For many years South Africa’s civil society sector has largely been funded by international sources. However, after the advent of democracy in 1994, it became imperative for civil society organisations (CSOs) to find local resources to sustain their work. The post-apartheid government proposed and developed a number of important and welcome initiatives towards ensuring sources of public funding for social development. There is common concern in the non-profit sector about the relationship between state and civil society, and about state development agency funding practice. Broad concerns have been expressed about sustainable funding, funding sources and funding practices, including from government departments and corporate social investment funds, faith-based funding institutions, international funders and private philanthropists.
The purpose of the FPA is to conduct research into, inter alia, the size and scale of funding to CSOs; good funding practices including grantmaking processes; the administrative capacity of state funding agencies; state and civil society power relations; mutual accountability between grantseekers and grantmakers; decision-making processes related to funding; and the effectiveness of funding relationships as well as exit strategies.
The Funding Practice Alliance (FPA) is a group of organisations that has come together to develop, promote and support effective funding practice within the non-profit sector. The partner organisations are:
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The longer-term aim of the FPA is to use its various initiatives to:
Meeting their Mandates? – research report launch
In 2010 the FPA commissioned a research study to inform future activities and campaigns which promote more effective relationships between the National Lotteries Board (NLB) and its National Lotteries Distribution Trust Fund(NLDTF) and the National Development Agency(NDA), on one hand, and the civil society sector on the other hand.
The research study has been concluded and the research report will be launched in Cape Town on the 30th March 2011.
 Inyathelo |
 CDRA |
 REAP |
 SCAT |
Janine Ogle
FPA Coordinator
Tel: +27 (0)21 465 6981/2
Fax: +27 (0)21 465 6953
Email: Janine@inyathelo.org.za
Website: www.inyathelo.org.za
Address: 2nd Floor Fairweather House, 176 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock 7925
Postal: P O Box 43276, Woodstock 7915 Cape Town
Email us any comments or suggestions. Remember to leave your name and indicate if you are comfortable having your comment attributed to you or if you would like to remain anonymous.
Meeting their Mandates? – research report launch
In 2010 the FPA commissioned a research study to inform future activities and campaigns which promote more effective relationships between the National Lotteries Board (NLB) and its National Lotteries Distribution Trust Fund(NLDTF) and the National Development Agency(NDA), on one hand, and the civil society sector on the other hand.The research study has been concluded and the research report will be launched in Cape Town on the 30th March 2011.
The NDA/ NLDTF research project received several messages of support, interest and encouragement. Some of these are uploaded here – but there is plenty of space for you to leave messages of support, comments, ideas and thoughts. Please share your views!
‘As promised herewith our responses to your questionnaire, which we trust will be of assistance whilst sorting out some of the apparent problems being experienced by these funding agents.’
‘I’d be keen to participate in any further evaluation of the NLDTF and action to improve it.’’
‘I really would like to stay informed on your group`s progress and perhaps become more active in your initiative in the new year, so please keep me on your mailing list! Good luck with all this great work.’
‘Thank you for this survey, it’s very important and looking forward to the process outcomes.’
‘Many thanks for this information. As someone who has tried to access funding from the NDA, I am now considerably greyer and balder than I was…!’
‘I was part of the KZN CSO focus group. This is a really good initiative, thank you!’
‘Excellent reading, thank you for sharing with us.’
‘Thanks so much for this – much appreciated.’
The Atlantic Philanthropies
The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
The Ford Foundation
The Anglo American Chairman’s Fund
Cordaid
The Davies Foundation
The Robert Niven Trust
The R.B. Hagart Trust
Meeting their Mandates? The Research Report on the National Lotteries Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF) and the National Development Agency (NDA)
A research report commissioned and produced by the Funding Practice Alliance, 2011
[click here for free download]
The FPA’s 2011 research focus
Following from its 2010 research focus on the specifics of the National Lotteries Board and the National Development Agency as state funding agencies, the FPA has initiated its 2011 research project on the development of guidelines for good funding practice and good grantee practice. This research concentrates on understanding and documenting practices of funding from local and international foundations, international aid agencies, corporate social investment, private foundations and faith-based organisations. The research will also explore good funding practices including grantmaking processes; mutual accountability; decision-making; long term planning and commitments; the effectiveness of funding relationships and exit strategies.
Research objectives
Research Methodology
1. Literature review
There is relatively limited literature available on funding of civil society organisations (CSO’s) in South Africa. However, rather than providing a full international literature review, this research will nonetheless focus on literature most relevant to South Africa.
Interviews with “social change” CSOs
Together with the interviews with donors, interviews with CSO’s will constitute the core of the research. Interviews will be conducted with twenty CSO’s. The list of organisations to be interviewed are based on organisations proposed by the four FPA partners. The list of CSO’s includes a spread across different sectors (including for example, human rights, access to health, education and so on). It includes organisations that have been in operation for many years, dating back to the peak apartheid years, and the sample will thus provide a comparison of the current situation with that prevailing during apartheid and in the early post-apartheid years. The list will, however, also include some others that are much newer, and will include organisations in the Western Cape, Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
Interviews with donors
Twenty donors will be interviewed. The emphasis will be on donors who are likely to exhibit “good” practice as the aim is to come up with positive examples and recommendations for good practice. However, we are confident that even with this emphasis, we will capture sufficient evidence on examples of poor or negative practice to be able to constitute an appropriate comparison. This would be with respect to particular aspects of the practice of the interviewed donors and through the interviews with CSO’s.
The list of donors will be compiled from lists provided by the FPA partners. In addition, the interviews with CSOs will serve to identify donors who are actual or potential funders of social change activities. In identifying donors for interviews we will attempt to get a spread across different types of donors, including both corporate and non-corporate, South African and international. The researchers will focus on those donors who are likely to be accessible for in-depth interviews, and therefore may not include international funders without local representatives.
The FPA’s 2011 Advocacy focus
Based on its research into the NLB and the NDA as state funding agencies, the FPA will be looking to work with other CSOs towards developing an advocacy campaign during 2011. It is hoped that once the report is launched (30th March 2011) and publicised that other organisations and forums, in addition to the Coalition for Civil Society Resource Mobilisation, will be willing to join together to drive initiatives designed to encourage best practice grantmaking from these two state agencies in particular. Watch this space ….
Other current initiatives to promote effective grantmaking practice and public accountability at the NDA and the NLB
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