Limited time to apply for NPO grants

Non-profit organisations (NPOs) and service providers have until November 8 to submit requests for funding from the provincial department of social development.

The department advertised its intention to allocate funds for various activities and services rendered by the NPOs over the next two years, and have called for more organisations to apply for funding for its 2019-20 financial year.

NPOs specialising in crime prevention, victim empowerment programmes, the care of the elderly and people living with disabilities, as well as substance abuse, HIV/Aids and child welfare, to name a few, have a chance at getting a slice of the department’s budget pie.

The call for more NPOs to apply for funding comes despite the department’s known financial woes. The Daily Dispatch reported last year that NPOs in the Buffalo City Metro experienced drastic budget cuts in the 2017-18 financial year.

The East London Child Welfare received a budget cut from R2.2m to just R253,000.

Provincial social development spokesperson Mzukisi Solani said the department was legally obligated to spread its already limited resources to accommodate more NPOs.

“Each financial year the department is mandated by law to advertise for new and existing institutions to submit or resubmit their funding requests. We also evaluate the current organisations receiving funding to ensure that they are abiding within the service level agreements,” he said.

He said that the department did not pay for the running of the NPOs, but only funded certain programmes and initiatives that the NPO agreed to carry out.