Developing Donor Support: Selected Ways & Means for African Non-profits
Authors: Thuynsma Peter 
Published: September 2024

This book is made up of two sections: a 7-part narrative of the fund development process, and a set of 43 downloadable templates that are hyperlinked to pertinent sections in the text. The sections complement each other, but they can also be treated as distinct and separate. This means that you can choose to read the work as a tutorial OR to concentrate on either section alone. Do realise that the templates are intended to make developing donor funds more systematic and efficient – they are not short-cuts. They are practical tools to help drive the process from planning and project design, through the imperative stewardship programme and into the communication strategies that underwrite the progression. Each may be accessed by clicking on the link icon wherever it appears in the text or by download by using the QR code on page 12. Templates can also be downloaded here as a zip file. The text is essentially a storyboard of the fund development process. It follows the stages, the techniques, and the tools involved in attracting and appreciating donor support that both makers and managers should find useful. But instead of being another macro journey through the duties of a fundraiser, this is more of a micro look at the individual responsibilities and descriptions. The variety of checklists, models, 70 accompanying illustrations, along with the downloadable templates help the reader navigate this journey. The techniques outlined are related to a conventional system of actions that move from framing a project, to finding donors, costing, implementing, and appreciating the benefactor. The downloadable templates are practical tools to help drive the process along from planning and project design, through the imperative stewardship programme, into the communication strategies that underwrite the progression. The list of contents is deliberately extensive to make it easy to navigate to any section without laboriously having to scroll through the e-booklet. I would, however, recommend that readers who require a more comprehensive look at the whole process, turn to Jill Richie’s excellent and detailed overview in her Fundraising for Non-profits: A guide to starting and resourcing NPOs in South Africa. Developing donor support is an extensive undertaking and each stage of the process deserves recognition. In most cases the effort is only measured by the level of support that is raised, but tackling the tasks systematically should account for all the effort that practitioners put into their work. I have found that these efforts are efficiently served and recognised when tethered to a business framework. This publication hints in several places at the use of the renowned Balanced Scorecard system (BSC) to account for the financial, donor relations, internal systems, and learning/innovation dimensions of developing donor support. The title page illustration reflects the BSC ecosystem – a system that helped coordinate my work as much as it helped develop my colleagues’ confidence, competence, and motivation. Although I incorporated the basic principles of the BSC, I cannot advocate adopting the system without experienced assistance. My reference to this regimen is merely subliminal in the hope that fund developers will explore it or turn to some similar business process (for example, Sustainable Planning) to help discipline their invaluable efforts.