Reflections from the Ongoing APN Assembly: Investing in Infrastructure and Movements for African Philanthropy

At the launch of our Shifting Power to the People Strategy in 2022, we decided to have a strategic priority (SP5) that focuses on sustainability. As leaders, we abdicate our primary responsibility if we do not deliberately think about the future of our organisations. Reflections on how we can achieve sustainability at ZimRights led us to join the Africa Philanthropy Network (APN) earlier this year. Thanks to the facilitation of a wonderful ZimRights Alumnus Tarisayi. As fate would have it, APN’s 2024 Assembly was scheduled to take place in Zimbabwe at the beautiful Victoria Falls and ZimRights is one of the host organisations. We have the privilege of welcoming over 200 APN delegates from over 29 African countries for this year’s APN Assembly.

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Today is day 3 of the Assembly. ?I was greatly privileged to be on the opening panel focusing on ?????????????????? ???? ???????????????????????????? ?????? ?????????????????? ?????? ?????????????? ????????????????????????. The panel featured Mamo Mohapi of the Mott Foundation, Bongiwe Ndondo of the Hlanganisa Community Fund for Social & Gender Justice, and Isabella Luz ????? of Brazil’s Instituto Procomum, moderated by my good friend Evans Okinyi of East Africa Philanthropy Network-EAPN.?

My reflections focused on four things:

a.???? Identity, nature and infrastructure – Many organic movements defy our rigid definitions. There is need for those who seek to support movements to let movements define themselves beyond rigid funding frameworks, logframes and textbook definitions. If we box movements in these frameworks, we risk choking them and delegitimising them from the communities they are meant to serve. Funding partners and other communities of solidarity must find flexible approaches to accompanying movements.

b.??? The politics of resources and transformation of partnerships - I argue, based on experience with many organisations and movements, that if an organisation is dependent on external funding, its independence is compromised, and the relationship is not balanced. External funding is not bad, but a movement must not only depend on that but must innovate and build independent sources of funding. Communities must strive to build infrastructures that enable community members to make equal if not more contribution to their mandate than external funders otherwise the relationship remains imbalanced and potentially exploitative.

c.???? Shifting the mindset towards community philanthropy – Linked to the above, there is need to acknowledge the wealth and richness of our communities. They are not only recipients. They are offering more but our practices make their contributions invisible or appear inferior. We sometimes sabotage their contributions and willingness to contribute more through our big ego cultures. For example, when we go to communities displaying big logos of big global funders, and then later ask the members to pay their subscriptions, what do we think will happen? Many communities, because of the big ego cultures, already believe that that NGOs are rich and should be giving and not receiving community contributions. We need to develop systems that facilitate a shift in the culture to acknowledge and catalyse community philanthropy and keep our egos in check.

d.??? Community leadership development – My big brother Brian Kagoro addressed the Assembly in a powerful Ignite Talk in which he said something profound. Brian said, “We, not NGO laws, have become the biggest obstacles to progress because we are not producing knowledge, we are not producing transformation.” All the good ideas and innovations in the room on how change must happen are doomed if we do not intentionally develop broad transformational leadership in the sector inclusive of our grassroots communities. Good activism does not simply translate to good leadership. We must be deliberate.

Thanks, APN, for giving us this platform to reflect and share ideas. Jim Kwik said it.

“If knowledge is power, then learning is our superpower.” It has been three days of transformational learning. But as Bishop Makumbe encouraged us at the SADC People’s Summit. “Well done is better than well said.”?

Let’s go ahead and do it.