In a highly competitive funding landscape, what makes a company choose one nonprofit organisation (NPO) over another?  

An insightful afternoon session on the second day of the 2025 Trialogue Business in Society Conference set out to explore how corporates identify, assess and collaborate with nonprofits, and what NPOs can do to build stronger, more sustainable relationships that go beyond a funder’s cheque. 

Entitled ‘Cracking the code: How companies partner with NPOs’, the session featured representatives from five of the conference content sponsors – FirstRand Foundation, Absa, MTN, Sanlam Foundation, and Telkom. They were joined by officials from three NPOs – Abraham Kriel Bambanani, Little Eden and Funda Wande. The interactive session was moderated by Trialogue’s thought leadership manager, Sheldon Morais. The panellists unpacked the evolving dynamics of collaboration in corporate social investment (CSI). The conversations offered practical, candid insights into what makes partnerships work. 

Mandla Mbuyazi (FirstRand Foundation)

Opening the session, Mbuyazi gave a broad overview of the group’s philanthropic architecture. The FirstRand Foundation focuses on nine strategic pillars, including quality foundation-phase education, financial inclusion, building thriving communities through sports, arts and the green economy, and capacity building. The Foundation’s sister organisation, the FirstRand Empowerment Foundation, supports higher education, the healthcare value chain, gender-based violence initiatives, climate change, and agricultural systems aimed at graduating smallholders into commercial farmers. 

“At FirstRand, we learn that true partnership is not defined by structure but by intention,” Mbuyazi noted. “When we partner with NPOs, we’re not just lending with goodwill – we challenge each other to think differently. It’s not about benefactor and beneficiaries; we’re co-creators for change.” 

One of FirstRand’s biggest priorities is building capacity. “We don’t just walk away when we see NPO compliance gaps – we help close them,” Mbuyazi explained. Recognising that many high-impact NPOs struggle with administrative or governance ‘hygiene factors’, the foundation allocates specific budgets for capacity development and is designing bespoke programmes to support grassroots and maturing NPOs. 

Mbuyazi also highlighted FirstRand’s approach to scaling impact: starting with insight and ideation, moving to development and prototyping, and then scaling what works in partnership with like-minded collaborators. “We’re the first to acknowledge we’re not experts in the field, but we remain curious,” he explained. Collaboration, he said, should involve honest, sometimes uncomfortable debate, but that tension, when grounded in mutual respect, ultimately sharpens purpose.  

Mbuyazi indicated that FirstRand was keen to partner with other funders to keep programmes sustainable, and collaborated with NPOs on a case-by-case basis.  

Ernesta Teesen – Abraham Kriel Bambanani 

Teesen offered a frank look at the operational realities of NPOs serving vulnerable populations. Abraham Kriel Bambanani runs both residential care facilities and community programmes for children and youth at risk. Its biggest challenge, Ernesta noted, was securing sustainable funding. “We’re well aware of government funding challenges and have developed our own marketing and fundraising department to address shortcomings and establish a third income stream,” she said.  

She noted that although it was good practice to align with corporate objectives, it wasn’t always easy for the NPO to retain focus on its mission. “Sometimes we have to walk outside of our core mission, and we do this for the greater good. For example, if a donor is usually aligned with environmental protection, we can make our operations environmentally friendly. Our children will benefit from this,” she said, saying that if there was no impact to the NPOs core business it was happy to adapt it services and “add value”. Co-hosting and co-branding initiatives could be beneficial, she noted. 

However, she pointed out that it was helpful when donors directed some funds towards capacitating the organisation, which supported staff retention and development. “Even skills-based volunteering is valuable to us,” she noted.  

Teesen made a strong case for multi-year partnerships. “Single-year funding makes it difficult to plan. Companies want to know how you can scale and provide more services – but we don’t always know if we’ll have enough funds for current programmes,” she explained. She advocated for open communication, with room for negotiation.  

Shelley Majola – MTN 

Majola brought the funder’s perspective from a major corporate foundation focused on education, financial literacy, and information and communication technology (ICT). She said MTN identified NPO partners through networking at forums like the Trialogue Business in Society conference, as well as through a digital platform where organisations could submit proposals. Vetting included a comprehensive due diligence process: governance structures, registration, tax compliance, B-BBEE status, POPIA compliance, and conflict of interest declarations were all mandatory.  

Once selected, partnerships were governed through memoranda of understanding or legal agreements (typically 12-24 months), and funding was milestone-based, Majola added. “It’s not about just ticking a compliance box. It’s about holding each other’s hands to impact underserved communities,” Majola said. MTN conducted rigorous monitoring and evaluation, including beneficiary feedback surveys, to ensure measurable impact. 

