Danida Fellowship Centre’s expectations and support 

Expectations of local alumni networks

• Level of formality: The extent to which your local alumni network is (or has plans to become) formally incorporated is not of importance to Danida Fellowship Centre. In some countries the process of registering as an independent entity can be cumbersome and comes with a host of expectations related to financial governance and reporting that must be managed by alumni over time. This is why some networks opt for a more informal approach and form a coordinating team or steering committee, which has no legal obligations, whilst others set up more formal executive boards as part of the governance framework required by law (i.e. in situations where the network is registered as an independent entity with the relevant authorities).
• Adherence to democratic values: From Danida Fellowship Centre’s perspective, the most important thing to be aware of is the expectations that all local networks adhere to the principles and values of democracy, transparency and inclusivity and that all coordinating team/board members are based in their home country to ensure that the network remains rooted in the local context of its members and key local stakeholders.
• The network coordinating team/board: Danida Fellowship Centre expects a minimum of 3 alumni to form a coordinating team/board for the local alumni network and that the roles of a central network Coordinator/Chair and a Treasurer are incorporated into this group. It is up to each local alumni network to decide what other roles may need to be defined. Note that DFC also expects the coordinating team/board to nominate a DFC contact person, which is usually the Coordinator/Chair. 
• Annual meetings and elections: Related to the previous two points, we expect all networks to host annual meetings/annual general meetings, including regular elections of the coordinating team/board.
• Inclusive communications platform: Already in the early stages of network formation, we like to see the development of an open and inclusive communications platform, for example on Facebook, Whatsapp or Linkedin, which allows all members to share information with each other concerning activities, useful resources, news etc. This is also where the initial working group and later the coordinating group/board can share updates from their meetings with the wider network membership as part of maintaining an inclusive dialogue around network development and plans for the future.

Support to local alumni networks

Danida Fellowship Centre supports local coordinating teams/ boards to both establish and manage their local networks. This includes:

• Online toolkit with guidance and advice for local alumni networks, available here on the DAN portal (see left-hand menu for content)
• Financial support to local events and meetings through regular calls for Danida Alumni Activity Grants (please keep an eye on the News section of this website for the latest call) and also the opportunity for local network Board Members to apply for Annual General Meeting grants.
• Facilitating introductions between local alumni networks and Danish stakeholders, as well as other relevant organisations that are partners of Danida Fellowship Centre.
• We facilitate experience exchange and skills development opportunities for representatives of these groups. An example is the local network workshop that we hosted in Denmark in 2018.

We are also happy to answer any questions you may have. Please contact us at alumni@dfcentre.dk.