization (+4 percent), and a slight decline in emergencies funding (-10 percent), which, however, “is always quite volatile and context dependent,” he suggested. 

Regionally, RM has declined in Africa (- 23 percent), Latin America and the Caribbean (-45 percent), and Europe and Central Asia (-11 percent), while there has been growth in the Near East and North Africa (+ 118 percent) and in Asia and the Pacific (+60 percent).

For the Organization to continue securing resources and improving its relationships with resource partners, it must continue to demonstrate its comparative advantages and ability to deliver concrete results. Conversely without resources it will be difficult to produce the results agreed under the Organization’s Programme of Work. Mobilizing resources to support agreed priorities is a priority for the Organization’s managers in all locations.