Apply for funding

DGMT is a public innovator committed to developing South Africa’s potential through strategic investment in projects that address one or more of the 10 opportunities we’ve identified to help South Africans escape the inequality trap. Learn more about whether your project qualifies for funding and how the funding application process works below.

Does my project qualify for funding?

If you can answer yes to the questions below, you have a good chance of qualifying for funding. If not, use the links and guides below to help you fulfil the criteria before you apply to give your project the best chance possible of being funded by DGMT.

Please note that the DGMT can only consider funding ‘for-profit’ entities if they can show that the project meets one or more of the Public Benefit Activities listed in the Ninth Schedule to the Income Tax Act.

Does your project address one or more of our 10 opportunities?

Our investment strategy is to specifically address the 10 opportunities we’ve identified to help South Africans escape the inequality trap, so ensuring your project directly or indirectly addresses one or more of these is important. That being said, we do recognise that not all projects fit neatly into these boxes so we will still consider projects on merit, however addressing at least one of these opportunities greatly increases your chances of being funded by DGMT.

Does your project have clear goals, backed by well-defined strategies and a viable implementation plan?

Can you clearly describe exactly what your project aims to achieve and how it will do this? Having goals, strategies and an implementation plan means your project is more than just an idea – you’ve given it thought and have a plan to make it work in the real world, giving it a much better chance of succeeding.

Does your project have a fresh, novel approach to a challenge?

As a public innovator, DGMT strives to explore and test new ideas and approaches to escaping the inequality trap. We can’t keep tracing the same old pathways to development in South Africa. We need bold and decisive ‘twists’ in our thinking that get us out of the rut, give a fresh perspective and create new opportunities. Watch a short video explaining our approach here.

Do you have the following documents and information ready for your application?

In order to consider your application, we’ll need you to submit the following documents and information in our grantee portal. It’s best to have all of these ready as incomplete applications will not be considered.

Project proposal: A document outlining the case for investment into your project, including its goals, strategies to achieve these goals, an implementation plan and why your organisation is in a position to do this (maximum of five pages). Imagine that you’re embarking on a journey. We’re interested in your final destination and how you plan to get there, as well as the condition of your vehicle! It should include:

A problem statement, showing that you have a deep understanding of the problem you seek to address or the opportunity you plan to seize.
A clear, strategic and specific approach to tackling this problem.
A strong implementation plan for delivering this strategy.
Your plan for analysing and adjusting your approach as you learn along the way.

Project budget: You can download the project budget template from our grantee portal.

Organisation documents: You need to submit your non-profit organisation (NPO) or public benefit organisation (PBO) documents, financial statements or annual reports.

What we don’t fund

Organisations that aren’t carrying out public benefit activities
Projects outside of South Africa
Bursaries for individuals
Infrastructure and vehicle expenses
Conferences
The operations of individual schools

I’ve applied for funding, how long before I hear back?

DGMT takes three to six months to approve a grant. Those applicants whose grants are declined usually hear back within three months, but the adjudication process could take longer. We know that the length of time it takes to decide is frustrating for grant applicants, so we’re constantly trying to improve our turnaround times. If you follow up on your grant application, you won’t be penalised for doing so.

Occasionally, a grant application may get lost in the system, and for that we apologise and commit to doing better. However, the main reason why the process can take a long time is due to the high volume of applications we receive year-round.

As part of our commitment to a more responsive funding process, we introduced application windows for new grant submissions. This approach allows our teams to better balance application reviews and ongoing support for implementing partners. To enable more focus on monitoring and support, we will close applications for a couple of months a year, meaning that we will have open and closed periods for submissions. The open periods are called “application windows”.

What are the 2026 application windows?

02 February–29 May 2026: OPEN

01 June–28 August 2026: CLOSED

31 August–30 November 2026: OPEN

How many applications does DGMT receive?

DGMT receives about 1 000 applications a year. That’s an average of four new applications every single working day. Each must be assigned to an innovation manager who does a preliminary assessment before discussing the application with their team. This can lead to follow-up queries with the applicant and site visits (often to deep rural areas). The organisation’s management and governance are then reviewed and its financials sent to our finance management team for checking. In addition, innovation managers monitor the progress of active grants — visiting projects, reviewing reports, giving feedback and authorising the release of future grant tranches.

Why can’t DGMT hire more people to process applications faster?

We have hired extra team members to cope with the growing load, but the number of applications doubled in 2025, as numerous other sources of funding for South African projects have dried up. Unfortunately, this also means that DGMT can now only approve about one in four of the applications we receive, down from almost one in two just three years ago.

DGMT’s grants are funded from the investment returns on its endowment, so its annual distribution budget is limited (currently about R220 million). If we keep expanding our grants team to deal with the growing load, there will be less available for distribution. Because of the growing workload, some foundations have opted not to accept unsolicited proposals, but we always want to remain open to new ideas by inviting applications from organisations that see the opportunity for South Africa to escape the inequality trap.

What can DGMT do to speed up the adjudication process?

We have set targets for how long an application may stay at each step of the adjudication process, and every two weeks we review the application process for every organisation that exceeds those targets. Sometimes the delay is on our side; sometimes it’s on the side of the applicant. Either way, we try to sort out the delay. We are also trying to reduce the administration and reporting load, while still adhering to regulatory and auditing requirements.

What can applicants do to speed up the adjudication process?

Demonstrate clear strategic alignment. DGMT’s investment strategy focuses on addressing the 10 opportunities we’ve identified to help South Africa escape the inequality trap. Strong applications clearly show how they are directly or indirectly advancing one or more of these opportunities.
Articulate what is novel or innovative about your approach. As a public innovator, DGMT prioritises solutions that tackle seemingly intractable challenges in new or different ways. Successful applications explain how the proposed intervention moves beyond existing approaches or contributes fresh insight, practice or learning.
Define your strategy and intended outcomes clearly. A strong application sets out what success would look like. While DGMT recognises that not all change can be easily quantified or realised in the short term, it’s important to clearly articulate the thinking behind your strategy and how progress will be understood over time.
Be responsive. It’s important that you submit all documents requested at the time of your application and respond to any follow-up requests as soon as possible.

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The funding journey

Grants of care and compassion

Compassion and care grants are a vehicle for the provision of fundamental care services to communities and households across DGMT’s 10 opportunities. You will be considered for such a grant should you meet our internal criteria. If you do qualify we will let you know via your preferred communication channel.

Find the best DGMT fit for your application

Decide which opportunity your project addresses. We recognise that some projects may address more than one but for application purposes, decide on one that your project addresses the most.

Check that you don’t ask for things we do not fund

See above

Create an account on the DGMT implementing partner portal

Carefully read the introductory information and download any templates you may need.

When you’re confident you have all the documents and information you need (see above) click on “Apply for funding”

Fill in the required information and upload documents. You can save your application as a draft at any point and come back to it later and edit it.

Submit your application

When you have completed the form and uploaded your documents, you can submit your application for DGMT to review. You can view it under “Submitted applications under review” but you can no longer edit it.

If required, submit additional information

In some cases, DGMT may invite you to submit more information as part of a vetting and verification process. You will receive a notification and will need to submit the required information in the implementing partner portal in order to proceed.

DGMT reviews your application and informs you if it has been successful

As no two applications are quite the same, our processing times depend on the organisation and the specific request. We try our best to be as responsive as possible but our processing times vary greatly.

Managing your grant in the implementing partner portal

If your application was successful, you can view it in the “Active grants” section. You can continue to manage aspects of your active grant in the implementing partner portal for example, submit reports required by DGMT, view grant payments and update your organisation’s details.

Have you answered the questions and are ready to apply?