Africa Educational Trust is quite highly dependent on institutional and trust funding. In addition, the Good Gifts donations from the general public (4% in 2008) are restricted as to what they can be spent on. Unrestricted individual and sundry funding is currently only a small proportion of total income (4%).

There is no specific fundraising team and individual donations have not been a past priority. The latest strategic review notes the need to increase this area to cover core costs and increase flexibility and reserves. As project activities increase, delays in project funding can run reserves down so this important. On the other hand, good institutional support could be protective during the current financial crisis. AET will target young people’s activities in sport or university as well as high net worth individuals. It may hire a dedicated fundraiser.

AET is having difficulty funding Swaziland youth vocational training. Swaziland is not strictly a least developed country, but the income disparity is wide and the target beneficiaries are amongst the most disadvantaged.