We treasure mutual trust and open communication with our grantee partners, this kind of practice enhances projects to achieve their goals in empowering women and girls and in making social change for gender equality. Our 2012-2013's grant projects are half way through, and I have just completed the mid-term evaluation with our grantees. Here, allow me to share with you 3 significant observation that I have noticed which inspired us for our future strategizing and positioning our role as funders and as changemakers:

1) Mutual help multiplies strength and brings greater impact

No matter the organization is a mutual help organization or not, most of the projects we granted have mutual help element. Sisterhood matters. Women having the similar experience or background, talk more freely about their stories and listen to each other's stories empathetically. Their sharing is useful and practical as it comes from their lived experiences. There is no hierarchy amongst them. Learning and seeing other sisters can, they too have the confident and strength to face up to the challenges.

The chair-person of Hong Kong Domestic Workers General Union told me, "when I share my experiences and challenges of being a postnatal home carer, I feel the support from other sisters. This makes me have the strength to develop this as my career." Another core member also told me, "My successful rate of inviting sisters to join the union is higher than the staff!"

2) Providing support other than just financial resources, realizing a genuine partnership with our grantees

After few years of grant-making practice, I came to realize that supporting our grantees' organizational capacity building is crucial for their sustainability. Our supportive effort includes:

- Introducing potential donors to our grantees – empowering grantees' access to resources
Since we give priority to grant small, least resourceful and not well known women's organizations, they are either grassroots or self-help women's groups, most of them have little knowledge nor access to donors. Through our networking effort, we introduce our grantees to potential donors (individuals as well as institutional donors) and strengthen their capacity in accessing more resources. In the past, we successfully introduced our grantees to Global Fund for Children and some individual donors who have the passion on specific issues and groups.

- Bridging between international funders and our grantees
International funders especially women's funds who have the interest in supporting women's rights groups in Hong Kong may not have adequate and first-hand local information. HER Fund will play a role as information giver to support their grant application process.

- Mobilizing non-financial resources for our grantees
Apart from financial grant we made to our grantees, we also mobilize non-financial resources for strengthening the capacity of our grantees. For example, seeing the need of our grassroots grantees to improve or to build an organized internal financial system, we mobilize professional volunteers to assist them and to give advice to them. Our grantee partners Women Poverty Concern Group and New Arrival Women League was benefitted from this support.

3) Continuous grant effort makes greater impact of change

HER Fund’s capacity to make grant largely relies on the fundraising performance of each year. That is why, we are unable to make multiple-year grants and can only afford to commit one-year grant. However, we dare to make a difference if we see the need! In our current grant cycle (2012-13), we continued to grant 6 previous projects which had initiated in 2011 with our grants. We see greater impact made in this half year, as their effort in the first year of our grant already laid solid foundation to empower women and girls. For example, Association for the Advancement of Feminism initiated an action research on "Situation of Female Bodily Labour" in the first year grant. They spent one whole year to complete the research, advocated by AAF for legal protection against sexual harassment to female bodily labor. This year, based on the interviewee contacts that they have made in last year's survey, they are able to organize young female bodily laborers to join in their concerned group.

Persistency to support women's effort make changes sustainable!

Judy Kan, Programme Officer

Up to now, 90% of our local donations come from one-off basis which allow us to give grants on a barely annual basis, only 10%, which is $4,500 each month, came from regular monthly donation.

Women's empowerment and social changes to advance women's rights do not just happened, they come from persistency and commitment to make the change. In the past, we see grassroots' women's organizations and new women's projects developed and grew from our seeding small grants. After 2 to 3 years of continuous small grant support from HER Fund, organizations and projects were able to develop their capacity to source bigger funds from established foundations to sustain their work.

Before the new year of 2013, our target is to increase from $4,500 to $10,000 per month from regular monthly donation ( 20% of the total local fundraising budget ) which allow us to commit in a stable and continuous manner to 4 women's projects / organizations in our annual year grant-making. We need 55 donors who are willing to donate $100 / month to achieve this goal! We will share their work progress by e-news, email, annual report, grantee visit, etc. after you become our monthly donor!

