Fundraising for NPOs in South Africa: What You Need Before You Ask for Donations

Fundraising is not only about asking people to give.

For an NPO, fundraising works best when the organisation has the right information, systems and processes in place before donations start coming in. Donors want to know who they are supporting, what their money will be used for, whether the organisation is credible, and whether their donation will be handled properly.

This is especially important in South Africa, where fundraising often connects to donor records, project reporting, Section 18A receipts, and IT3(d)-related information.

Before an NPO asks for donations, it should be ready to answer one simple question:

If someone donates today, can we manage that donation properly from start to finish?

That means knowing, amongst other things, who donated, what they gave, where the donation should be allocated, whether a receipt is needed, how the donor will be followed up with, and how the organisation will report back later.

Start with credibility

Before asking for donations, an NPO needs to look trustworthy. This does not mean the organisation needs to look big or expensive. It means donors should be able to understand who the organisation is, what it does, and why it can be trusted.

At a basic level, the organisation should have clear public information such as:

• The organisation name
• Registration details, where applicable
• Contact information
• A clear description of the work being done
• A visible project, cause or programme being funded
• Banking or payment details
• Information about whether Section 18A receipts are available
• Clear communication about how donations will be used

Donors are more likely to give when they can quickly see that the organisation is real, active and accountable.

If the NPO is registered as a Public Benefit Organisation and has Section 18A approval, that should be communicated clearly. However, it is important not to suggest that every donation automatically qualifies for a Section 18A receipt. Section 18A receipts may only be issued by organisations approved by SARS for Section 18A purposes, and only where the relevant requirements are met.

Be clear about what you are raising funds for

A general “please support us” message is weaker than a clear fundraising goal. Before asking for donations, an NPO should know what the money is being raised for. This could be a specific project, programme, campaign, event, operational need, or community outcome.

A strong fundraising request should answer:

• What are we raising funds for?
• Why is this needed?
• Who will benefit?
• How much are we trying to raise?
• What will donations help us do?
• How will we report back to donors?

This matters because donors want to understand the impact of their contribution. A clear project or campaign gives the donor a reason to care and gives the NPO a better way to track and report on the donations received.

Know what donor information you need to collect

Fundraising creates donor data.

If that information is not collected properly from the beginning, it can become difficult to issue receipts, follow up with donors, prepare reports, and manage future donor relationships.

An NPO should think carefully about the donor information it needs to collect. At the very least, these should include:

• Donor name
• Email address
• Contact number
• Donors preferential payment method
• Project or campaign supported
• Whether the donor is an individual or organisation

Where Section 18A receipts may be issued, additional donor information may be required. This can include identification numbers or registration details, income tax numbers etc depending on whether the donor is an individual, company, trust or other type of entity.

This is why donor details should not be treated as an afterthought. The quality of the donor record affects the quality of the receipt, the follow-up, the reporting, and the organisation’s ability to manage donors and donations properly.

Set up a proper donation record

Every donation should be recorded clearly. At minimum, the NPO should be able to see:

• Who donated
• How much they donated
• When the donation was received
• How the donation was paid
• Which project or campaign it belongs to
• Whether a receipt was issued
• Whether the donor was thanked
• Whether the donation needs to be included in later reporting

This becomes especially important when donations come from different places, such as EFTs, online payments, cash donations, fundraising events, social media campaigns, or corporate donors.

If donation records are scattered across emails, spreadsheets, bank statements and WhatsApp messages, the organisation may struggle to keep control as fundraising grows.

Good fundraising needs good records behind it.

Decide how donations will be received. Before asking for donations, an NPO should make it easy for people to give.

The donation process should be simple, clear and trustworthy. Donors should not have to search for payment details or wonder whether their payment went through.

An NPO could receive donations through:

• EFT
• Online payment links
• A donation platform
• Debit or card payment options
• Cash collections
• Fundraising events
• Corporate Donations
• Recurring donations

Whatever method is used, the organisation should be able to match the payment back to the donor and the campaign.

This is where many NPOs run into problems. Receiving the money is only one part of fundraising. The bigger question is whether the donation can be tracked, allocated, receipted and reported on properly afterwards.

Link donations to projects or campaigns

Project allocation is one of the most important parts of fundraising admin.

If an NPO is raising funds for more than one purpose, it should be able to link each donation to the correct project or campaign. This helps the organisation understand which fundraising efforts are working and gives donors more confidence that their support is being used as intended.

For example, an NPO may raise funds for:

• A feeding programme
• A school support project
• An animal welfare campaign
• A community outreach programme

If donations are not allocated properly, reporting becomes harder later. The NPO may know how much money came in, but not which project it belonged to, who supported it or what update should be sent to which donor.

Project-based fundraising gives the organisation more control and gives donors a clearer view of the impact they are supporting.

Understand the difference between donation receipts and Section 18A receipts

Not every receipt is a Section 18A receipt.

An NPO may issue a general donation receipt as acknowledgement that a donation was received. A Section 18A receipt is different because it allows the donor to use that receipt for income tax deduction purposes, where the legal requirements are met.

Only approved Section 18A organisations may issue Section 18A receipts. The receipt must also contain the required information and must relate to qualifying donations.

This matters for fundraising because donors, including corporate donors and individual donors, may ask whether a Section 18A receipt can be provided. The NPO should be clear and accurate in its answer.

If the organisation is not approved for Section 18A, it should not promise Section 18A receipts.

If the organisation is approved, it should make sure the right donor and donation information is captured before issuing receipts.

Receipt accuracy protects both the NPO and the donor.

Prepare for IT3(d)-related information

For Section 18A-approved organisations, fundraising does not end when the receipt is issued.

Approved Section 18A entities are required to submit IT3(d) third-party data to SARS. This data relates to the Section 18A tax-deductible receipts issued to donors. That means the information captured during fundraising can affect later reporting.

If donor information is incomplete, donation records are unclear, or receipts are not properly linked to donation data, IT3(d)-related preparation becomes more difficult.

This is why NPOs should not treat IT3(d) as a separate problem that only matters near the submission deadline. The quality of the IT3(d) information depends on the quality of the records captured throughout the fundraising process.

Good fundraising admin today makes compliance and reporting easier later.

Plan how you will follow up with donors. A donation should not be the end of the relationship.

After someone gives, the NPO should have a clear follow-up process. This helps build trust, encourages repeat support, and shows donors that their contribution matters.

Follow-up may include:

• A thank-you message
• A donation receipt
• A Section 18A receipt, where applicable
• A project update
• A campaign progress update
• An impact story
• An invitation to support again
• A newsletter or donor update, where the donor has agreed to receive communication

The follow-up should be respectful and useful. Donors should not feel spammed, but they should feel acknowledged.

Many NPOs work hard to get donations but lose the opportunity to build long-term support because they do not communicate properly after the donation.

Fundraising is stronger when donor relationships are managed, not just donation transactions.

Report back on fundraising results and impact

Donors want to know what happened after they gave.

Reporting back does not always need to be complicated. It can be a short update, a project photo, a campaign total, a story from the field, or a simple explanation of what the donations helped make possible.

The important thing is that the NPO can connect the donation to the outcome.

A useful donor update may include:

• How much was raised
• What the funds were used for
• Which project or campaign was supported
• Who benefited
• What progress was made
• What still needs support
• How donors can stay involved

Good reporting builds trust. It also gives the organisation stronger material for future fundraising campaigns.

When donors can see that their support was handled properly, they are more likely to give again.

Keep fundraising, receipts and reporting connected

One of the biggest mistakes an NPO can make is treating fundraising, donor records, receipts and reporting as separate tasks.

In reality, they are connected.

A donation creates a donor record. The donor record supports follow-up. The donation record supports project tracking. The project record supports reporting. The receipt record supports donor confidence.Section 18A receipts may connect to IT3(d) reporting. Impact updates support future fundraising.

When these parts are disconnected, the NPO may spend more time trying to fix records later than it would have spent setting them up properly in the first place.

This is why fundraising should be planned as a full process, not just a donation request.

What an NPO should have before asking for donations

Before launching a fundraising campaign, an NPO should ideally have:

• Clear organisation information
• A clear fundraising goal
• A specific project, campaign or cause
• A way for donors to give
• A way to collect donor details
• A way to track donations
• A way to allocate donations to projects
• A receipt process
• A Section 18A process, where applicable
• A donor follow-up process
• A reporting process
• A way to prepare donation data for future compliance needs

This does not mean everything has to be perfect before fundraising starts. It means the NPO should understand what happens after someone donates.

The more structured the process is, the easier it becomes to raise funds, manage donors, issue receipts, report impact, and build long-term trust.

Fundraising is not only about getting people to donate.

For South African NPOs, good fundraising also means being ready to manage donations properly once they come in.

A strong fundraising campaign does not only ask for support. It shows donors that the organisation is ready to handle that support responsibly.

Make fundraising easier to manage

10BucksOnly helps South African NPOs manage fundraising, donor records, project donations, Section 18A receipts and reporting in one practical platform.

If your organisation wants to raise funds with less admin and more control, 10BucksOnly gives you a clearer way to manage what happens before, during and after the donation.

Start your 30-day free trial and set up your NPO profile today.