Africa: Nonprofits Spend Too Much Time Reporting to Funders - a Single Universal Template Could Help

What the report says

A Conversation Africa analysis published through AllAfrica argues that nonprofit organisations spend too much time reformatting the same information for different funders, and that a single, widely accepted reporting template could ease that burden. The article, by Wayne Van Zijl of the University of the Witwatersrand, says the problem is especially acute for organisations that rely on scarce funding and must divert staff time away from service delivery to satisfy varied donor requirements.

The piece draws on interviews with 21 nonprofit stakeholders in South Africa, the UK, the US, Sweden and Uganda. It says many donors ask for similar information in different formats, while existing financial reporting rules were built mainly for profit-making entities and do not fully capture nonprofit performance. The article notes that an international non-profit accounting standard launched in 2025 was an important step, but it still leaves room for separate donor templates focused on non-financial information.

To address that gap, the author and co-authors propose the Civil-Society Organisations Reporting Practice, or CORP, framework. It would combine financial and non-financial information in a common structure, with sections such as leadership commentary, a regular flash report, credibility and governance information, and a description of activities. The article says this could reduce reporting costs and make comparisons easier while still allowing organisations to present their distinct missions.

The analysis also stresses that nonprofit performance should not be judged only by financial figures. It says outputs, outcomes and long-term impact all matter, and that beneficiaries should have a stronger voice in evaluating services alongside donors.