The Road Towards NPO Sustainability – Lessons Learnt from Pact Umbrella Grant Management Program Ms Irene Gathinji Organizational Development Advisor, Pact South Africa The Second HIV Capacity Building Partners’ Summit - March 19, 2013

Program Context

Pact in South Africa Since 2004, Pact South Africa provides both funding and capacity development support to NGOs, CBOs and FBOs responding to HIV and AIDS in South Africa, through the Umbrella Grants Management (UGM) Program funded by USAID and PEPFAR. The goal is to help partners strengthen their organisational capacity in order to achieve effective service delivery as well as long-term sustainability. Pact’s partners Pact South Africa has supported 26 prime partners and 90 sub-partners. Currently, implementing close out and supports transition activities with partners who qualified for direct funding by USAID. Our partners ranged from large and established to small and nascent: Largest NGO grant:$11,679,991 Smallest NGO grant:$ 390,235 Largest CBO sub-grant: $ 71,946 Smallest CBO sub-grant: $ 14,129 Partners were/are implementing in all PEPFAR focus areas – Prevention, Treatment, and Care & Support

Partners Spread in all 9 Provinces

Key areas of capacity development Financial – Includes development of policies and procedures, strengthening of internal controls, budgeting and forecasting, management of exchange rate gains and losses, analysis of spending rates and patterns, compliance with rules and regulations, and assistance with annual external audits. Organizational – Includes organizational capacity assessments (OCAs), strategic planning, governance and leadership, HR management especially care worker management and resource mobilization. Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Learning – Includes development of systems for data collection, analysis and reporting; strengthening data quality management, conducting internal data quality audits, verifying and validating partner and sub partner data submissions, development of systems for conducting internal program evaluations, strengthening capacity for using data for decision making. Programmatic/Technical – Includes development of an annual implementation plans, assessment of program quality, identification of and linkage to relevant tools and resources, alignment and engagement with government.

Training, coaching and mentoring Pact uses a combination of tools and approaches to respond to partners’ capacity development needs. Particularly with nascent organizations, targeted mentoring and coaching, coupled with training, has proven more effective in developing an organization’s capacity. Pact’s formal trainings include: USAID Grant Management Financial Management for Finance Staff Financial Management for Non-Financial Managers Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Learning Data Quality Management Program Evaluation NPO Governance Board Orientation Strategic Planning Resource Mobilization & Sustainability Planning Human Resources Management

Sustainability Interventions Sustainability interventions integrated into capacity development and implemented over the life of project Last push through sustainability forums

The Need Sustaining programs beyond USAID/PEPFAR support More beneficiaries in need for support NPOs good at mobilizing community care workers but not able to “compensate” for their time or develop them Little leveraging with like minded organizations Lack of knowledge of sources of funds and funding opportunities especially for CBOs Lack of skills in marketing

Sustainability – Integrated Approach Sustainability as a principle of capacity development Systems and procedures are documented and institutionalized in order to ensure sustained change and reduce reliance on specific leaders or staff members (examples: financial, M&E, HR, governance, etc.) Funding e.g. procure an electronic financial system, hire qualified staff Tailor made training & mentoring to meet the needs of partners Staff trained in trios where high staff turn over is experienced Training prime partner and sub-partners staff together Use of accredited training for care workers to ensure a career path Support in improving program quality and meeting service delivery commitments Technical assistance in program design and implementation planning Program quality assessments and TA to address gaps Training and mentoring in strategic planning and resource mobilization Regular re-assessment of capacity development support and impact with partners

Sustainability Forums 1 national forum = 73 participants 9 provincial workshops = 378 participants Funding information provided by: South Africa Government departments (Treasury, Health, Social Development and Education) Parastatals (National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, Independent Development Trust, National Development Agency, National Youth Development Agency) Private sector (Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, Trilogue, Tshikululu Social investments, Vodacom Foundation, Murray and Roberts, South African Breweries, Old Mutual Foundation, British American Tobacco, Capespan Foundation, Siyakhana Trust/Mercedes Benz, Iqraa Trust and Xstrata Alloys) Bi-lateral donors (USAID, EU, CIDA, US Embassy) International organizations Public private partnership (USAID) Peer learning sessions through the marketplace Skills development sessions (researching donors and proposal writing)

Outcomes - I 10 Pact partners have graduated to USAID direct funding 3 partners in partners in 2012/13 Program evaluations currently being conducted at partner level demonstrate capacity development impact The forums provided a platform for honest debate on the question of sustainability in the context of HIV and AIDS sector with a number of questions arising from the debate When we talk sustainability, what are we talking about? Sustainability for whom? Inequality in funding between urban and rural organizations and experienced national organizations and nascent CBOs An expectation on the part of government for NPOs to have an exit strategy and be less dependent on government funding An expectation on the part of NPOs that government should take full responsibility of care Clear need for mentoring of nascent CBOs

Partners utilized over 10 funding opportunities through the forums 27 partners have received funding as a direct result of the forums Follow-up support and mentoring in proposal writing e.g. facilitating design discussion, commenting on draft proposals, providing guidelines for meeting compliance requirements for complex applications such as USAID Nearly 2,000 jobs were created, mainly through IDT. Knowledge sharing Market place sessions enabled partners to market signature programs, materials and tools Participants could wander from table to table, learning about the tools and approaches used by other organizations and explore ways of it being utilised in their programs Outcomes - II

Lessons Learnt - I Sustainability can mean different things in different contexts. The ability to maintain a certain level of quality and quantity of services despite changing circumstances Ability to attract and retain staff / technical capacity Ability to innovate in both products and technology as innovation serves as a catalyst for change (transformation) Ability to design programs that respond to government laws and priorities, beneficiary needs and best practices/standards Good governance and leadership / “reputation risk” Keeping focus – not trying to be all things to all people Financial diversity and long term viability Long term perspective – not a quick process

Lessons Learnt - II Working on sustainability is on-going process that needs concerted and consistent effort Funding is but one component of sustainability and the organizations that are able to secure funding do so because they have addressed other aspects of sustainability NPOs partnerships for complementary skills and approaches is an emerging sustainability strategy Effective service delivery is the best marketing tool for the organizations Credibility of the organization is crucial in ensuring sustainability

Thank you! “We have received funding from PEPFAR Community Grant Program and IDT (Independent Development Trust) and are expecting from Lotto (National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund). Thanks to the workshop that Pact conducted and informed us of the opportunities”--- CBO Director in Limpopo providing feedback on outcome of sustainability workshops.