HOPE Cape Town has grown substantially and with it its portfolios. This warranted a new webpage design to allow all the work being presented appropriately. Being holistic means at times also confusing people with the variety of scopes of work.
Next to HOPE Cape Town Trust and HOPE Cape Town Association in South Africa, you might have heard about “HOPE Kapstadt Stiftung”.
This sounds very German, and indeed it is an organisation based in Germany. Since a long time the German Aids Foundation, the only national foundation in Germany addressing HIV, is a partner of the HOPE Cape Town Trust in South Africa. A partner in terms of content and strategy, but also a sponsor for certain work portfolios within the South African organisations.
In 2007 both entities decided that it would be good to create what is called in Germany “abhängige Stiftung”, translated: dependent foundation. It describes a foundation whose administration and oversight lies with a full-fledged German foundation. It has its own reporting and accountability, but remains in this case in the framework of the German Aids Foundation in Germany.
The dependent foundation fundraises for the work in South Africa; it took over the legal responsibility for the HOPE Gala in Dresden. A management team, consisting of representatives of the German Aids Foundation and HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, is overseeing its business. All funds received are transferred without deduction to the HOPE Cape Town Trust in South Africa.
HOPE Kapstadt Stiftung has all necessary credentials in Germany as an NGO and NPO and is an essential tool to foster relationship with the big donor base and circle of friends of HOPE in Germany.
The biggest fundraising event is the HOPE Gala in Dresden, launched in 2006 by Mrs Viola Klein, who is also the Chairperson of the management board of the German entity.
HOPE Kapstadt Stiftung is called a sister organisation of the two HOPE Cape Town entities in South Africa. Besides the financial relationship, there is an emphasis on knowledge transfer in both directions.
People can be confused when dealing with HOPE Cape Town. It seems to be one organisation, but there are different additions to “HOPE Cape Town”: either Trust or Association. “What’s the difference?” they ask often.
When HOPE Cape Town was founded in 2001, an Association was created and named: HOPE (hiv outreach program & education) Cape Town Association. In the years to follow, the Association grew from a 1 employee organisation with a small board into a more sizable entity.
In 2006 the Board decided after long and intense discussions: There is a need for oversight. The HOPE Cape Town Association should in future be functioning as the working horse. The HOPE Cape Town Trust was founded as an oversight entity, looking after the financials and overseeing the marketing/fundraising part of the organisation. The trustees generally don’t get involved in operational questions, but assist from time to time in a very limited and clearly defined role.
The HOPE Cape Town Trust also became the face of the organisations for all marketing/fundraising related activities.
Once a year, the HOPE Cape Town Association presents the budget to the Board of Trustees, which in turn exams and gives approval to the projected spending.
Both entities, Trust and Association, are each a NPO and a PBO in their own right with all the necessary credentials in South Africa. Both entities have a board – the Association’s board is called the “Board of Expertise”, being exactly this: experts in the various fields of work. The chairperson of the Association is ‘ex officio’ part of the Board of Trustees with voting rights and vice verse.
While the Board of Trustees meets formally twice a year, the Board of Expertise meets quarterly to conduct business.
I always believed that for every founder of an organisation there is one duty which is of utmost importance, whether in a company or in an NGO, and that duty is to secure a smooth and timely succession plan. Ensuring that the transfer of responsibility happens calmly and without too much excitement or disruption is vital for any organisation.
Already in 2018 I engaged with the trustees of the HOPE Cape Town Trust, and together we developed a strategy and created a transition period with clear rules and responsibilities for changes within the organisation.
Dr Izane Reyneke has taken over as CEO dealing with all day-to-day business and Mrs Marlene Whitehead has taken over as program manager of the organisation. Both are working in their new positions now for more than a year with diligence and dedication. Mrs Carole Armstrong Hooper will chair the two HOPE Cape Town Trust board meetings.
In the last two years, HOPE Cape Town has created two new positions to facilitate this transition and at the same time to step up the professionalism of the work done. The launch of the campus “The Nex – Indawo Yethu” marked the beginning of a new chapter in the life of the organization, which made these structural changes even more meaningful.
I will not be disappearing or turning my back on HOPE Cape Town, far from it, my role within the organisation will also change. For the next 2 years, my focus will be on marketing and fundraising for HOPE Cape Town in Europe and the USA. I don’t need to explain the impact, Covid-19 and the ongoing Ukraine war has on fundraising, and it is amazing how the plan discussed in 2018 now fits nicely into what is necessary for the organisation’s sustainability going forward. To cut flight times and to be more flexible, my home base will be Malta for the time being.
I will remain a Trustee, part of the Executive Board and the Finance Committee for the time being. Practically, I will split my time between South Africa, Europe, and the USA. Currently, I spend 2/3 of my time in South Africa and 1/3 travelling, from now on this will be reversed.
To be able to take the initiative to plan and implement ‘stepping back’ into the second row is indeed a blessing, and it also allows the organisation to calmly develop and grow. Nobody is irreplaceable. To sit and to rest on one’s laurels until called to higher service in heaven is not my style, nor does it serve any purpose.
As founder of the HOPE Cape Town Trust, I am looking forward to supporting the organisation in my new role and responsibilities. I am also looking forward to meeting many of our European and US supporters more frequently. It is indeed exciting and a blessing to change roles and being able to serve the organisation in different ways.
My plea to you: Please continue to support HOPE Cape Town in the future. As I always say, we, the people on the ground, are only the extended arm of your generosity and solidarity.
Together, we are the HOPE family, bringing tangible hope to those less fortunate.
Promoting and deepening sustainability is certainly a priority after experiencing the lockdown during Covid-19 and now the ongoing war in Ukraine with all the consequences felt worldwide. In the beginning of the lockdown we felt it: 42 staff members and their jobs, but also necessary programmes, were suddenly at risk.
Being not for gain or profit – it meant no support from government, but more expenses not budgeted for.
HOPE Cape Town has always been well managed and has taken care of every penny. This meant we came out of the crisis in pretty good shape. We had great support to provide children and families in Blikkiesdorp with food. But we also lost donors; companies ceased to exist, and many sponsors quite understandably wanted to wait and see before spending on charity or development.
The question remains: How do we secure the future of our organisation in the long run? How do we guarantee the quality of the work and create reliability? We have discussed this intensively in the Finance Committee and the Executive Committee of the South African HOPE Cape Town Trust. I would like to take you, the reader, with me on this journey in the coming posts and share thoughts and ideas with you.
Perhaps we can enter into a dialogue, and the blog is not a one-way street. I look forward to feedback, ideas, and dialogue. Your input is of great value for us as an organisation.
God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE 