Lessons from the field: the experience of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund

The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund is a South African grantmaking fund based in Johannesburg. Like many community foundations, the Fund acts as a bridge between philanthropic resources and the many needs of South Africa’s children and youth. It has a diverse funding base, which includes local individual and corporate donors as well as international funders. It is a grantmaker which has, over the years, adopted an increasingly activist approach in its work, born out of a sense that “charity” will only achieve so much and that real and lasting change will only be achieved by addressing root causes of South Africa’s social problems. The GFCF spoke to Mampe Ntsedi, Programme Specialist at the Fund about some of the lessons and experiences that community foundations – perhaps smaller in size, new to youth issues or normally more focused on broader community issues – might find useful.

Lessons from the field: the experience of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund