Support to Rights’ First Two Cycles
In the first two cycles of Support to Rights, we worked with approximately 70 organisations from different regions of Turkey. Through one-on-one needs analysis with each organisation, we identified their priority areas for development. During this process:
- We assigned a field officer to each organisation, sustaining the relationship over two years through regular meetings, visits, and joint planning.
- We provided one-on-one technical support in 17 areas, drawing on 36 different experts.
- We organised workshops and webinars in areas such as advocacy, financial management, digital security, and impact analysis.
- We tracked each organisation’s progress concretely by repeating, twice, the needs assessment matrix developed in collaboration with KUSIF.
The New Cycle of Support to Rights
In Support to Rights III, we are both deepening and expanding the capacity development programme.
Each organisation will go through a comprehensive needs assessment process to identify its institutional needs. This assessment now includes gender-sensitive governance as a separate section: we plan to think through, together with each organisation, areas such as inclusive decision-making mechanisms, feminist principles, and gender-sensitive communication.
At the outset of the programme, all organisations will undergo a shared training on rights-based financial and operational management. This will be followed by a hope-based communication module designed to help organisations connect more effectively with the public.
On the individual support side, each organisation will receive up to five days of one-on-one expert support, tailored to its own priorities. Strategic planning, resource development, advocacy, digital security, the use of artificial intelligence, and open-source research are among the areas in which this support will be offered.
One of the components we are newly introducing in this cycle is peer learning: we are organising online mutual exchange sessions to enable organisations to learn not only from us, but also from one another. In the area of gender-sensitive governance, we aim to support all organisations through policy development guidance, expert-led exchange sessions, and written resources.
Financial Sustainability
Facilitator: Betül Selcen Özer
Scope:
- Current Status in Light of Initial Data: Organisations and Financial Sustainability
- Types of Financial Sustainability
- The 14-Step Resource Generation Cycle
- Resource Generation Methods
- Whose Job Is It to Generate Resources?
- Building a Financial Sustainability Strategy and Aligning It with a Communication Strategy
- Economic Enterprise Models for Organisations
- Funding Bodies & Institutions
Strategic Planning
Facilitator: Ruhat Sena Akşener
Scope:
- What Is Strategic Planning?
- Why Do We Do Strategic Planning?
- Why Is Institutional Strategic Planning Important?
- Stakeholders
- Risk Analyses
- What Is SWOT Analysis?
- What Is PESTEL Analysis?
- Objectives Tree and Problem Tree
Financial Management
Facilitator: Aysel Ergün
Scope:
- Official Accounting and Relevant Sections of Legislation
- Finance 101 (Basic Principles and Rules)
- Developing Financial Policies and Financial Planning
- Preparing/Implementing a Project Budget, Financial Record-Keeping, Reporting, and Financial Planning (example)
Evidence-Based Advocacy: The Data–Information–Evidence Relationship
Facilitator: Derya Göçer
Scope:
- From Data to Information – Research Logic and Design
- From Data to Information – Methods
- Reviewing Good Practices
Digital Advocacy / Activism
Facilitator: Özgür Mehmet Kütküt
Scope:
- Introduction to Digital Communication and Social Media
- Digital Goals and Target Audience
- What Is Digital Content?
- Examples of Digital Content
- Digital Advocacy (Technical)
- Digital Advocacy (Planning and Tactics)
- Digital Advocacy (Tools)
- Workshop Exercise
In addition to the general workshops open to all organisations, dedicated workshops were also organised to meet the needs of smaller groups. Drawing on the needs assessment data, these workshops were designed to offer more tailored responses to organisations’ needs, with a focus on participation and concrete outputs.
Project Design and Implementation
Facilitator: Soner Şimşek
Measuring and Managing Organisational Impact
Facilitator: Emel Uysal
Working with Volunteers Workshop
Facilitator: Nisan Su Tablacı
Campaign Workshop
Facilitators: Pınar İlkiz & Kerem Çiftçioğlu
Monitoring Workshop
Facilitators: Ayça Kurtoğlu & Gökçe Bayrakçeken Tüzel
Reflecting on Policy Papers in Human Rights Organisations
Facilitator: Hatice Kapusuz
Scope: With the participation of Hatice Kapusuz, mentor of STGM’s BİRLİKTE Programme, we discussed the importance of policy papers for organisations and the process of writing them, and held a webinar titled “Reflecting on Policy Papers in Human Rights Organisations.”
How to Design a Successful Podcast?
Facilitator: Mert Koçak
Scope: A discussion was held on what a podcast is as a method for producing and disseminating knowledge. This was followed by a conversation on what to consider regarding content and technical requirements when designing a podcast series. The final part of the webinar was devoted to understanding participants’ needs and discussing their ideas.
Effective Use of Digital Media for CSOs
Facilitator: Kenan Dursun
Scope: Tips and tactics were shared on how organisations can harness the power of digital media to develop their communication strategies and reach a wider audience with their missions. Guidance was provided for organisations looking to build and/or strengthen their presence in the digital world.
Preparing Newsletters and Activity Reports
Facilitators: Balacan Ayar & Ece Koçak
Scope: Methods and tips for preparing newsletters and activity reports were shared.
Support to Rights Webinar: Newsletters and Activity Reports
As part of Support to Rights’ capacity development programme, we held a webinar on 14 December with Hafıza Merkezi’s Communications Coordinator Ece Koçak and Balacan Ayar from the Support to Rights team, on what can be done to prepare newsletters and activity reports for civil society organisations that need them.
Doğruluk Payı with Gül Hür
Facilitator: Gül Hür
Scope: A session was delivered to Support to Rights organisations on what Doğruluk Payı (fact-checking platform) is, why verifying information matters, what to pay attention to when verifying information, and what the ethical boundaries are.
Staff Turnover and Handover Processes in CSOs
Facilitator: Cahide Sarı
Scope: A brief session was delivered to organisations on “the measures that need to be taken to hand over ongoing work during staff departures and to ensure internal and external communication is not disrupted.”
Research for CSOs: From Data to Evidence-Based Advocacy
Facilitator: Derya Göçer
Scope:
- The relationship between data and advocacy
- Research for advocacy – good practices
- Data on a budget
- What is coding used for?
- How can we do coding?
- Coding exercise
- Reports with a strong voice
- Good practices
- Report template
- Disseminating the report
Digital Security and Personal Data Protection Law (KVKK)
Facilitators: Mustafa Çağrı Kurter, Esra Kılıç, Özlem Zıngıl
Scope: Delivered as part of a holistic protection approach for civil society organisations, this Digital Security and KVKK (Personal Data Protection Law) training aims to secure organisations’ digital tools and to build and strengthen safe digital working environments and practices. It covers main topics such as the scope of digital security, KVKK legislation and practices, and digital tools and practices.
- Basic Security
- Securing Accounts
- Home and Public Physical Security
- Internal Communication Tools and Strategies
- Institutional Emergency Preparedness Procedures
- Other Needs, Digital Archiving, etc.
- Basic information on the Personal Data Protection Law (KVKK)
- Privacy notices and explicit consent forms
- Policy documents and guidelines
Financial Management
Facilitators: Merve Nebioğlu, Özkan Bulut
Scope:
- Donations and grants
- Declarations and notifications associations are required to submit
- Accounting procedures and VAT exemption
- Project financial management and reporting
Impact Analysis
Facilitator: Musa Çopur
Scope:
- What Is Impact Analysis?
- Capacity Analysis
- Defining Inputs and Processes (Monitoring) in Impact Analysis
- Indicator setting, data analysis
- Defining and reporting outputs and outcomes
- Results, changes