The Political Finance Academy (PFA)
ABOUT PFA
Welcome to the Political Finance Academy (PFA)
The Political Finance Academy (PFA) is an independent Pan African Capacity Building Center specializing in Political Financing and Democratic Governance. The PFA offers series of training and capacity-building programmes annually aimed at contributing towards transparent political financing, political accountability, and regulation of money in politics. The trainings strengthen Electoral Management Bodies, Political Parties, and Candidates in becoming more competitive and efficient in running politics and elections.
Who is eligible?
The Academy targets politicians, political parties, Electoral Management Bodies, policy makers, campaign agents, researchers, development partners and civil society organizations working on politics and democracy.
Courses Offered
- Fundraising for a successful Election Campaign (Starts – Feb 2023)
Money is essential for a successful election campaign and almost determines the outcome of an election. The difference between well-resourced and under-resourced political parties and candidates in an electoral race is the capacity to mobilize and fundraise for campaign money and other needed resources.
Yet fundraising for resources is not an easy task and remains a challenge to politicians and political parties competing in an election. It is more daunting in countries where laws on campaign financing are non-existent, weak, or not enforced.
In this course, you will learn tips and tricks of fundraising for your election campaigns or the campaigns of your political party or candidate. You will also be introduced to demonstrative tools and tactics of mobilizing resources, mapping funding sources, rules of engagement, the legal and illegal sources of funds, and growing a funding base. The course also focuses on the legal, policy and institutional frameworks that influence campaign finance fundraising in specific country context.
Learning outcome: Participants successfully completing this course should be able to raise campaign finance necessary for a successful election campaign.
Course Objectives
- Understanding the concepts of fundraising for campaigns
- Identifying context-specific fundraising tools and techniques
- Mapping your own potential funding sources
- Design your own campaign fundraising strategy
Target Participants
Political Candidates, Political Parties, Campaign Agents, Politicians, Political Organizations, Policy Makers, Researchers and Civil Society Organizations
Duration – 10 days, 3 hours each day
Course Fee – USD 300
Delivery format – Online
- Managing Campaign finances in a competitive election (Starts – April 2023)
You can avoid the undesirable situation of plunging in debt during and after an election campaign if you equip yourself with skills from experts in campaign finance management. Campaign resources if not properly managed can fail to impact and deliver a good election result.
This course focuses on managing campaign finance resources, campaign finance budgets, and campaign schedules, developing a campaign workplan and monitoring its execution, tracking expenditure, and value for money. You will also learn how to maximize other non-monetary resources, leveraging on non-financial capital. Trainees will learn tactics of running a successful campaign with lesser resources but with maximum impact.
Learning Outcome: Participants successfully completing this course should be able to effectively manage a campaign finance budget and run an election campaign with maximum impact
Course Objectives
- Understanding the concepts of financial management of campaign resources
- Developing campaign work plan and budget
- Design your own campaign budget tracking tools
- Accounting for campaign finance resources
- Managing and accounting for non-monetary resources
Target Participants
Political Candidates, Political Parties, Campaign Agents, Politicians, Political Organizations, Policy Makers, Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs), Researchers, and Civil Society Organizations
Duration – 8 days, 3 hours each day
Course Fee – USD 300
Delivery format – Online
- Fundraising for Political Parties (From Nov 14th 2022 to 2nd Dec 2022)
Running a political party requires resources. There is a misconception that political parties only need resources during an election season. This is wrong! Functional political parties have continuous/routine political activities that require funding. Political Parties must maintain presence, build constituencies and support, nurture leaders who become flag bearers, research and develop alternative policies, organize internal party processes like primaries and delegates conferences, among others. All these activities require resources.
This course focuses on the ways to fund political party activities. It introduces participants to the existing funding models, the legal and policy frameworks, the funding sources, the opportunities and risks in private sector funding, and sustainability of political parties.
Learning Outcome: Political parties are able to finance and sustain planned activities, remain competitive and vibrant
Course Objectives
- Understanding the legal framework of political party funding
- Introducing political party funding models
- Identifying funding sources for political parties
- Self-sustaining funding for political parties
- Marketing and fundraising for political parties
- Mapping unwanted and illegal funding sources for political parties
Target Participants
Political Party Leaders, Political Parties, Political Organizations, Policy Makers, Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs), Researchers, and Civil Society Organizations
Duration – 8 days, 3 hours each day
Course Fee – USD 300
Delivery format – Online
Target Participants
Political Party Leaders, Political Parties, Political Organizations, Policy Makers, Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs), Researchers and Civil Society Organizations
Duration – 8 days, 3 hours each day
Course Fee – USD 300
Delivery format – Online
- Regulating money in electoral process (Starts – June 2023)
Too much money in elections can distort electoral politics by killing electoral competition, bastardising politics, and leading to political corruption. This is even worse in situations where there are no laws to regulate the use of money in electoral politics. Unregulated use of money in electoral processes has exposed political processes and actors to private interests from individuals, private firms, and companies who finance and invest in politics for private gain.
For democracy to thrive, money in electoral processes especially campaigns must be regulated to safeguard the integrity of elections and their outcomes.
This course focuses on the legal and institutional framework necessary for regulating money in election campaigns, the best practices in regulating money in electoral politics, abuse of state resources for partisan politics
Learning Outcome: Participants are able through regulatory and institutional frameworks to regulate the influence of money and abuse of state resources in electoral processes.
Course Objectives
- Understanding the legal framework regulating money in election campaigns
- Identifying best practices in regulating money in politics
- Dealing with Abuse of State Resources for partisan politics
- Monitoring campaign financing in an election
Target Participants
Political Candidates, Political Parties, Politicians, Political Organizations, Policy Makers, Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs), Researchers, and Civil Society Organizations
Duration – 8 days, 3 hours each day
Course Fee – USD 300
Delivery format – Online
- Enhancing Transparency in Political Financing (Starts – March 2023)
Too much money flows in politics and most of its source is not openly known. When political parties and candidates conceal their sources of funds to participate in election campaigns, they become prone to funding using ‘dirty’ money. Dirty money refers to funds from illicit sources including money laundering. Opaqueness in sources of political funding provides fertile ground for incumbent political parties to encroach on public/ state resources to fund party and campaign activities.
This course focuses on the mechanisms that promote transparency in political financing. It introduces participants to the legal and institutional frameworks, internationally acceptable principles and practices that promote openness and transparency in funding political parties. It equips EMBs and Political Parties with the tools to enforce transparency in political financing.
Learning Outcome: Participants are able enforce and adhere to the internationally acceptable standards, principles, and practices that enhance transparency and openness in political financing.
Course Objectives
- Understanding the legal framework enhancing transparency in political financing
- Identifying best practices and tools promoting and enforcing transparency and openness in political funding
- Incorporating internationally acceptable standards, and principles in enhancing transparency in political financing
Target Participants
Political Candidates, Political Parties, Politicians, Political Organizations, Policy Makers, Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs), Researchers, and Civil Society Organizations
Duration – 8 days, 3 hours each day
Course Fee – USD 300
Delivery format – Online