Why Fundraising Is the Lifeline of Cameras For Girls
As the founder and executive director of Cameras For Girls, my job is about far more than teaching photography and building programming. It’s about building a movement that challenges gender inequality, gives women the tools to succeed in male-dominated industries, and sustains itself through a community of donors who believe in our vision.
We’re a Canadian charity working in Uganda and Tanzania, and hopefully soon across Africa. But to grow this work, train more young women, and create jobs, we need ongoing, reliable funding. And that’s where fundraising comes in, not as an afterthought but as our lifeline.
Amina teaching the class during a workshop in Uganda, 2025.
What We Raise Funds For
Every dollar we raise supports critical areas of our work:
Training young women in photography, ethical storytelling, and business skills through a year-long program.
Providing cameras to each student so they can learn, practice, and eventually earn an income from this tool. Did you know the lack of a camera is a gender-based barrier to employment?
Building our Job Creation Program, which connects graduates with paid work in journalism, communications, and digital media.
Capacity Building and Hiring staff so that as a one-woman-led organization, I’m not doing this alone forever.
Expanding our reach with a vision to work in 7 African countries and train 30,000 women by 2030.
Most importantly, behind these numbers are real young women across Africa whose lives are being transformed—gaining skills, securing paid work, and using their voices to overcome poverty and challenge the barriers they've long faced.
What People Get Wrong About Nonprofits Like Ours
Many people assume we receive government funding. We don’t.
Cameras For Girls runs on the generosity of individuals, private foundations, and a few corporate gifts. That means every grant, every dollar, and every donor conversation counts.
As a solopreneur, I write most of our grants myself. With an industry average of 1 in 10 being funded, this is an incredibly time-consuming and emotionally draining process. While I continue to write them, it’s clear that grants alone can’t carry us forward.
Hiring a fractional fundraiser to support our grant writing efforts is critical so I can focus on building Cameras For Girls across the continent rather than fundraising.
Why Monthly Giving Matters
Throwing all our eggs into one basket is not a great way forward, so we’re focused on building our Monthly Giving Program, The Creators.
Monthly donors are the backbone of our sustainability. They give us the ability to:
Plan, with our workshops in mind.
Pay our trainers, volunteers and future staff.
Cover camera and equipment costs.
For instance, if 500 people donated just $25/month, we could train and support over 200 women a year and give them what they need to build lasting careers in media.
Why Capacity Building Is Not Optional—It’s Essential
Running an international nonprofit without full-time staff is not sustainable. We’ve proven the impact. Now, we need to build the infrastructure to support that impact in the long term.
Capacity building allows us to:
Hire a small but mighty team in both Canada and Africa.
Coordinate programs more efficiently.
Develop more partnerships with African media and universities.
Build sponsorship partners to fund our programs.
Focus more energy on strategy, impact, and growth, not just survival.
Our Vision Is Bold, and We Need You With Us
We envision a future where 30,000 women across 7 African countries use photography and ethical storytelling to challenge gender inequality by 2030.
We’re already on our way. Over 80% of our graduates are working in media, photography, and communications. But to scale this success, we need consistent, reliable, and rooted-in-community support.
If you believe in:
✅ Giving young women a chance to tell their own stories
✅ Challenging gender inequality through skill-building
✅ Creating sustainable jobs, not charity dependency
Then join us. Become a monthly donor or make a one-time gift to help us hire, train, and build for the future.
Or
Support Our Job Creation Program
At Cameras For Girls, we don’t just take pictures—we frame futures.