A New Way to Fund What Matters
BackaBuddy and Paysoft Impact launch Donors for Life to help South African nonprofits build lasting monthly giving programmes
By the Paysoft Editorial Team
Nonprofits across South Africa are under significant pressure. International funding is shrinking. Corporations, trusts and foundations are pulling back. And many organisations are surviving month to month, dependent on once-off donations with no way to plan further ahead than the next cheque.
BackaBuddy and Paysoft Impact have partnered to change that. Together, they have launched Donors for Life, a guided programme that helps nonprofits build what so many struggle to secure: a stable, predictable base of individual monthly donors.
The January 2026 cohort is open for applications, and it is accepting ten nonprofits for intensive training and implementation support.
Why Predictable Funding Changes Everything
Many South African nonprofits provide essential services every single day. Food programmes. Medical care. Early childhood development. Community upliftment. The work does not stop, but the funding often does.
Once-off donations address immediate needs. They do not allow organisations to plan programmes, retain skilled staff, or commit to the people they serve. The moment a large donor steps back, or a corporate partnership ends, the organisation is back at square one.
Monthly giving solves this. When a base of committed recurring donors is in place, organisations can deliver services without gaps, plan ahead with confidence, and focus their resources on impact rather than emergency fundraising.
“The greatest gift we can give a nonprofit is predictability. When monthly support is strong, teams can focus on changing lives instead of chasing funding. Donors for Life is about creating that stability, so that essential work in our communities continues without interruption.”
Catherine Swanepoel, Chief Growth Officer, BackaBuddy
Why Debit Orders, Specifically
Not all recurring giving works the same way. Credit cards expire. Card details change after fraud incidents or when banks issue replacements. When that happens, the donation stops, often permanently, not because the donor changed their mind but because the mechanism failed them.
Debit orders work differently. Once a donor has authorised a debit order through their bank, the instruction runs automatically. No expiry dates. No need to remember to update details. No interruptions.
“If you want long-term impact, you need long-term donors. Debit orders make that possible, reliably, month after month.”
Chad Roberts, Founder, Paysoft Impact
Nonprofits with debit order donors typically retain their supporters four to five times longer than those relying on other payment methods. That retention is the foundation on which a sustainable organisation is built.
To support this shift, Paysoft’s recurring debit order functionality, including debit orders from cheque accounts, is now fully integrated into the BackaBuddy platform. Charities on BackaBuddy can now offer their donors a reliable, bank-authorised recurring giving option as part of their campaign.
What the Donors for Life Programme Provides
Donors for Life is not just a technology integration. It is a full support programme, designed to walk nonprofits through every stage of building a recurring giving base.
Participating organisations receive an impact and capacity assessment, looking at organisational strengths, community needs and long-term donor potential. From there, they set clear, measurable goals for building a committed community of monthly supporters.
Each team receives support developing a compelling campaign name, narrative and value proposition. Their campaign is featured on BackaBuddy and supported with PR, media exposure and visibility across partner platforms. And critically, they are not left to manage the technical side alone.
The technical infrastructure that comes with the programme includes:
- Automated debit order processing
- Check-Digit Validation to prevent failed transactions from bad account details
- Electronic mandates for secure, bank-verified donor authorisation
- Donor communication and reactivation workflows
- Annual increase options so contributions keep pace over time
- Automated Section 18A certificate generation for tax compliance
- Impact reporting support
Each selected nonprofit is also assigned a Paysoft Impact fundraising consultant and BackaBuddy charity specialists who provide hands-on guidance through planning, donor engagement and long-term implementation.
The Broader Case for Monthly Giving
The benefits of stable, recurring income go well beyond the organisation itself. When an NPO can rely on consistent monthly support, it can retain the skilled staff members who deliver services directly to communities. It can plan training and professional development. It can expand its reach rather than contracting every time a funding cycle ends.
It can also respond to crises faster. An organisation with a reliable monthly income base does not need to wait for emergency funding before mobilising. The resources are there.
Donors for Life aims to build this kind of resilience across South Africa’s nonprofit sector, not just for the ten organisations in the first cohort, but as a replicable model that continues beyond this intake, creating tools and pathways for organisations across the BackaBuddy community.
When NPOs can rely on stable support, they can deliver programmes consistently, retain skilled staff, expand their reach, and build long-term, measurable impact through continuity and commitment.
Applications Are Now Open
Any nonprofit in South Africa may apply for the Donors for Life programme. The first cohort of ten organisations will receive the full programme package described above, with successful applicants contacted directly.
Applications are open at donorsforlife.co.za/application
Beyond the first cohort, the programme will continue to develop tools and support pathways for nonprofits across the BackaBuddy platform. This is the beginning of something larger.
If your organisation is ready to move from unpredictable once-off income to a sustainable base of committed monthly donors, this programme was built for you.