Operating
Model
Designing the Solidarity Fund’s Operating Model
Development of the mandate
The Solidarity Fund was conceptualised as a platform through which individuals, the private and public sectors, philanthropic organisations, communities and other organisations could join together in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Fund mobilised and coordinated financial and in-kind contributions from all South Africans and members of the international community.
The overall design and development of the mandate was focussed on meeting local needs and the local context, whilst drawing on global responses to COVID-19. The Solidarity Fund also looked to the World Health Organisation (WHO) for guidance on how to set strategic objectives for the Fund’s Health Pillar, based on their response to the pandemic.
When the mandate was developed, the Board ensured that the right people were in the room who could help mobilise individuals to act. The Board defined what experience and expertise the Fund required and identified individuals who had well rounded experience where they could apply holistic business knowledge to various areas across the value chain.
Identification of key strategy objectives and pillars
Right at the outset as the Fund was being discussed, it was agreed that rather than exploring other strategies outside of the government-determined strategy to the pandemic, Solidarity Fund was to unite the nation in solidarity to augment government’s efforts. Sometimes acting in concert with government and sometimes partnering with other sectors of society to support the country’s strategy.
Mandate of the Solidarity Fund:
- The Fund was required to mobilise and coordinate financial and in-kind contributions from all South Africans and members of the international community.
- The Fund was required to use funds raised and other in-kind contributions to ameliorate both the health crisis and the social consequences of the pandemic.
- The Fund was required to bring South Africans together to play their part in combatting COVID-19.
Determining pillars from the strategic objectives
The Fund initially established the following goals to be able to have the level of impact that could help the Fund execute on the mandate outlined above.
Detect and Care: Detect and understand the magnitude of the disease. Care for those in hospital or in need of medical care.
Support: Support those whose lives have been disrupted by the pandemic.
Prevent: Prevent the spread of the disease by supporting measures to "flatten the curve" and lower infection rates.
The strategic focus areas were further refined into three pillars – the health response, the humanitarian effort, and the behaviour change campaign. These pillars were chosen because it was where the Fund believed it could make the greatest contribution to supporting the national health response and ameliorating the impacts of the crisis on all residents of South Africa.
Implementing a performance measurement framework for implementation partners to assess the capacity of the smaller organisations they support will help to build a database of such partners for future projects.
The Solidarity Fund’s structure and operations were designed with the following principles in mind:
1
Agility and speed. The Fund was a rapid response vehicle, it moved at speed and focussed on a scale to be catalytic, to fill gaps, and to deliver impact quickly.
2
Having a flat organisational structure supports an empowered leadership.
3
Effective engagement and management of the external stakeholder eco-system.
4
Ensure an empowered executive that applies collaborative approaches to rapid decision-making.
5
To be an enabler through fund deployment, where possible the Solidarity Fund made use of service providers over owning internal capabilities and assets.
6
Establish effective financial controls for the management of the funds donated by various public stakeholders.
7
Ensure high transparency, accountability, and flow of information.
8
Ensure the core execution and oversight team are as lean as possible.
9
Ensure a strong independent Board of Directors.
10
Work closely with but remain independent from government and business.
The Solidarity Fund was very intentional with its operating model design to ensure it bridged the gap between strategy and execution.
As a point of departure, the three key focus areas of Health Response, Behaviour Change and Humanitarians Response reflected the strategic objectives underpinning the Fund, with the end-to-end business processes designed to be driven by three key enablers. These key enablers drove operational parity across all business processes and enabling functions, thus ensuring that the Fund was able to successfully deliver on its mandate.
These three key enablers were:
- A capable and capacitated workforce;
- Institutionalised practices; and
- Enabling technology and systems.
The end-to-end business processes that facilitated delivery against the Fund’s mandate were: (1) Planning and awareness; (2) Donation receipt; (3) Donation allocation; (4) Contracting; (5) Project implementation and management; (6) Monitoring and reporting.
The core components of the operating model were:
- Fundraising
- Disbursements
The supporting and enabling components were:
- Finance and fund administration
- Corporate communications
- Operations
The below image provides a visual description of The Fund’s operating model including all core and enabling functions:
The operating model was designed to be a disbursement orientated organisation. The operating model was designed as a lean structure, minimising ownership of assets, placing a lot of reliance on third party support and outsourcing. It was not designed to operate for the long term, but rather as a short term vehicle with a narrow focus.
The core functions were categorised as inflow or outflow activities designed to enable the delivery of the Fund’s strategy and mandate.
Inflow activities included the fundraising function that entailed the sourcing of donations and ‘back office’ donations management. The fundraising function was governed by the Fundraising Board Committee.
Outflow activities included disbursements of funds that entailed the allocation and delivery of donations through the matching of solutions to challenges, governed by the Executive Committee, the war room, and the Disbursement Board Committee.
The image below describes the critical end-to-end activities that are required to disburse funds successfully and transparently in alignment with the Solidarity Fund’s mandate:
In the early stages of mobilising and designing the Fund, its focus should be on designing an integrated operating model and to effectively communicate this to all volunteers, staff and leadership.
The operating model should incorporate people practices that avoid widespread burnout in every phase of the operations.
Management of institutional knowledge and structured handovers and inductions are key in an environment with fast turnover such as was evident in the phase of the Fund that was characterised by volunteerism.
It is critical that role clarity does not translate to silo mentality taking hold in functional areas, and that a collaborative culture is deliberately maintained.
It is critical that role clarity does not translate to silo mentality taking hold in functional areas, that a collaborative culture is deliberately maintained.
The organisation should be agile and adaptable to such an extent that the operating model is able to evolve over time as circumstances evolve.
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