The SCAT Model

 SCAT provides financial support, fieldwork and capacity building to organisations who are located mostly in rural communities in the provinces of the Western, Northern, Eastern Cape, Free State and Limpopo. We categorise our partners according to their developmental stages: emerging, developing and established and it is on this basis that we determine the level of support required.

Financial Support

SCAT works with rural community owned development organisations we refer to as local development agencies (LDAs), especially those focusing on social justice. SCAT is concerned with all forms of discrimination and unjust practices in communities as well as the unfair distribution of resources. SCAT raises funds from funders – corporate, government and civil society – who support such work but do not have or wish to create the infrastructure necessary to monitor and support small and remote initiatives. SCAT provides core funds as a contribution to the running costs of LDAs, special development funds and rewards for local fundraising.

SCAT provides the following grants:  Core Grants; Micro Grants; Fundraising Incentive Scheme (FRIS) as an incentive to encourage community driven philanthropy and special project funds (e.g. food security, local economic development, youth initiatives, climate adaptation).

SCAT currently does not take unsolicited funding applications.

Core Grants:

Small grants which contribute to the running costs of each grantee are paid into the Local Development Agency (LDA) banking account on a monthly or quarterly basis depending on the development phase of each organisation. The size of grants is determined by funds available at SCAT and the capacity of the organisation to manage funds. Grants enable organisations to ensure that the basic offices costs are covered. SCAT believes that grants are developmental because they enable LDAs to make their own decisions and create the opportunity to leverage other resources.

Micro Grants:

SCAT provides these micro grants to its grantee partners:

DFT: Development Fund for Training is used by grantee partners for training their staff, committee members and volunteers. It is also used for campaigns and to host community workshops.

GBV: This microgrant is used for gender-based violence campaigns, training and awareness work in communities.

RACR micro grants: Partners use it for climate education, food gardening, environmental clean-ups, water conservation, and community mobilisation.

SAAC micro grants: These micro grants are mainly used to conduct basic anti-corruption awareness and educational activities in local communities.

FRIS:

FRIS (Fundraising Incentive Scheme) is an innovative tool to encourage the mobilisation of local resources. SCAT currently rewards LDAs R5 for every R1 profit made from a fundraising event. Events are verified through financial documentation and storytelling.  FRIS is an important contributor to community driven philanthropy and ensures that LDAs can reduce their dependence on grant funding. FRIS also encourages interest and involvement from the community in the work of the LDA and as a result encourages accountability and as sense of ownership of the LDA and its programmes.

Field Support

A Programme Officer is allocated to each Local Development Office (LDA) who is the primary interface with SCAT. The Programme Officer is a development practitioner who provides guidance, monitors and evaluates progress and assists LDAs in their linking, brokering and advocacy roles. All SCAT Programme Officers speak the language of the community they work in. The relationship between SCAT and its LDA partners is based on an annual contractual agreement which is derived from the LDAs’ own internal evaluation, planning and budgeting.

Capacity Building

Capacity building and training is offered by SCAT’s Programme Team and addresses issues related to organisational management and governance. We also focus on skills areas related to the work of the LDA such as access to justice, gender, youth empowerment and local economic development.

Capacity building refers to skills development and learning for the individuals involved in the management and operations of the Local Development Agencies (LDAs) as well as other rural community-based organisations (CBOs). SCAT also facilitates opportunities for community members and volunteers. Typically, a few workshops focus on financial management, fundraising and sustainability. One of the ongoing institutional challenges for CBOs is that as people develop skills and they tend to leave the organisation and move on to new positions. The result is a continuous need for skills development within the CBO.

The benefit has been that some people leave to use their skills in local and provincial government and thus potentially continue to add value to the community.  We also coordinate training on advocacy and how to run campaigns and the role and function of local, provincial and national government. Training workshops usually fit into a programme and are linked to the grants allocated to the LDAs. SCAT seeks partnerships with other specialist organisations where we do not have the content expertise.

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Access to Justice

SCAT has a long track record of funding community based advice offices. These organisations provide a paralegal service to communities where access to information is limited, and service delivery is poor. Access to justice is a basic human right. All people should have access to information and an agency which works on their behalf to ensure that their rights are protected. In South Africa paralegals are often the poor helping the poor. Lack of funding and a sustainable source of income means that paralegals are not adequately rewarded for the service they provide to their community. SCAT ensures that through a small core grant the running costs of the office are covered and the doors remain open. We work with Community Advice Offices South Africa (CAOSA) to promote the access to justice agenda at the highest levels in government.

Gender Justice

Gender-Based Violence (GBV) remains a major barrier to equality, development, and peace. Addressing GBV and ensuring that survivors receive both social and legal support is a key strategic priority for SCAT. Local Development Agencies (LDAs) play a vital role in raising awareness, promoting safer communities, and advocating for the rights of women, girls, and people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. In contexts where formal services are scarce, LDAs often serve as frontline responders, providing communities with critical refuge and support. They also play an essential role in advocating for survivors when the legal system falls short, and in accompanying them throughout the justice process.

Food Security

For food security to exist, all people in a community should be able to either grow or buy enough nutritious food to lead an active and healthy life. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) identified the four pillars of food security as availability, access, utilization and stability. The ravages of climate change with its extended cycles of drought and flash floods has threatened the ability of people in rural areas to produce their own food. In addition, the migration of men and young people to urban areas and mines has contributed to reduced subsistence farming and a loss of knowledge of traditional farming methods.

Youth

Local Development Agencies (LDAs) provide an opportunity for young people to be engaged in improving the lives of people in their communities, while gaining skills. In order to attract young people to the work of LDAs, SCAT previously piloted a YouthBank programme, which  engaged young people with local fundraising and micro grantmaking in their communities. The focus has moved on from YouthBank to involving youth in different ways. The Rural Action for Climate Resilience (RACR) and Strengthening Action Against Corruption (SAAC) both have a youth focused initiative. SAAC uses the Youth Ambassadors for Accountability (YAfA) programme to position young people as central actors in the fight against corruption. RACR has the Youth Ambassadors for Climate Change (YACC) introduced in 2024 as part of the second iteration of the RACR project. This is a significant step forward in engaging rural youth in the fight to raise awareness, adapt to and mitigate the challenges exacerbated by climate change. The programme encourages youth-led climate action and amplifies the voices of young people within rural communities.

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Climate Resilience

The Rural Action for Climate Resilience (RACR) project, led by SCAT, supports rural communities in South Africa to build sustainable climate resilience through community-driven initiatives. In partnership with the South African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI), the project focuses on enhancing food security, water conservation, and climate education. Currently funded by the Embassy of Ireland, RACR empowers community-based organisations with the tools, knowledge, and support to address climate change impacts and foster long-term environmental sustainability.

SCAT Theory of Change

Strategic Objective: To partner with LDAs to build strong institutions which are able to respond to
the cross cutting issues of access to justice, gender, youth and food security.

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The Dullah Omar School (DOS) for Paralegalism is a partnership project with the Black Sash and CAOSA (Community Advice Offices South Africa). DOS ran for the 11th time in 2025.