Sustainable fundraising for non-profits

Practical workshops on building and maintaining meaningful relationships with key funders

Non-profit organisations are essential drivers of social change and development across diverse sectors. However, many continue to face systemic challenges in accessing sustainable funding. Fundraising efforts are often reactive, with limited capacity and minimal strategic planning. To address this gap, Islamic Relief South Africa, in partnership with the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative, will host intensive training workshops designed to build the fundraising capacity of local non-profit professionals, and facilitate strategic networking.

These workshops will provide participants with practical understanding about ethical and effective fundraising strategies, with an emphasis on strategic approaches tailored to African and faith-based contexts.

Course objectives: 

• Understand primary fundraising principles and techniques
• Engage fundraising as a multidimensional process, and learn about diverse philanthropic and giving practices
• Learn about how to work with volunteers and boards to build an effective fundraising team, and apply fundraising techniques to various nonprofit contexts
• Develop recruitment strategies to grow your fundraising team
• Devise an action plan to effectively fundraise for your organisation

Event details

Johannesburg

Venue: Qurtuba Convention Centre

Dates: 4, 5 and 6 August 2025

Time:  09:00- 17:00

Cost: R500 (training material, meals, refreshments and certificate included)

Click here to reserve your spot

Durban

Venue: 18 Albany Grove, Marine Parade, Durban Central, Durban

Date: 2 August 2025

Time:  09:00- 17:00

Cost: R250 (training material, meals, refreshments and certificate included)

Click here to reserve your spot

Who should attend?

• Executive directors, programme managers, and fundraising officers of non-profit organisations in Africa
• Faith-based and community-based organisation leaders
• Development practitioners and project officers
• Social entrepreneurs and startup founders in the non-profit space
• Board members involved in resource mobilisation

Learning outcomes

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Understand key fundraising principles and donor engagement
• Identify and diversify funding sources (local, regional and international)
• Design a simple and effective fundraising strategy
• Craft persuasive grant proposals and concept notes
• Use storytelling and impact reporting to attract and retain donors
• Apply ethical and compliant fundraising practices
• Support stakeholder engagement and strategic branding
• Prepare to engage with donor non-proft organisations, and apply their learning practically during the Donor Networking Day, reinforcing real-world fundraising and partnership-building skills

What will participants receive?

• Interactive training sessions
• Training manual and fundraising toolkit (digital and printed)
• Templates for proposals, donor profiles, and fundraising strategies
• Practical training on planning and executing successful special events
• Access to useful templates and tools
• Opportunity to network with peer organisations and facilitators
• Opportunity to participate in an exclusive Networking Session (held in Johannesburg but also open to KwaZulu-Natal participants) in which corporate and NPO delegates can network, share insights and explore partnerships to advance impactful and sustainable initiatives.

Book now to avoid disappointment

JOHANNESBURG

DURBAN

A limited number of sponsored tickets available

Registration costs (which include meals, refreshments, all course material and certificates) have been kept as low as possible to ensure that these workshops are accessible to a wide range of organisations. However, NPOs that are unable to cover the registration fees are encouraged to get in touch.

📨 Sponsorship for Durban workshop: munyaradzi.jani@islamic-relief.org.za

📨 Sponsorship for Johannesburg workshop: robert.zulu@islamic-relief.org.za