Masana wa Afrika

At The Patchwork Collective, a key strategy for expanding our funding reach is to partner with regranting organizations who have feet directly on the ground in the communities they serve. It’s a great way for a tiny team like ours to ensure resources are getting to where they’re needed most. 

Masana wa Afrika emerged out of ELMA’s Community Grants Program (EGCP), which has been operating since 2012. They started with a small grants pilot across 8 CBOs to learn how best to balance appropriate diligence with the capacity of the CBOs to respond, which is often a funding stumbling block. ECGP grew to support a portfolio of 63 partner organizations and, out of this pilot, Masana wa Afrika was created in 2023 as a separate agency. It took the effective systems established within ELMA, fully embedded its base on the continent, and brought in other funders who were interested in providing direct, local support. They now serve 149 grantee partner organizations in 13 African countries.

One of the things we love about Masana wa Afrika is that they are thoroughly Africa-based in their leadership and team. In turn, they serve grantee partners whose program development and decision-making authority are also within the communities in which they operate. We believe this gives much better insights into the issues being addressed and the best approaches for resolving problems. No-one understands local needs like a local. 

Beyond multi-year, unrestricted funding, they support grantees with various forms of capacity building for growth and self-sustaining stability over time. “This initiative came out of our own observations and at the request of our partners,” says Ruth. Experts in child nutrition, special needs education, psycho-social support, and livelihood enhancing for families can further increase the potential of certain CBOs for impact within their communities. Financial consultants help develop best practices within the context of the work being done, prepare them for audits, and improve governance. 

All such support is free to grantees and specific to their community context. “For example,” says Ruth, “some funders were asking for audited financial statements from CBOs who weren’t capable of providing them. So, we engaged independent auditors to go into each organization and review gaps and what’s working. Their reports become an alternative kind of document CBOs can present to funders who need it.” 

Another key aspect of support lies in program development skills training, through convenings in which CBOs share their experiences with each other. “We bring grantee partners together to share knowledge and improve the quality of programs on the ground for everyone,” says Ruth. “It’s very much a bottom-up approach, where grass roots organizations discuss approaches with each other. That’s where the real expertise and ingenuity lie for the work they do.” 

Selected grantee partner leaders take Masana wa Afrika’s Leadership Development Program to improve their skills and connect with other leaders, since they are mostly in very rural areas where such opportunities are rare. Masana wa Afrika also connects them to other funding possibilities and platforms they wouldn’t be able to access on their own. For example, 10 leaders were brought to the SKOLL World Forum and introduced to appropriate potential funders and other key network opportunities. 

For us, it’s great to partner with an organization that’s also a trust-based funder, so we can deepen our understanding of this approach to philanthropy. It starts with how partners are selected in the first place. Masana wa Afrika’s potential partners must first meet a few criteria around being child-focused, truly Africa-based and led, and within the specified operating budget range.  

Then it’s a conversation around the work they do, the quality of their programs and their ability to actually make a difference in the lives of the children in their community. As Ruth explains it, “Trust-based funding requires being able to give freely, based on your trust that the organization will make good use of the funds. And if they have capacity limitations on how to best do that, they’re open to learning from our other forms of support. Then it’s up to them how to spend that money. Our funds are unrestricted, to be used as they see fit as the experts in their own work.” 

Multi-year funding is another critical component, because a sustainable capacity for impact doesn’t happen overnight. How long is long enough? “This is a challenge,” says Ruth. “We’re talking about the lives of children. Is it possible to measure impact in a few years, or can it really only be seen when the child is eighteen, healthy, and ready for adulthood?” 

Regardless of the duration of funding, they work to create self-sustainability for their CBOs from the very beginning of the relationship. “It’s important, if you’re going to stop or pause funding, to be responsible about your withdrawal so they don’t crumble.” One of the ways they do that is to plan for the transition, with their partners, years in advance. “We help get them ready to go on their own,” says Ruth. 

Ultimately, impact is measured one child at a time. “Of course we look at the numbers,” says Ruth, “but numbers can easily come at the expense of adequate quality. Say, for instance, 1000 children are ‘being fed daily’ but are only receiving porridge once a day. It’s a great number but inadequate nutrition. If 500 children, on the other hand, are receiving three good meals a day, going to school with a full tummy, living under a solid roof – those are the outcomes we’re striving for. That’s truly changing lives.” 

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