I spend much of my time stewarding donations. One could argue that it is my primary role. As the leader of a social impact organisation, we are tasked with maximising the social return for every Rand or Dollar we receive. I have noticed two distinct approaches that most of our funders adopt.
Type 1:
Let’s call these donors ‘transactors’. These donors are often quite pressed for time. They donate largely under external pressure, such as compliance requirements, legislation, or stakeholder expectations. Often, this results in a frantic search for a credible impact partner who can deliver a good enough headline in the company paper, a photo op for socials, and all the tax paperwork to make it as painless as possible.
It’s super cost-effective in the short term. It may be frustrating for teams on both ends, but only for 2 weeks of the year. So, if getting it done is the objective, transactions are ideal. If this is you, now is the time to start engaging with potential providers. You should consider us, we are great at leveraging 18A donations for tax efficiency and maximising BEE spend across categories.
Type 2 funders are an altogether different animal.
Type 2:
These donors are ‘strategic partners’. They treat social impact as a business unit. It is almost never a core function, so it makes mega sense to outsource. Like any outsourced cost centre, any responsible business wants to maximise value. The best type 2 funders’ approach incorporates several key criteria.
1. Trust
A single word with a whole lot of substance. This is a multi-dimensional acid test. They consider track record, accountability and transparency, the quality of the leadership team, and the quality of the theory of change.
2. Vision Amplifiers
The whole point of outsourcing is to multiply energy. You want to harness a second horse to your carriage to increase the pulling force 4-fold. (Yes, that is a thing.) This only happens when the horses are pulling in the same direction. If you are doing the work to craft a partnership, find one that amplifies where you are going and what you hope to achieve.
3. Time
These funders get that you are building a team. This raises the stakes on ensuring you have the right members on board. It also requires time. The forming, storming, norming, performing cycle could take up to 3 years to really hit a stride. Choosing an impact partner with an established, mature team could significantly accelerate time-to-effectiveness.
4. Value Creation
These funders are intent on maximising value. They intuitively know that much of the value is created by harnessing the power of brands towards building trust. The posture they take towards social impact, and the partners they choose, speak volumes about who they are and what they value. The stories of impact are important. Not because you want to brag, but by authentically ‘letting your own light shine, you unconsciously give others permission to do the same.’ – Marianne Williamson.
‘letting your own light shine, you unconsciously give others permission to do the same.’ – Marianne Williamson.
The invisible cost of outsourcing social impact is losing out on the two most powerful value multipliers: a culture signal and a leadership opportunity. Consistently, the funders we work with that harness social impact to amplify their compelling vision of the future maximise those two multipliers.
They adopt an investor mindset and posture for longer timeframes because in the words of Epictetus, they know, ‘No great thing is created suddenly’.
‘No great thing is created suddenly’. – Epictetus
No matter what type you are, there has never been a better time to get going. We would love to connect about your vision for social impact, and explore how our team, track record, and brand can amplify your next.