There’s an increasing sense of concern, disconnect, desperation and even hopelessness among the stakeholders that make up South Africa’s humanitarian sector – and with good reason. The sector is facing numerous challenges that not only hamper its current efficiency but also threaten its future sustainability.
No one can argue that 2020 and 2021 have been difficult years. Even more so for those of us that work in the humanitarian ecosystem. Not only did we have to abandon well-crafted long-term strategies to respond to the human crises resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, but we had to change the way we operate and collaborate. Much has been …
We are entering a new world order and future blockbusters and documentaries about the past will probably refer to the eras before coronavirus (BC) and after coronavirus (AC). Whatever your worldview, it is now clear from the world’s collective experiences and expectations of the future that it will be about restructuring the economic, environmental and social order in which business, …
The new year always brings new hope, and trend forecasters are quick to join the cause to predict positive future scenarios. However, our research indicated that the social investment and development sector remains in turmoil.
Because I’ve been working in the social investment and development sector for more than 20 years, sometimes it feels like I’ve seen everything. Yet, whilst I get impatient with the time it takes to see meaningful change occur, I’m amazed at the resilience of the sector—to beat the odds time and again. What is starting to get to me though, …
The Next Generation Research Report 2020, Disruption with Impact dived deep into how the development sector, and how the funding of NGOs, is changing. Some of the most significant pressures that organisations face is the demand to become more professional and business-like in their operations. This in turns put greater emphasis on adopting cutting-edge evaluation, incorporating innovative technology and putting …
Increased complexityThere is no doubt as the world changes, so we will have to reimagine the way philanthropy, grantmaking and corporate social investment is conducted. An intimidating range of forces—globalization, a changing ecosystem, economic crisis, and ubiquitous connective technologies, to name just a few—are changing both what social investors is called upon to do and how philanthropists, grantmakers, donors and …
Social and developmental enterprises like NGOs are increasingly struggling to get funding for their projects and programmes – and with good reason. While everything else in the world – also in the social investment arena – is changing, too many NGOs are still stuck in their old ways, expecting better and different results while doing the same things for years. …
We’ve had news to this effect from various fronts, but we now have good reason to believe that 2018 – and beyond – will be Africa’s time. Globally, the disruptions, challenges and tensions of the past few years will continue, but there is hope for better economic growth worldwide. Even more so in Africa, where exponential growth is expected in …
2 April 2018 Social and impact investors no longer just want to know that they’ve attempted to change the world for the better. They want to know if their investment meant something. They want detailed evidence that their investment led to large-scale, significant impact, whether it contributed to sustainable change, and if there was significant return on their investment. They …