How one African university overcame challenges to offer their international donors solutions to help provide stability for the future.

George Whitefield College was founded by the Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa (REACH SA) in 1989. In the last 25 years, GWC’s vision has expanded to reach communities across Africa, by partnering with various organizations. who send students to benefit from a theological education. Equipping a next generation of leaders begins by having stability in the organization’s finances to be able to offer a future for the students who come to GWC.

Seeking to play a role in equipping the current and future leaders of the church in Africa, GWC now represents up to fifteen African nationalities, as well as multiple evangelical denominations. Over 600 GWC alumni serve in church leadership in many countries in Africa and around the world, as well as lecturers in colleges, student ministry, mercy ministries, grassroots theological trainings, and in children and women’s ministries.

Many GWC graduates come from and serve low-income communities and are aiming to have a positive impact amidst poverty and strife. Understandably, the college is making an effort to provide scholarships to disadvantaged students, which form up to 70% of the current student body.

Given this great need, GWC faced many challenges in fundraising to support the organization’s growth. Additionally, 80% of the school’s budget was from donations, mostly made by individuals, churches and organizations in South Africa, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Project funding was often limited in its term to the current fiscal year, currency fluctuations in the South African Rand made planning difficult, and donors couldn’t claim tax receipts in their countries for donations to the school. All of these challenges led GWC to seek a partner for help.

In 2019, representatives from GWC met TrustBridge Global staff and learned of the many solutions that could help solve their problems. GWC has since established a donation process for foreign donors through its Charity Fund (a donor-advised fund at TrustBridge managed by the GWC team). This allows GWC to hold assets in major currencies and make timely distributions to South Africa and has smoothed the annual budgeting and planning process.

TrustBridge also helped GWC donors from all over the world navigate legal and fiscal requirements in both donor and recipient countries, a task that can prove daunting to both individual donors and their recipient organizations. This was especially useful to GWC when accessing donations from the U.K. and Australia. One such donor interested in helping the college was able to make tax-preferred giving arrangements with the school where he hadn’t previously been able to. This allowed him to give more to the mission of GWC than he expected.

As the final piece of the puzzle, GWC worked with TrustBridge to open an endowment called the Ark Endowment. Held in Switzerland this endowment, allows the college to invest their holdings for growth, plan for longer-term projects, and manage their international donations without suffering the drawbacks of a less stable currency.

“In the first two years of the Endowment being set up, two long standing partners of GWC have donated a quarter of our goal. The return on their investment in 2023 provided GWC ZAR 3M(USD 150 000). This is equal to our onboarding 30 new donors. Our target is that this Endowment will provide 50% of our operational costs each year. As we press on in engaging new partners, we are greatly encouraged that the Endowment, as it expands along with our ongoing project fundraising, will enable our sustainability, growth and development, as we seek to reach the heart of Africa.”, explains Alison Lee, GWC Executive Ambassador.

Now with TrustBridge as their global partner in giving, George Whitefield College is able to focus on its mission of providing high-standard theological education in Africa, and help current and future church leaders have a better impact on their communities.

George Whitefield College is one of the many African organizations supported by TrustBridge and its donors. If you would like to become a donor to GWC, you can do so directly here.

Learn more about the solutions offered by TrustBridge to expand global giving by contacting us.

Learn more about the George Whitefield College at https://www.gwc.ac.za/

Stability for the Future