Our Approach

Our work is….

• Child and Family Centered: While our programs focus on improving children’s well-being, the primary strategy for achieving this is strengthening the ability of parents, caregivers and households with orphans to provide for their children’s basic needs.
  
• Sustainable and Community-based: Become invests in innovative ideas to find effective, resourceful and community-based solutions to support the welfare of orphans. Funded projects must be income-generating and self-supporting to ensure long-lasting sustainable impact.
• Empowering Communities: With high levels of engagement, participation and leadership, communities take ownership over projects. The communities we serve design, plan and implement the projects.
• Rights-based: Become works with communities to build programs that help vulnerable children gain access to basic human rights. The rights-based approach we employ creates a foundation upon which children are better equipped with the tools and the knowledge to aim high and achieve their goals.
• Integrated and Holistic:  Become approaches its work in a holistic manner. We function with the understanding that in order for children to thrive, they must have access to a safe living space, education, and an opportunity to pursue higher education and career training in the future. 
• Focused: While we pursue a holistic child support approach, we ensure prioritized, focused interventions that address children’s most critical care needs.
• Strengthening our Partners: Increasing the organizational and personal capacities of our partners through trainings and skills transfer is an important part of Become’s work.
• Adhering to a 100% Donation Policy: 100% of donations received from private donors go to projects. None of the donations received from private donors are used for administrative or overhead costs. Become’s staff is comprised entirely of volunteers.



Levels of Intervention

Working with Local Partners 

Creating solutions to improve the lives of orphans and vulnerable children takes strong partnerships and innovative ideas to find effective, resourceful and community-based solutions. To this end, we partner with local grassroots communities in developing countries.

Partnership Criteria

In evaluating community-based organizations with which we partner, we use the following guidelines:

• The organization has strong connections to the community 
• The local community served is involved in planning and implementing projects
• The organization's governance and leadership structures are solidly in place
•  There is a sound management structure 
• The organization is able to manage funds
• Women have leadership roles
•  Beneficiaries do not face discrimination (including ethnicity, gender, religion, etc.)
• Funded project must be income-generating and self-supporting

Field visits

Before we make a partner and project decision, one or more of our field representatives visit the potential partner and the community to see the organization’s work first-hand, and to establish a solid relationship.

Field representatives assess:

• The organization’s ability to implement the project 
• The organization’s governance and leadership structure
• The financial management systems
• The budgets and programmes
• Its connection to the community

The field representative meets with programme staff, members of the board, and conducts one-on-one meetings with beneficiaries. The field visit is also an important opportunity to foster an open, trusting and responsive relationship.