Modern, vibrant and futuristic new look for Famsa

THE past year has been filled with exciting new projects and developments at Famsa (Families South Africa), including the launch of a new website and enhancing their brand.

These achievements were announced by the organisation’s national executive director, Naku Masuku, during the NPO’s annual general meeting on September 13.

“The focus for the past year was to deliver on our mandate and maintain operational sustainability. We also assessed what we need to change to strengthen our position in the market, through creating visibility and striving towards staying as ‘top of mind’ to beneficiaries, funders, stakeholders (local and international) and government.

To achieve this, and following on the advice from last year’s guest speaker marketing specialist, Nandi Dabula, who emphasised the need for NGOs to enhance their brands, Famsa launched a new website and enhanced their brands through an exciting colour scheme consisting of purple, red and orange.

Masuku described the new theme as more “modern, vibrant and futuristic, and aligned with who we are and demands attention from our audiences”.

The new website is more engaging with the organisation’s clients.

“It is also more informative and captures the audience that we require. There is more development on the website that is still on the cards in order to reach where we want to be.”

The organisation also focused on their awareness campaigns and enhanced their basket of services so as to achieve uniformity of services nationally; however, still bearing in mind the unique needs and challenges of each province and catering as such.

“But perhaps our most significant achievements this year have been collaborative, as befits our mission. We have continued to build partnerships in key sectors that benefit the communities we serve.”

Although facing financial challenges, the organisation was able to provide the following services in the past year: life skills for teenage parents, youth mentorship, the role of fathers in families, different mediation options in children, strengthening governance among developing affiliates and monitoring and evaluation of affiliates.

The NGO was involved in various projects in the past year, including participating in national events to celebrate families and promote family issues.

In Kempton for example, Famsa held a Youth Day programme at Sir Pierre Van Ryneveld High where Grade Eight and Nine learners were equipped with knowledge and skills to prevent teenage pregnancy.

Regardless of difficult economic times, Famsa continued rendering the above mentioned services and programmes nationally.

Speaking of difficult times, the organisation did hit a few humps along the way as they didn’t receive some of their annual funding, namely from Viva Trust, which resulted in the organisation being worse off financially in comparison to the previous year.

“We had to dip into reserves and interest received on our money market account was also less than the previous financial year, but somehow we have managed to break even and survive,” Sharon Scalamandre, Famsa’s accounting officer, said.

“Moreover,” she continued, “the NPO/NGO sectors, both locally and internationally, have continued to operate under the impact of a depressed economic environment. We are struggling between donors’ interest and the organisations’ core needs.”

As a result Famsa has been faced with the same financial challenges, yet still recognises the importance of counteracting the pressures in income and expenditure.

The organisation’s chairperson, Edmore Nyanhongo, concluded that despite the challenges the organisation is facing, they continued to be resilient and diligently deliver their mandate under the circumstances.

The AGM was also graced by guest speaker Rev Dr Mvume Dandala, who left a powerful message about family being the centre of our national life, saying that families are a formidable unit around which society is built.

Check out Famsa’s vibrant new website at www.famsa.org.za

For more information, contact 011 975 7106/7 or email national@famsa.org.za.