With the increasing socio-economic challenges amplified by Covid-19, the country is in dire need of a strong and vibrant civil society sector to mitigate the effects of a society in perpetual crisis. Post 1994 there has been an explosion and exponential growth of non-profit organisations in South Africa with over 233 180 recorded in September 2020. With the existing pool of funding rapidly shrinking, this has led to a frantic competition for resources and a decimation of many non-profit organisations!

With over 40 years of experience with the mobilising of resources for grassroots based NPOs and written from a deep understanding and appreciation of our local context, Julie guides those organisations who are battling to survive during this difficult period. He departs from the dominant narrative which views fundraising only as money raising. Adopting a holistic and integrated approach, Julie highlights the importance of building organisations with integrity and strong credibility that will attract donors. It views fundraising as a means to an end and not as an end in itself.

Included in the book are valuable anecdotes from personal experience, fundraising tips from highly experienced specialists in the NPO sector as well as donors and a resource list of sample documents for your novice fundraiser.

“This book has landed on the shelves at a time when many, many NPOs are struggling with income generation. So why am I recommending this book rather than others. For a number of reasons: It is written from experience and is not academic in nature. It is packed with the essential information for new NPOS and for long time NPOs. It is relevant if your NPO is struggling and also if it is thriving. It speaks from the heart and also from the head and includes numerous templates for implementation.

Paging through the content, Franks covers various topics including: Fundraising Concepts and Trends, the Practice of Fundraising, Building relationships, Effective Proposal Writing, Alternative Funding Streams, amongst many others. And then he delves into the uncertain world of fundraising post Covid-19 that we all have to think about. He ends with a few pages of wisdom from eight people in the fundraising world, donors, academics, fundraisers and so on.

The book has a resources section that includes a sample budget template, a sample funding proposal, a fundraiser employment contract, important funding websites to visit and information about online fundraising training. All-in-all, this book is gold when used properly.”
(Prof Eric Atmore, Director and Founder, Centre for Early Childhood Development, Senior Lecturer, Social Work – UCT)