DONATE NOW!

We are honored to be the beneficiary of Charitable Choice, Hong Kong's first online interactive charity gift card platform, dedicated to raising money for local charities in an original and meaningful way. You can purchase an e-card at their webpage, and choose a designated amount as a donation. Gift receiver then can donate to HER Fund by choosing "HER Fund" as the beneficiary.

Now, they launch the retail gift cards at Pacific Coffee. It will make charity gifting even easier. The gift cards are available in HK$100 and HK$500 denominations, each with a design that is modern, contemporary and uniquely Hong Kong.

Christmas is coming! The is a perfect time to give your love to your friends as well as the marginalized and grassroots women.

Are you ready to show your talent on stage? You have a chance NOW!

"Talent Performance Show 2013" is now ready for you to show off your talent, and give your support to marginalized women. How can you miss it?

Date: 10th March, 2013 (Sunday)
Time: 2:00pm
Venue: Y-Theatre, Youth Square, Chai Wan
Minimum sponsorship: HK$3,000 / team

Each team will have at least 15 FREE tickets. You can invite your friends to enjoy the show with us!
Click here to download the registration form and Join us NOW!

Enquiry: 2794-1100 / info@herfund.org.hk

On 4 November, a Saturday afternoon, HER Fund's donors and supporters got together to visit our grantee, Project Be, a very dedicated organization runs purely by professional volunteers to help foreign domestic workers (FDWs) to achieving economic empowerment.

Doods and Joy, the professional volunteer from Project Be, explained that migrant workers' financial problems could cause possible vulnerabilities. For example, if a worker was in debt, then she might become highly dependent on her job and not dare to voice out when she faces unreasonable working conditions and even maltreatment.

George and Lani are domestic helpers and shared how they went bankrupt after coming to Hong Kong due to poor financial management and the easy access to loans from the bank. They joined the financial literacy training and find it very useful to them and their family. Project Be does not just provide financial literacy training workshops, but also collaborates with CARD Foundation, which is based in the Philippines, to make sure migrant workers and their family work together and strive for a well-planned future with better living.

In order to promote the graduates to help other FDWs, they are recruited into the "training the trainer" workshops, which HER Fund funded. They became voluntary teachers after the training, and teach as well as share their experiences with other migrant workers. Tess, a potential trainer, described herself as a shy person, but after the training, her confidence was improved, and she could easily understand her students since she is also a FDW.

One of the participating donors shared after the visit, she felt the project is especially meaningful because it is through self-help, FDWs are mutually enhancing each other’s capacities. She felt that being as the majority in society, Hong Kong local people should open themselves and take initiative to care for the migrant workers, because the fact is we need each other in our lives and we are living in the same community.

This year the theme of our annual report is She DARES because both HER Fund and our grantee partners are dared to take the challenge and dared to stand firm for the human rights of marginalized women who are systematically declined of their rights, opportunities and resources due to discriminatory social practice. Last year, HER Fund took many daring steps to support women to defend their rights to safe work, rights to be free from violence, rights to body autonomy and rights to participate in politics. We are proud of our grantees, their courage and determination to help each other and through collective strengths, they dare to make changes for themselves and for a better society. Please take your time to read their stories shared in this annual report.

Please click here to download the audited report.

HER Fund is delighted to announce that our Executive Committee Members for Year 2012/13 elected at our AGM meeting are as followed:

Chair-person: Ms. Mary Ann King
Vice-Chairperson: Ms. Fong Man-ying
Hon. Secretary: Ms. Fung Pui Kee, Brigit
Hon. Treasurer: Ms. Lam Ying-hing
Executive Member: Ms. Lam Chi Chung, Irene; Ms. So Yuen Man, Phoebe; Ms. Cheung Hiu Wah, Mandy

We are delighted to have a new Executive Committee Member, Ms. Mandy Cheung Hiu Wah, to join us and contribute her knowledge to us. In the coming year, with the leadership of our young, energetic and committed Executive Committee members, HER Fund continues to strive her best in building resources for the advancement of women's rights and empowerment.