Nonprofit Fundraising Internship Africa

Talitha is a dream of a coordinator. She is the only reason I was given the opportunity to work as a fundraising intern at Greenpop in Cape Town. She hurried my resume through to give me a chance at the position I was ultimately offered. She truly cared about my experience, and proved it time and time again. From beginning to end, she was always checking in to make sure I was enjoying with my time at Greenpop. From beginning to end my experience Cape Town was the best experience of my life and it was all possible because of Talitha!

Working at Greenpop was a TREEmendous experience! I loved being surrounded by such driven and passionate people. The small office is a ton of fun and allows interns to learn about all the components needed to make nonprofits run efficiently. I appreciated being able to work in the fundraising department and was able to help write two grants while I was an intern. I found the interdisciplinary approach to grant writing a great learning experience and collaborated with colleagues in the finance and ecology departments to draft the grants. As a student looking to get more involved in the nonprofit world, I found the experience to be truly beneficial. I was able to enhance my writing, communication, and creative thinking. Along with working on the grants, I participated in the marketing of larger fundraising campaigns. In these campaigns, the goal was to get individuals to purchase trees for various celebrations and holidays. Learning about the different funding approaches Greenpop utilized helped me develop practical skills and gain a better understanding of how nonprofits operate on a whole.

Now that is over, I can say being an intern in Cape Town is without doubt a life-changing experience. Working in a very small team puts you in front of great opportunities and some challenges, the best situation if you are looking for an internship that gives you a high level of autonomy and the chance to see your ideas become amazing projects. Marleen and Greg are amazing human beings and beautiful supervisors, they make you feel truly appreciated and heard. There every encounter becomes an opportunity to learn about the other, and indirectly about yourself. Personally, I think sometimes it feels good to give something back for all the beauty you can experience living in incredible places such as Cape Town. Being far from home in a new completely different reality may make you feel smaller, but working in an enterprise like this can show you it's possible to become part of something bigger and world-changing, day after day.

My experience working in Cape Town was amazing. The small enterprise is run by passionate and sincere individuals who are willing to give you as much responsibility as you want to handle. Marleen is such an inspiring and straight-forward leader in office. One of the best aspects of content writing for Penda was that Marleen never forced me to write about anything. We would sit down together, have coffee and brainstorm five topics that could be useful, then I would choose which to write. I learned so much about SEO, marketing and social media management all while having an amazing cultural experience of living in South Africa.