Philanthropy highlights blog

The WINGS “Acting Together to Lift Up Philanthropy” Training of Trainers offered a powerful lens for understanding and strengthening philanthropic ecosystems. It aligned well with CivSource Africa’s 5Cs, adding a complementary focus on capacity, capability, connection, and credibility. A key highlight was the Kumu mapping exercise, which revealed hidden champions and immediate collaboration opportunities within the network. The training also reminded us that real impact is measured not only in outputs, but in trust built, alignment strengthened, and pathways opened, insights now shaping our work at CivSource Africa and CivLegacy Foundation. Read more

CivLegacy Foundation is proud to celebrate our own Josephine Atuhire, Programme Support for Philanthropy, whose commitment to strengthening giving ecosystems continues to shine on regional and global stages. Josephina participated in and completed the inaugural #LiftUpPhilanthropy Training of Trainers course convened through WINGS, joining 26 participants from 20+ countries to deepen practical skills in ecosystem mapping, facilitation, and strategy for building stronger philanthropic systems. The course marks an important step in growing a global community of ecosystem builders equipped to support more connected, locally grounded, and resilient philanthropy movements. The reflection piece captures key insights, lessons, and what comes next for this growing network. Read more

A convening held in Arua City in October 2025 brought CSOs and private sector actors together around a clear message: the era of sporadic corporate giving must evolve into deliberate, strategic collaboration. Participants reflected on how each sector brings essential strengths, CSOs with deep community insight and trusted grassroots networks, and businesses with capital, innovation, and operational capacity, and how combining these strengths can unlock solutions neither side could achieve alone. Speakers emphasised that meaningful partnerships are built on mutual understanding, clear communication, trust, and accountability, and that today’s interconnected challenges require long-term engagement rather than transactional support. The convening also modelled the spirit it championed, having been curated through joint leadership by West Nile Regional Civil Society Network (WECISNET), Uganda National NGO Forum, and CivLegacy Foundation, with ecosystem support linked to CivSource Africa, laying stronger groundwork for sustained partnership and community impact.

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CivLegacy Foundation, together with CivSource Africa and a wide circle of like-minded partners, joined communities across Uganda to celebrate Good Deeds Day 2025, a colourful gathering held at Nakivubo Blue Primary School under the theme “From Waste to Worth: Innovating for Clean and Green Communities.” Designed to promote climate action and waste-management advocacy through creative expression, the day blended music, dance and drama, community engagement, and practical acts of service that planted seeds of generosity, especially among young people. Activities ranged from a spirited march through Kampala led by a brass band, to blood donation, sharing food with street children, youth talent showcases, and exhibitions by local organisations demonstrating how they are building cleaner, healthier communities. Beyond the event itself, the celebration amplified a clear message online through #GoodDeedsDay, #OmutimaOmugabi, and #DoingGood: kindness has a ripple effect, and generosity, through time, talent, and treasure, can be a powerful tool for social change.

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The Unite for Girls Dinner, hosted at Hotel Africana on 10 October 2025, brought together students, parents, teachers, government leaders, and philanthropy actors for an evening dedicated to celebrating, empowering, and protecting the girl child. Curated by Raising Teenagers Uganda and Wezesha Girls Network – Uganda, the gathering was both a celebration of progress and a clear call to action, grounded in the reminder that girls must feel safe, valued, and supported for them to thrive. A standout moment came from two courageous girls from Mt. Olive School Namugongo, who shared the Child Raise Child Project, a student-led initiative showing how even 500 shillings can help another child stay in school. The night also reinforced the power of collective action, with reflections that lasting change is built together, turning the dinner into more than an event, but a shared promise to keep raising voices and widening opportunities for girls.

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The Role of Ubuntu, Collective Action, and Entrepreneurship in Transforming Africa.

At the 2025 African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA) Conference in Nairobi, held under the theme “Driving Sustainable Investments and Innovations for Resilient Growth,” one message stood out clearly: Africa’s journey from dependence to true independence will be built through Ubuntu (“I am because we are”), collective action, and entrepreneurship. Conversations with philanthropists, investors, and social entrepreneurs reinforced the shift from traditional grant-making to catalytic capital that turns bold ideas into investable, scalable solutions. From climate and health to agribusiness and education, speakers challenged leaders to move from extraction to creation, and from charity to partnership, aligning purpose with profit, and intent with execution, so Africans are not just beneficiaries of development, but architects of their destiny.

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African philanthropy is strongest when its bridges are rooted in local realities and connected to global networks, and that is exactly what the newly launched WINGS Africa Working Group is designed to do. In November 2025, 29 members from nine countries met in Nairobi to co-create a shared roadmap for African philanthropy, exploring how to strengthen community philanthropy, local giving ecosystems, enabling environments, knowledge sharing, and strategic capital flows. Through its thematic Circles of Collaboration, the working group is building “living networks” where members can think, build, and experiment together, ensuring that African models of generosity, resilience, and innovation shape global conversations on giving.

Read more about how the WINGS Africa Working Group is weaving a stronger, connected future for African philanthropy.

Shrinking donor funding, tougher operating environments, and overreliance on external support are pushing many civil society organizations to the edge. Recent sector reflections showed a sobering reality: a significant number of CSOs would not survive for long if foreign funding stopped. This isn’t just an institutional crisis, it risks silencing the very voices that hold power to account, mobilize communities, and advance social justice. Conversations within the African Philanthropy Network have therefore called for a radical shift toward alternative financing, local resource mobilization, and community-led philanthropy so that African CSOs can adapt, not disappear.

Read more about the call to diversify funding and rebuild civil society resilience.

In Mbale City, CivLegacy Foundation, in partnership with the Bugisu NGO Forum, convened CSOs and private sector actors from across the region to explore how the two sectors can work together for inclusive, locally driven development. The meeting surfaced a shared concern: despite Uganda’s policy direction under NDP IV and the Local Economic Development (LED) framework, engagement between CSOs and businesses remains limited, leading to missed opportunities for joint action. Participants called for trust-building, recognition of each sector’s unique strengths, and a shift from ad hoc, transactional collaboration to long-term, values-based partnerships. Local government officials welcomed the initiative and encouraged non-state actors to use existing government platforms to institutionalize these dialogues.

Read more about the outcomes and next steps for CSO–private sector collaboration in the region.

In July 2025, CivLegacy Foundation and Peace Direct convened the second conversation in the six-part series, Reclaiming the Frame: Conversations on Decolonization in East Africa. This session examined how colonial-era power dynamics still shape who sets priorities in the aid system, who controls resources, and how success is defined. Participants from across the region shared lived experiences of Northern-driven agendas, funding tied to external criteria, and the persistent framing of African actors as beneficiaries rather than leaders.

Read more about the series and how we are reclaiming narrative, resources, and decision-making for the region.

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CivSource Africa has been elected to the Board of the African Philanthropy Network (APN) following an extraordinary members’ meeting held on 4 July 2025 in Arusha, Tanzania. This two-year mandate affirms our role in advancing African-led, locally rooted philanthropy and places us alongside leading institutions such as STAR Ghana Foundation, African Women’s Development Fund, East African Philanthropy Network, TrustAfrica, and others to shape a more responsive, collaborative, and just philanthropic ecosystem on the continent. Read more →

Philanthropy Week 2025 celebrated generosity in all its forms, spoken, danced, debated, played, and lived. From Kampala’s boardrooms to Kibuye’s roundabout, from Adjumani’s playing fields to the Ndere Cultural Centre stage, we witnessed giving that serves, stays, and sustains. This special edition of the CivSource Africa Galaxy Newsletter captures the moments that mattered: conversations that challenged us, performances that moved us, street activations that energized us, and symposium reflections that dared us to reimagine the future of African giving.

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Should we start preparing “mass graves” for CSOs? Funding is drying up, policy space is tightening, and too many organizations in the Global South are being pushed to downsize or shut down. This isn’t just institutional loss, it’s the erosion of civic voice and agency. As APN’s Dr. Stigmata Tenga warns, “It’s not just the organizations that die, it’s the voice, the dignity, and the agency of the people they served.” Recent APN trainings revealed a stark reality: many CSOs wouldn’t survive beyond five years without foreign funding.

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With external support declining (including from major partners like USAID), programmes are stalling even as community needs intensify. On Spirit TV’s Truth, Lies and Politics (Aug 2025), Catherine Mugabo (CivLegacy Foundation), Moses Mulindwa (UNNGOF), and analyst Charles Rwomushana urged a reset: fiscal discipline, policy realism, and serious local resource mobilization. Catherine framed aid as a “painkiller,” not a plan, calling for leadership that demystifies “resources” to include talent, volunteerism, networks, and local knowledge.

To watch the conversation live on YouTube, CLICK HERE:

Koona DanceWorkout and the DWONA Initiative (under GivingTuesday Uganda) hosted Dance With A Purpose at Lugogo Indoor Arena in Kampala, mobilizing the community for menstrual justice and the RUMPs for Rural Girls program, which uses art and play-based learning for menstrual education and sustainable pad-making. The event drew 124 participants in the morning and 115 in the evening, raising UGX 8,365,000 to keep girls in school.

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What does it take for philanthropy to stay relevant when everything is shifting?
At #9thEAPC (Kigali, June 2025), 300+ changemakers from 32 countries agreed: agility is non-negotiable. Philanthropy must decentralize power, listen differently, finance adaptively, and measure what communities value. Key takeaways included unlocking diaspora remittances, building public-private-philanthropy partnerships, and using storytelling and flexible platforms to deepen trust and accountability.

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The Jinja convening validated more than research; it unveiled a movement. Local businesses across Uganda are stepping up as partners in development, driven by purpose, proximity, and a desire to give meaningfully. From health outreach to skills training and menstrual equity, their stories reveal a philanthropic spirit grounded in trust and community. But to scale this impact, we must move from recognition to collaboration. Now is the time to rethink how private sector actors and CSOs work together, not as separate sectors, but as co-creators of lasting change. Let’s build a future powered by local giving, rooted partnerships, and collective vision.

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This wasn’t just a game; it was a declaration: every child deserves to play, to dream, and to belong. As Watoto Wasoka prepares for an even bigger Slums Derby in 2026, we invite you to support their work, amplify the movement, and invest in joy as a tool for justice. Visit www.watotowasoka.ug or follow @WatotoWasoka on social media to get involved.

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The future of civil society might not be found in aid but in solidarity, self-trust, and local connection. As the CivLegacy Foundation continues to champion community foundations and locally driven philanthropy, we call on all development actors to deepen collaboration, engage domestic donors, and see communities not for what they lack, but for what they already hold. Join us in unlocking the radical power of giving from within.

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The future of community philanthropy is ours to shape, intentionally and collectively. As CivLegacy returns from Bucharest inspired and renewed, we invite fellow practitioners, funders, and community leaders to connect, collaborate, and build infrastructures that are people-centered, adaptive, and rooted in shared purpose. Let’s keep the momentum going, reach out, share your learning, and join the global movement toward community-driven transformation.

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