A new venture and world of opportunities

Categories: Care.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) face immense challenges in today’s world of economic and political instability. This includes a shortage of resources to provide essential services, access to skilled professionals, policy restrictions, and most importantly, lack of access to funding, which threatens organisational sustainability. It is time that organisations start thinking outside of the box in order to ensure that they survive and are capable of continuing to provide essential services.

Exactly two years ago, I was retrenched from a regional NGO and traded in my backpack and jeans for a briefcase and suit. I was very lucky to find a new job almost immediately, where I started working in the private sector as a project manager at a large media and logistics corporation. The corporate work environment overwhelmed me: market-related salaries, great benefits, no continuous funding/sustainability challenges, different working culture, hierarchy, values, etc.

It was a very difficult adjustment for me, but I was determined to learn, be exposed to various situations and solve expensive problems. However, what I failed to gain from my day-to-day activities was true job satisfaction. I did not find solving corporate problems satisfying.

I somehow had to fill this emptiness, which led to Andre Wagner and I starting a small firm called A|W Management Consulting. We empower organisations to manage and lead responsibly and accountably to ensure effective and efficient service delivery.

A few weeks ago, a hospice approached us to conduct an organisational transformation process, which will eventually allow it to effectively use its resources to become more sustainable in the long-term. In view of the changing economic and political environments and continued efforts to look for prospective resources, the board and management are reviewing an appropriate strategy to move forward.

This hospice has been working in holistic palliative care for over 30 years. It is one of the largest providers of palliative care in-country and throughout the region, providing direct palliative health care for over 1500 patients each month; approximately 20% of its beneficiaries are children and over 75% are HIV- infected. The organisation also cares for patients living with life-threatening illnesses, such as cancer and motor neuron disease and provides a comprehensive therapeutic service for the bereaved, including vulnerable groups and children.

It felt surreal being back in the palliative care world, as it had been over two years since my last visit to a hospice. As I entered the hospice, I was welcomed with warmth and kindness. Although this organisation is currently going through a rough patch, its hard work, determination and caring nature will get it through this difficult time. A|W Management and Consulting will help transform this hospice into a more sustainable organisation with a lean yet effective secretariat to deliver good quality palliative care and related services.

This hospice’s reaction to its financial situation is not very different from that of its peers. One important lesson we took away is that it is critical to diversify income sources in order to minimise donor dependency. In addition to funding diversity, senior management and the board need to start thinking about creating social enterprises within the organisation. This would make unrestricted funding available to cover operational costs, which donors often refuse to fund.

A social enterprise is an organisation that uses business and commercial strategies to boost social and community well-being, instead of maximising on profits; this opens up a whole new pool of resources for NGOs. In addition to increased access to resources, social enterprise allows staff to be creative in their own professions and to offer services that do not compete with the organisation, but are rather a value add for  their clients.

I look forward to exploring social enterprise with our clients and assisting them to access a whole new world of opportunities.

Keith Adrian Mienies is a founding partner and director of A|W Management Consulting. He resides in Cape Town, South Africa. Like our Facebook page.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *