Tax Exempt Status to Help Diversify PASGR’s Fund Base

A key aspect of PASGR’s sustainability goal is to diversify its funding, enhance value for money in all activities, and increase cost effectiveness and efficiency. The year under review was a step further in this direction as PASGR gained recognition as a charity under US laws.

PASGR applied for tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the US Internal Revenue Code and is now a charitable organisation under US law, meaning that the organisation is now eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions from American foundations and other philanthropists. The status acquired in June 2015 enables PASGR to expand its connections, outreach and contacts as regards fundraising, which, in turn will deepen PASGR’s partnerships with African universities, think-tanks, researchers, governments, not-for profits and other sub-societies.

In 2015, PASGR took various bold moves to cut down on its overall spending, scale up course delivery and enhance value for money. Topmost was the decision to have participants in professional development courses cover their travel and subsistence costs. The savings made went towards programme development and growth.

In another significant value-for money move, which should eventually cut down on training costs, the Higher Education Programme (HEP) produced training videos on content, pedagogy, and development of electronic case studies from workshops held in 2015. The videos are used to cascade training at individual Master of Research and Public Policy partner universities.

The bulk of PASGR’s budget, up to this point, has been covered by the Department for International Development (DfID). Other partners, notably the Carnegie Corporation of New York, IDRC, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the United Nations Foundation and the Free University of Berlin have supported PASGR activities.