How using an EOR in Africa can make your NGO more attractive to donors

Funding is a common and immediate concern for most NGOs in Africa, but what if there was a way to stack the odds in your favour? To make your NGO appear more trustworthy and impactful so that donors would feel encouraged to fund your mission?

Partnering with an Employer of Record (EOR) in Africa can help you achieve greater levels of professionalism, lower risks, and stay compliant with local legislation. All of these help you build trust with donors and reassures them that they are working with a reliable NGO.

Here are the many ways in which an EOR can help you grow more attractive to donors:

1.     Improved Compliance & Risk Management

As an NGO in Africa, you cannot do it all without running some risks: whether it is human errors concerning payroll or legal compliance, or safeguarding sensitive data. Shouldering the responsibilities of internal administration and your daily operations all by yourself can prove to be too much. This can inspire distrust in the eyes of your donors, since your time, efforts and overall capacity are split.

One of the greatest advantages of working with an African EOR is the freedom of time and resources the arrangement provides. An EOR like Africa HR Solutions will take over employee onboarding, payroll, compliance, employee benefits administration, and other HR and administrative tasks for you. This EOR will specialise in these tasks and will not only help you comply with regulations upfront, but will also keep you up to code with them as they change. Because the EOR will have this knowledge of local labour laws, tax regulations, and employment practices, the legal and financial risks will be significantly lowered. To international donors, this level of risk mitigation can offer great reassurance and encourage them to act. 

2. Boosting operational transparency

International donors value trustworthiness, which is demonstrated through transparency and accountability in fund allocation and HR practices. Understandably, donors want to see a clear breakdown of where their funding is going. EORs in Africa help in that regard by providing clear payroll records, contracts, and relevant HR documentation.

For instance, if you are managing an NGO in Congo Brazzaville or in Malawi, an Employer of Record will give you monthly reports detailing an employee’s basic salary, as well as the cost of any employer contributions and overtime hours paid.

2.    Improves Local Hiring & Talent Management

When operating a non-profit in Africa, one quickly learns that investors value and prioritise local capacity building. This means supporting local talent, and building an environment that harnesses the local knowledge of Africans to help Africa grow. An African EOR like Africa HR Solutions has the local know-how you need to onboard staff legally and efficiently in multiple African countries. EORs understand what local talent is after beyond the basics, they know what kind of work environment will attract and retain local talent.

4. Faster Launches & Scalability

EORs remove the need to establish local legal entities before onboarding staff or setting up operations. This allows NGOs like yours to be fully implemented and operational within weeks and not months. This agility demonstrates your NGO’s ability to deploy resources quickly and scale operations, which is appealing to results-driven donors.

Additionally, this flexibility and scalability can be especially useful when it comes to expansion. Decisions can be taken and implemented much quicker than through traditional entity registration routes.

5. Supports Cost-Efficiency & Budget Accuracy

Because EORs work in a structured way, with precise calculations and regular schedules, they provide predictable cost structures. An EOR like Africa HR Solutions, for example, would also be able to offer you detailed payroll reports to help you spot trends in your workforce, identify areas for improvement and save money as well as resources.

Since donors are more likely to fund NGOs that manage budgets efficiently and deliver more value per dollar spent, an EOR can be a valuable investment for your NGO.

6. Builds Donor Confidence in HR Integrity

NGOs that use EORs when doing business in Africa show that they take ethical employment practices seriously. This shows their commitment to understanding the local culture, and to utilise local know-how to facilitate their mission.

When competing for donor funding, this can be a significant differentiator.

7. Facilitates Multi-Country Programs

Many international donors often seek partners with cross-border reach and administrative capacity. As an NGO using an in-country entity approach, it may prove difficult for you to reach this portion of donors, typically because entity set-up can take months, and even years in some cases. By which time the donor may have already moved on to another NGO with the regional reach required.

EORs fast-track entry into new markets across Africa thanks to their framework that allows for faster, yet legal operations setup.

How can your NGO benefit from EOR solutions in Africa?

From employee onboarding, to payroll, benefits administration, to cultural intelligence and leadership, an African EOR takes on internal administration so that you can focus on your core mission as an NGO. With over 15 years’ experience supporting NGOs just like yours in 46+ African countries, Africa HR Solutions is the best-placed EOR to help you on your journey in Africa.

To get a detailed understanding of how we can help you, chat with one of our consultants today.