Rethinking NGO Sustainability: AIDF Calls for a Shift from Fundraising to Value Creation
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KARIMJEE CONFERENCE HALL, DAR ES SALAAM — 30 SEPTEMBER 2026
Following the 2026 Annual Forum of Non-Governmental Organisations in Dar es Salaam, Africa Initiative Development Foundation (AIDF) joined media engagements reflecting on the future of NGO sustainability and the changing resource environment for civil society organisations in Tanzania.
Speaking during the forum and subsequently engaging with members of the media, AIDF Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Joel Temba, emphasised the need for the NGO sector to broaden its understanding of sustainability beyond conventional fundraising.
His central proposition was simple:
The future of NGOs should not be defined only by their ability to secure grants, but by their ability to create measurable value that communities, government, philanthropy and the private sector are willing to sustain.
The discussion comes at a time when domestic resource mobilisation has become an increasingly important part of Tanzania’s NGO sustainability agenda. Recent national discussions have highlighted the need for organisations to diversify funding sources and strengthen locally rooted partnerships.
According to the AIDF perspective presented at the forum, this transition requires a broader understanding of what constitutes a resource.
Financial capital is important, but so are human capital, knowledge, technology, data, volunteerism, community networks, institutional partnerships and public trust.
From fundraising to resource mobilisation
AIDF argues that NGOs should increasingly position themselves not simply as recipients of funding, but as development institutions capable of mobilising diverse forms of capital around clearly defined public priorities.
This means developing stronger value propositions for potential partners, demonstrating measurable outcomes and building partnerships in which both social impact and institutional objectives can be clearly understood.
The private sector, for example, can play a role beyond conventional corporate social responsibility contributions. NGOs can become strategic implementation and community-engagement partners capable of translating social investment into measurable outcomes.
Trust as development infrastructure
The discussion also highlighted the importance of institutional trust.
For domestic philanthropy and private-sector investment in civil society to grow, NGOs must continue strengthening transparency, accountability, evidence of impact and responsible communication of results.
Sustainability, therefore, is not simply a financial question.
It is also a question of whether an institution can demonstrate that resources entrusted to it are producing meaningful and measurable public value.
Recognising the value of volunteerism
AIDF further emphasised the importance of human capital.
Across Tanzania, citizens possess skills, professional experience, networks, ideas and time that can contribute to development when effectively organised.
Volunteerism should therefore be understood not simply as unpaid participation, but as a mechanism for mobilising human capital, strengthening community ownership and developing the next generation of civic leaders.
From individual organisations to a stronger ecosystem
The conversation also raised a broader question for the sector:
What can NGOs build together that individual organisations cannot build alone?
Shared knowledge platforms, research, technology, volunteer networks, capacity-building mechanisms, communications infrastructure and strategic partnerships can help reduce duplication while strengthening collective capacity.
This approach shifts the conversation from organisational survival to ecosystem resilience.
Tanzania’s National Strategy for NGOs Sustainability already identifies diversified financing models, stronger resource mobilisation mechanisms and improved relationships among NGOs, government, the private sector and development partners as important components of a more sustainable sector.
The emerging national conversation around the proposed NGOs Basket Fund adds another dimension to this effort by seeking to strengthen access to domestic sources of financing for civil society organisations.
For AIDF, the opportunity is therefore not simply to find new sources of funding.
It is to help build a stronger development ecosystem in which resources follow credibility, innovation, partnership and measurable impact.
“The question is not simply who will fund NGOs. The question is what NGOs are building that society will continue to invest in.”
That question, AIDF believes, should remain central to the next chapter of Tanzania’s civil society development.