If you are a small and under-resourced nonprofit organization in Sub-Sahara Africa making a big impact or with the potential to do so, we can help you reach out to potential donors, partners, collaborators, researchers, media, and other stakeholders that you work with or that you serve, such as your beneficiaries.

We can help you in a number of ways.

What are the services you can apply for?

1. You can apply for Free Domain and/or Web Hosting.
2. You can apply to be paired with one of our volunteers to support you with Website Development services for free and mentor your team for a period to be agreed upon between you and the volunteer.
3. You can apply to be paired with one of our volunteers to help you with developing a social media strategy for your non-profit and support you in effectively implementing all your social media platforms, as well as blogging, podcasting, vlogging, and many more using simple tools like Canva, Figma, and Meta Business Suite, Youtube Studio, among others.
4. You can apply to be paired with one of our volunteers to help you with developing an online fundraising strategy and implement it, such as effectively leveraging available crowdfunding platforms.
5. You can access our video tutorials and other premium resources that can help you impact your communities through the optimal use of the Internet, mobile, and other digital technology.

How much does each service cost?

• All the services are FREE!
• While our volunteers will provide the services for free, applicants will be required to pay a small one-time marginal fee of US$30 to participate in this programme. Please note that although this is purely an admin fee to keep the programme running, it also represents some kind of commitment on the part of the participant (i.e. we found that there is a better commitment when the participants attach these free services to some monetary value of sorts). This is why the admin fee is only paid at the third stage of the application.
• Also, note that some third-party products may not be totally free, they may be heavily subsidised instead. This is where the applicant prefers to use premium third-party tools (instead of the free versions) like Canva Pro, Sigma Pro, Elementor Pro, etc, but they cannot afford the cost. In this context, the First Web Foundation might contribute to the purchase price of these tools and co-own the licences where necessary. Alternatively, the Forst Web Foundation may partner to strike special deals on behalf of the nonprofit partners participating in this program to access the premium either for free or at special discounts.

Why do we offer these services for free?

We are a non-profit initiative duly registered as a Non-Profit Organization (NPO) in South Africa.

We promote digital literacy among small, medium-sized and established non-profit organizations as a strategy for contributing towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while supporting them with free or subsidized website domains, hosting, social media management, and a raft of other services.

We only work with nonprofits that are already making a big impact in communities or those with promising potential to do so, and we believe that with the further integration of web and mobile-based tools, they can achieve even more. volunteers around the world can work virtually at their own convenient time, in the comfort of their homes and at restaurants, helping to raise awareness of myriad problems affecting deprived communities in Africa. With these online tools, they can, for example, help bring food and water to the ultra-poor, as well as medicines in clinics within under-resourced communities.

Eligibility guidelines and application procedures

1. The first step is for us to hear from you about what makes you believe you deserve this non-cash grant. Use the application form below to tell us about your nonprofit, such as your mission statement, your vision, your registration and statutes, the profile of the community that you serve, your work/activities with some evidence (pictures, videos, etc), and a write up of the achievements resulting from the activities (if you have anything that can be used as evidence to highlight these achievements, that would be even better).
2. You need to be a small nonprofit organisation that can hardly afford to access the services you are specifically applying for in the first place. Your budget must be US$0 – US$5,000 per year. You can apply for more than one service on offer concurrently, but be sure to tell us your top-most priority and your least priority.
3. You need to tell us why you need the services(s) you are applying for, why is it difficult to access the service (s) now, and how you think this non-cash grant will bolster your mission.
4. Your application will be accessed within four weeks and you will be told whether it has passed to the next stage, failed, or has the potential to pass to the next phase but we need more information to be further assessed or considered.
5. Once your application has passed, we will match or pair you with an available volunteer at the second stage. Note that we will never ask for an admin fee even at this stage. We will not only identify a volunteer you will be working with but also ensure that an initial assessment of your needs is collaboratively carried out between you and the selected volunteer in consultation with the First Web team member and that a support roadmap has been drawn.
6. The final (third) stage is the contracting phase where both the volunteer and the selected applicant must sign a legal commitment to participate in this programme, and the successful applicant must process an admin fee to the First Web Foundation either through online payment or a bank transfer. The legal agreement will outline the responsibilities, specific tasks, and expectations. It will also outline procedures and circumstances for termination of the agreement.

Are you ready? Apply now!