“An ideal NPO is an NPO with the same level of passion for initiatives as we have – and they must be operationally sound and have a good work ethic and integrity,” Majola pointed out. She said MTN prided itself on “a culture of listening, a culture of treating everyone with dignity and care”.  

Majola also discussed MTN’s capacity-building approach. The organisation has an internal incubation programme for emerging NPOs, and Majola often personally supports partners with financial administration, teaching them how to invoice, reconcile, and report. “If they succeed, we succeed,” she said. 

Nonhlanhla Magagula (Absa) 

Magagula opened the second round of the session by unpacking how the bank identified and supported nonprofit partners. Partnerships came through both solicited and unsolicited proposals, meaning the bank would approach organisations while also accepting proposals from NPOs seeking funding. The key driver was mission alignment, both in terms of what the organisation was doing (e.g. entrepreneurship, education) and how it operated, Magagula said. 

“Financial inclusion through entrepreneurship is what we do with our 1% net profit after tax. Then we have our CSI Trust, an empowerment vehicle set up as part of our B-BBEE transaction, which looks at the DBE’s E Cubed nexus – entrepreneurs, education and employability – in the digital, green and informal economies,” explained Magagula.  

Funding decisions don’t stop at thematic fit – Absa is deeply interested in an NPO’s programme design: what data informs it, what assumptions underpin it, and what impact it aims to create within communities.  

The values and governance structures of NPOs also matter. “Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is one of our priorities. What does your board, executive team and implementing team look like?” asked Magagula. “There’s value in diversity.” 

She also said Absa wanted to know if an NPO was “a collaborator or a lone ranger”, with financial compliance and governance non-negotiables. Importantly, Absa embraces a shared value approach.  

“We don’t just give funding – doing good is good for business, so we want to know how to amplify social impact and drive commercial value,” Magagula said. “We bring the business along with us. Where does enterprise development come in to support our young people? We bring them along with staff volunteering. We can learn from what you’re doing on the ground – but you can also learn from our staff.” 

Absa’s ecosystemic approach means delivering across different departments and segments within the group, exploring synergies in terms of how to unlock access to market and foster enterprise development. “We look at what we need to deliver, what’s relevant, and how to achieve our goals,” said Magagula. “We also ensure we have the right M&E capability in our teams – we don’t just fund and not follow the money.” 

Absa was open to creating “spaces of dialogue between ourselves and organisations we fund, as well beneficiaries”, said Magagula, adding: “We can only get sharper when we engage.” 

Zolani Metu (Funda Wande)

Metu, head of programmes at Funda Wande, emphasised the human relationships behind partnerships. “People partner before organisations do,” he explained. Too often, NPOs undervalue interpersonal competencies, yet these are crucial to forming trust and long-term collaboration. “A lot of partnerships we’ve had have been possible because people with shared values have been able to listen to one another with a keen, interested ear, amplifying respect,” he said.  

Metu highlighted a structural challenge in the nonprofit sector: a lack of capacity to meet the technical expectations of corporate partners. From governance to financial management, many NPOs struggle to attract the kind of talent that can close complex funding agreements. Programmes like FirstRand’s efforts to build leadership capacity in NPOs were vital in addressing this gap, he said.  

Funda Wande uses a binding constraints approach to prioritise which issues to tackle. This means recognising systemic constraints and anchoring collaboration in realistic, scalable solutions. “As NPOs, we think we need more funds because we can’t radically prioritise,” said Metu. “But a binding approach asks what is binding among these constraints. We know we can improve outcomes in foundational literacy and numeracy, and this requires teacher training, high-quality materials in classrooms, and continuous support for teachers.” 

However, funders should also consider providing technical support to government. “In some provinces, there are only two directors in departments in which there are meant to be six,” Metu noted. “It’s important to partner with funders who understand we work with government departments that have their own limitations.”  

Metu acknowledged that NPO collaboration was important, but stressed that “partnerships cost money”, especially showcasing to government what programmes were all about. 

Nathi Kunene (Telkom Foundation)

Kunene said the Telkom Foundation’s multiyear strategy focused on education, particularly improving maths and science outcomes aligned with national goals. “The end point is to enhance young people’s abilities to take up work or entrepreneurial opportunities,” he explained.  

Telkom’s integrated approach means that programmes focus on ICT skills development and teacher support, incorporating psychosocial elements and digital literacy. “We’re unlocking opportunities where tech can contribute to education and drive learners’ success,” Kunene said, adding that this included post-school opportunities like mentorship and entrepreneurship. 

