Celine Morolong

South Africa Partnerships Consultant, GlobalGiving

Who She Is:

As GlobalGiving’s South Africa Partnerships Consultant, Celine’s role is to support GlobalGiving’s partners in South Africa and to help bring new nonprofit partners onboard. Celine is a forward-thinking communications professional with over 13 years of experience. Her passion for wanting to be part of a positive change around the world led her to GlobalGiving. On the weekend, she can be found experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen and playing soccer with her son and husband in the garden.

Q: Tell us about your background.

 
A: I have been involved with community-based organizations for a long time. Soon after graduating, I took on a job as an Ashoka Fellow in my home province. This was followed by some years in the public sector as a communications practitioner and later in two political offices over a span of five years. Throughout my career, I’ve had a strong connection to issues affecting people and a desire to make a positive difference and lend a helping hand when I can.

Q: What excites you most about being one of the newest members of the GlobalGiving team?

 
A: GlobalGiving has a spirit of hope that is alluring and infectious. I’m very excited to be part of such a team. What I’m most aflame about is helping many more South African organizations join the GlobalGiving family. I’m proud that I can play a small role in this process.

Q: Describe the biggest challenges and opportunities facing the South African nonprofit sector.

 
A: Keeping up with the fast-paced and ever-changing world of fundraising is a challenge for nonprofits in South Africa and around the world. Now more than ever there are multiple avenues to pursue in the quest to fill your piggy-bank. As a nonprofit leader in Cape Town put it so aptly during a recent GlobalGiving workshop, there is “so much competition” as to who can get to those donors’ purses first. This is where GlobalGiving can fill a vacuum as crowdfunding gives organizations access to many donors, in addition to historical avenues such as foundations. Internet penetration is rising across the globe, and now an organization in South Africa can reach a donor in Chicago and vice versa. That is amazing! GlobalGiving also provides tools and training to assist organizations on their crowdfunding journey, such as tips to telling a great story that stirs donors to give. A hopeful, authentic story can help your organization stand out in the crowd.

Q: Tell us about some of the inspiring people you’ve met in the South African nonprofit sector.

 
A: I’ve learned that it takes a special kind of person to be involved in a nonprofit organization. This individual is a “heart-person” with guts, diligence, and a spirit that cannot be ousted by anything. Just recently I met a young woman, Andiswa, who is Head Coach at BoxGirls. She speaks with so much passion about “kicking down the doors that stands mid young girls and their dreams.” There are many resolute champions like Andiswa in towns and villages across South Africa—champions like Marilyn from Boikanyo and Beverley from Fikelela who are determined to put in more than a 100 percent to make a difference in the communities they serve.

Q: You majored in drama and stage management. How does this inform your work today?

 
A: The theatre is really my first love. Through my professional career in communications, I have always tried to bring in theatre techniques, such as role play or forum theatre to enable discussions or to look at the matter at hand from a different point of view.

Featured Photo: Boxgirls Afterschool Leadership Education by Cameron Project Group