By Nangamso Mabindla
28 June 2007

NON-PROFIT organisations (NPOs) will now be able to write professional business plans when applying for funding. This is thanks to a two-day workshop held by the Centre for Municipal Training and Advice (CMRA).

The workshop, which took place at the East London City Hall last week, was held to help NPOs in the city to become more professional and to learn more about the legislation that governs them.

It was attended by the different groups representing various sectors of society, such as the disabled, youth, gender and Aids council forums.

CMRA Buffalo City HIV and Aids Project co-ordinator, Funani Ntontela, said that it was difficult for NPOs to apply for the funding they needed.

The centre is an initiative of the South African Local Government Association and Vereniging van Nederlandse Gemeenten that helps municipalities to find innovative solutions to critical challenges through research, support and advice.

Ntontela was seconded to Buffalo City to work with the municipality's special programmes unit on HIV and Aids issues. He also works on other special programmes, like disability, gender and youth forums.

"These community-based organisations largely depend on fund raising and without proper business plans, it is difficult for companies to give them funds. At the workshop we taught them ways to develop proper business plans," Ntontela explained.

Speaking at the workshop, he said that it was found that some NPOs were not registered with the South African Revenue Services (SARS). "This is also one of the reason companies are reluctant to fund them … at the workshop we gave them [SARS registration] forms to fill in."

By conducting the workshop, the CMRA and the municipality wanted to ensure that these NPOs were sustainable. "We cannot afford to fail these NPOs; we want to make them sustainable and very professional so that they can achieve their goals in the communities they operate in."

Talking about the workshop's success, Ntontela said that when the forums left they were clear about ways to draw up business plans. "I separated them into groups and asked them to draw up a business plan to apply for funding; and I was impressed with how they had grasped [the information] in the two days I spent with them."

Another two-day workshop will be held in King William's Town on Thursday, 28 June and Friday, 29 June. Community-based organisations invited to attend include the Steve Biko Foundation, Disabled People South Africa, National Association of People Living with Aids and the municipality's Youth Advisory Centre.