Open Letter to Funders; Grant-Makers and Government
Dear Sir/Madam
The combined effects of unrealistic expectations and pressure on nonprofits to conform to expectations of low overheads, under investment of infrastructure and underpaid staff result in the perpetuation of the vicious nonprofit starvation cycle. Hence, NPO’s like Elizayo will be increasingly underfunded as funders expect us to do more with less.
What do you as Non-Profit do:
- If you have a product and service of illustrated value and no funds to deliver it to the community. [designed and delivered by Experts – refer to what makes us different]
- If you know your service and product will address a confirmed and widespread need, but your ability to deliver your service is severely curtailed.
- If the design and delivery of your service/product is contained within a Human Being - and no funder/Grant-maker wants to fund the Human. [If you had robots rendering the service the funder will most probably fund it as a direct project cost]
- When funders blithely say they do not fund overhead and running costs – and the so-called overhead costs [transport, telephone etc.] is a tool [like puppets, manuals, tents etc.] to render your services.
- When you as NPO apply business principles with regards to Efficiency; Effectiveness and Consumer satisfaction [and impact]. And then you realize that a double standard applies as far as NPO’s are concerned regarding the balance of relevant business principles.
o A CEO of a company that performs outstandingly are paid outrageous salaries and bonuses. However, this business principle is simply ignored when applied to NPO’s - Non-Profits Leaders are paid a pittance. This makes it impossible for NPO’s to attract and retain leaders that can make their organisation’s the be-all and end-all, that funders, governments and clients require. This leader is seen as an overhead or running cost. [At Elizayo we believe that the biggest threat to Non-Profits in South Africa is the lack of appropriate leadership-we rate this higher than lack of funding]
o A Company that produces Cars pays staff [human beings] that produces parts/or put parts together [certain parts are automated and runs with electricity – overhead or running costs]. An Advertising Company pays staff for their creative minds, their intellectual property. [that’s inside the human being]. All of this is a big no-no regarding NPO’s according to funders and Grant makers.
- If Government does supply subsidies for salaries of staff - but at a substantial lower rate than their own staff-which makes it impossible to retain experienced staff. Your service delivery becomes a permanent stop-go process as staff are continuously recycled and impact becomes an unattainable objective.
- If you cannot get funders and Grant-makers to understand that due to the high level of human cerebral input in rendering your service, their funding model makes no sense. If you provide participants with a fact-sheet during a group session – they will pay for the paper and the printing of the fact-sheet as a direct project Cost. They will however not pay for the time and professional input of a human of putting content on the paper. [So, we are left with empty sheets].
- If one of the first things that funders ask you when you complete an application for funding, is how you are going the sustain the project if their funding stops. Government and the NLC [a main funder in SA] also glibly say NPO’s must not become dependent on their funding. [Lotto even has a cooling off period – as if NPO’s needs a cooling off period from income!]. What do you do? It’s ground-hog day for NPO’s – you keep on finding new income sources.
- If when trying to fund new income sources-i.e. funders- you find yourself delving into a secret society. Many funders do not tell you how to apply, where to apply and for what you can apply. Some have sections in their integrated annual reports stating what they gave funds for in the past year- many refer to their social and ethical committee being responsible for CSI without any additional information. As NPO you are left with the impression that this is deliberate obfuscation – it makes it easier to say your application does not align with their focus.
- If many funder states that they do not accept unsolicited applications- they source themselves. So, the organisation’s with a high profile or the flavor of the day, tend to be repeat beneficiaries.
- If you approach an International Company with a base in SA. The International Company has a Page on their Website for CSI and indicate what and where they spend. Many SA affiliate pages have nothing. Or if they reflect CSI spend, they seem to get confused with investing in the general SA community and spending that is required from them in terms of SA legislation and King IV. [i.e. say they do environment CSI – then refer to cleaning up the impact of their mining operations; say they have skills CSI- and refer to their inhouse staff upskilling and training]
- When you try and get alternative income streams. You may try and start an income generating endeavor- do you have the start-up capital? can you afford to pay somebody to manage it? [Remember you don’t get funding for salaries – so you already do the fundraising, Human Capital development, financial governance, monitoring and evaluation etc.]. Should you market your NPO more vigorously so you can get funding from the community. But wait – you don’t get funding for marketing. And you live in the most unequal society in the world where 90% of the community has no money to spare.
- If you live in the most unequal society in the World where access to quality services is dependent on your financial situation. Where 10 % of the population holds 71% of the net wealth – and the bottom 60% holds 7%. The Balance of these extremes has apparently made South Africa a middle-income country – which allowed many funders and Grant-makers to remove South Africa as a priority country. Do you not understand?
- What do you do if the relevant SA Government Department seem to have no clear plan for the development of the NPO/NGO role in South Africa. Where the number of registered Non-Profits has doubled since 2011 [since 2011 more than 10 000 per year registered, and the most recent years touching on 15 000]. Many Established organisation’s claim the startup of thousands of organisation’s per year is because some are seeing this as job creation or income generation. This certainly seems true for some. However, the majority only want to address a pressing need in their community that nobody else seems to be addressing. But Minister -This is not the answer for the overwhelming social problems that face our country. This splintering of social services into a myriad of organisation’s cannot be the answer – and it is also not viable. The Level of Duplication is inconceivable, the level of sustainability negligible.
And I can continue.