SAGA - the end of a roller-coaster ride

"SAGA was a brave effort at a fascinating time. I was grateful to be part of the lessons and sad to see the end in the current form, but its work will benefit ventures to come." Joy Mills-HackmannIn February 2006, the Alliance eBulletin ran the following short news item: 'The Southern African Grantmakers' Association (SAGA) has announced its imminent closure because of a lack of funding to cover costs. The SAGA board said that "good governance rules" prevented it from continuing without guaranteed sources of funding.' It was a sad -- and, to many, surprising -- end to an organization that had begun with such high hopes in the heady days of the new South African democracy. What lay behind its demise? As Alliance talked to people who knew SAGA from various perspectives -- staff, board members, funders, and denizens of the South African non-profit scene -- a picture began to emerge of an organization that in the end fell between all stools.