Opportunity #1:
US/Canadian Retirees and Second Homebuyer Market:
- Baja California Sur has a growing number of retired, part-time and permanent residents from the U.S. and
Canada. With an aging baby boomer population in North America and the rising cost of retirement in the
US, there is a growing trend toward retirement overseas. Baja California Sur is well positioned to receive its
share of this market. How Baja California Sur’s nonprofits leverage this unique opportunity is a big question.
- A number of retirees and second home buyers do not speak Spanish and have limited knowledge of how
to do business in Mexico but have a real desire to make a difference.
- Most are very familiar with the US model of charitable giving and want to help.
- Many retirees have experience in running businesses, serving on boards of nonprofits, or giving in the US;
the key is to leverage this for the benefit of Baja-based nonprofits.
- Baja nonprofits need to explore how to expand boards to include more volunteers and/or create advisory
boards or working groups for special projects.
- U.S. retirees could be especially effective in the area of marketing and fundraising with other US potential
donors back in the US.
Opportunity #2:
U.S. Sister City Opportunities and other U.S. service clubs
(Rotary,
Lions, Kiwanis, Optimists)
There are several California cities with sister
city relationships in Baja California Sur and the potential exists
to do so much more in communities across the state in collaboration
with local NGOs. Existing sister city relationships include:
US Sister Cities |
BCS Sister City Pair |
| Hermosa Beach |
Loreto |
| Newport Beach |
Los Cabos |
| El Cajon |
Comondú
(includes Bahía Magdalena) |
| Manhattan Beach |
Santa Rosalía |
| Redondo Beach |
La Paz |
| Seal Beach |
Todo Santos |
|
Opportunities exist to create new sister city relationships for Mulegé, Guerrero Negro, as well as at an individual
ejido level.
As more Canadians and U.S. residents move to Baja California Sur and bring their club affiliations with them,
an opportunity exists to expand existing relationships beyond California, to include British Columbia, Idaho,
Oregon, Washington, and Arizona.
Opportunity #3:
US Convention/Annual Meeting and Cruise Line Market –
Los Cabos, La Paz, Loreto..
A growing number of US companies are organizing
annual meetings in Los Cabos. Los Cabos is also now a regular stop
for many cruise line companies, as are La Paz and Loreto. There
question is how to tap into this market for charitable giving in
Baja California Sur.
Opportunity exists to leverage lessons learned
from the Los Niños program (“Voluntours”) to develop tour packages
which would provide nonprofit organizations with the ability to
raise additional earned income for their operational budgets by
leading tours. Here US volunteers or docents could be a real
help.
Nonprofits with potential to leverage this opportunity include: |
|
| Los Cabos: |
|
| Niños del Capitán, A.C. |
Tour of Mesa Colorado and day care/health
center at Niños del Capitan. |
| Liga MAC |
Tour of community center, visits with Los
Cabos families
|
| ASUPMATOMA |
Turtle tour |
|
| La Paz: |
|
| Fundación Ayuda los Niños de La Paz, A.C. |
Morning tour to provide breakfast to
kids and tour of schools, community |
| Ciudad De los Niños, A.C. |
Vocational tour |
|
| Loreto: |
|
| Grupo Ecologista Antares (GEA) |
Visits to Eco-Center for the Desert and the
Sea and field trips to spot marine mammals |
|
Opportunity #4:
Creation of new homegrown nonprofit capacity
or Mexican NGO Expansion to service growing needs in Baja California
Sur.
As Baja California Sur expands, so too grows
the need for expanded social services, which existing nonprofits are
simply incapable of delivering at this present movement. Just as
other migrants (US/Canadian and Mexican) are coming to BCS to work
or retire, so too lies the opportunity for Mexican nonprofits to
expand their services. Here opportunities exist in the following:
| Program Area: |
Mexican Nonprofits
with potential for BCS Expansion: |
|
| Housing and Community Empowerment |
Esperanza International (Tijuana)
Los Niños (Tijuana) |
| Urban & Regional Planning |
Planificación, A.C. (Tijuana) |
| Drug Prevention programs for schools |
Fundación NEMI, A.C. (Mexico City) |
| Micro-Credit & productive employment |
Procampo (Mexico City) |
| Ciudad De los Niños, A.C. |
Vocational tour |
Migrant community empowerment
& NGO capacity building |
Rostros y Voces (Mexico City) |
| After School Programs Boys & Girls |
Club of Mexico (Tijuana)
Fdn para La Protección de la Niñez (Tijuana) |
| Cultural Enrichment and the Arts |
Mainly Mozart (Tijuana)
ProMúsica, A.C. (Ensenada) |
|
Opportunity #5:
Expand US NGO relationships beyond Environment.
Environmental nonprofits in Baja California Sur
have enjoyed tremendous philanthropic support, technical assistance,
training, and institutional development from U.S.-based partners and
funders. Other programmatic areas have not received this targeted
support and because of that, these issue areas contain substantive
gaps in service provision and nonprofit capacity.
There is an opportunity to leverage lessons
learned in environment to promote more sustainable communities in
areas of education, health, community development and arts and
culture. This includes seeking U.S. and Mexico City-based partners
to provide support, as well as additional financing for new
initiatives.
(next section >>) |
