What sustainable strategies can strengthen African NGOs’ resilience amid dwindling resources?
Question submitted by: Afolabi Faramade, Executive Director, Journalists Against Poverty, Nigeria
One lesson I have learned from working with NGOs in Liberia and supporting organisations across Africa is that resilience is built before a funding crisis, not after.
There is a French expression: « Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir » – it is better to prevent than to cure. For NGOs, that means looking at financial and organisational risks while things are still relatively stable.
When a major donor announces that a programme is ending, that is usually the worst time to start thinking about sustainability. Calculate your funding dependency. If one donor provides 60-70% of your annual income, everybody in the organisation should know that. Management and the board should discuss it.
Second, build a real fundraising pipeline. I have seen organisations become extremely busy whenever a grant opportunity appears, only to discover that their organisational profile is outdated, policies are missing, results data are scattered, and nobody knows who owns the proposal process. That is a readiness problem.
An NGO I supported in Sierra Leone, for example, had good programme experience but needed to organise its institutional documents, evidence, donor positioning and funding pipeline more systematically. Once organised, the fundraising conversation became more focused.
The same principle applies across Africa. Your organisation should answer quickly: Who are we? What problem do we solve? What evidence do we have? Why should a funder trust us? What exactly are we asking for?
Third, build relationships before you need money. Don’t introduce yourself to a donor three days before a deadline.
Fourth, strengthen partnerships. A smaller Ugandan NGO may not have the systems or scale to lead a $2 million consortium, but it may have something a larger organisation needs: local legitimacy, technical expertise or community access.
Finally, control costs. Don’t build permanent organisational expenses around temporary project income.
Another French expression comes to mind: « On ne met pas tous ses œufs dans le même panier » – you don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Resilience isn’t simply having more money. It is having options: several income sources, relationships, evidence, capable people, systems and the discipline to adapt when the environment changes.
(This answer was provided by Julius Gamy, a Liberian NGO fundraising strategist and proposal development specialist)
