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.

In 2024, DGMT plans to allocate approximately R200 million in grants to support the growth of South Africa’s potential. As part of our ongoing commitment, we have identified 10 key opportunities for fostering a thriving society, including early childhood development, addressing nutritional stunting, promoting civil society innovation, and promoting youth employment.

All applications submitted from 2 September 2024 will be considered for funding in 2025. Although we accept funding applications on a rolling basis, we temporarily close our grants portal for new applications between 11 December and 2 January for the festive holiday period.

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

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 grantee 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 grantee 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 grantee 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 grantee 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?