Partnerships are tailored: in some communities, Telkom works with specialist NPOs with strong delivery and reporting capabilities. In others, it takes a developmental approach with community-based organisations that may need more support but bring deep local credibility. When it comes to community-based NPOs, Kunene said Telkom wants to ascertain “how integral you are to the heart of community work” as “we can build everything else, but we can’t build or help you grow passion”.  

“Multiyear funding is the nature of our work – you can’t just come in and leave,” Kunene said. “We want to make sure that our NPO partners can put measures in place to account for the funding and social impact we’re looking for.” Telkom is also open to working with other corporate partners if this proves strategic.  

Natasha Francis (Sanlam Foundation)

Francis, representing the Sanlam Foundation, explained the company’s two-tiered funding model. On one side is a small grants fund, offering once-off support of up to R100 000 to grassroots NPOs working with youth, people with disabilities, abused children, or survivors of gender-based violence. Applications are processed via a digital grant system, but real engagement starts after submission: the foundation supports applicants to improve their proposals and walk the journey with them. 

“We go through a selection process as certain criteria have to be met, but the process doesn’t end there. We’ll engage with NPOs that apply and walk with them, indicating what’s missing in their applications and so on, until we can get to the point of final approval,” Francis said.  

More significantly, Sanlam also works with core multiyear partners, selected for their values alignment, sustainability, and monitoring, evaluation, learning maturity (in addition to compliance requirements). “That’s where the magic happens – we co-create programmes that will form long-term impact for communities we want to serve,” Francis said.  

Sanlam’s development focus spans consumer financial education, enterprise and supplier development, education (early childhood development and bridging programmes), and environmental sustainability. Staff volunteering and pro bono work are also key pillars of their approach. 

Ann Coetzee (Little Eden)

Coetzee offered a powerful look at partnership from the inside. Little Eden is a 58-year-old organisation supporting individuals with profound physical and intellectual disabilities, most of whom have been abandoned. 

Coetzee stressed that storytelling and strategic alignment are critical to securing support in a space that’s often emotionally and financially overlooked. “We work in a sector that isn’t the warm fuzzies – this isn’t about animal welfare, saving the rhino or educating someone, but looking after a person nobody wants,” she said candidly.  

Little Eden houses 300 residents with profound physical and intellectual disability, many of whom can’t walk, speak, or are incontinent. More than 70% of the residents have been abandoned by their families, and the cost of caring is high. “Little Eden costs R60 million a year to run,” Coetzee revealed, adding that 268 staff members are required around the clock.  

Little Eden competes for a small slice of donor attention and must make its value, passion, and impact deeply visible. Its “pyramid process” for partnerships starts with value alignment, followed by mutual benefit design, including high-visibility events, employee engagement, and impact reporting. Every donation is tracked back to a real human story – such as a child rescued from a cupboard after 13 years, or a family with a genetic condition locked up in a chicken coop. “Your money has given them a life,” Coetzee said.  

She made the following recommendations to NPOs: 

  • Personalise your approach. “Your one-size-fits all proposal doesn’t work – it must be customised to that donor and their CSI,” she said.  
  • Think beyond cash. “The begging-bowl approach is the biggest reason why donors don’t want to donate,” Coetzee said. “Start looking at volunteer engagement, pro bono, workplace giving, in-kind donations, matching gifts.” She revealed that Little Eden runs a pecan nut farm to generate additional income. 
  • Identify internal champions. “This can be anyone from an executive to a cleaner – someone who is passionate about the cause, and willing to talk about it,” she said.  
  • Ensure your report demonstrates impact. Storytelling is critical in a competitive landscape. It’s important to show your organisation is committed to development – shared value and measurable impact that can be celebrated with the donor. 

Partnering with other NPOs is another sure way to achieve impact. Little Eden partners with the Sweethearts Foundation and the Paige Project to raise funds for wheelchairs through recycling initiatives, said Coetzee, adding that one organisation may have knowledge and skills while another will have the funds necessary to complete a project.  

As Coetzee put it: “Donors buy into your passion.” When that passion is backed by structure, alignment, and mutual benefit, it becomes a partnership that lasts. 

Final takeaways

Throughout the session, a few common themes emerged: 

  • Alignment matters – whether in values, strategy, or programme goals. 
  • Relationships come first – people build partnerships before organisations do. 
  • Capacity is key – helping NPOs to develop skills and capabilities is essential. 
  • Think beyond the grant – corporates want shared value, not handouts. 
  • Impact storytelling makes the difference.