Our strategy
and performance
Developing sustainable funding solutions
Developing sustainable funding solutions
Every donation we receive enables us to save more lives. The ripple effect of each contribution is massive: just one donor’s contribution can help to fund a rescue that keeps an entire family whole and a community safe. It is our commitment to honour every bit of support we get through careful and disciplined financial management, accurate and timely reporting, and good controls.
How we create and preserve value
We receive funds from donors, partners and businesses, enabling us to deliver our lifesaving services and ensure future economic value for South Africa.
Our funds are generated from donations and sponsorships from individuals, institutions, corporations and government. Over the past two decades, we have built a resilient, steady approach to fundraising that has enabled us to sustain and expand our operations and impact. Our approach is underpinned by a diverse and scalable fundraising model that ensures we are never reliant on any single source of income and that we can generate stable, predictable income flows for effective planning. Protecting and evolving this model is a strategic priority.
The graph below shows the various sources of our fundraising. This highlights the key role of our fundraising competitions and the growing contribution from retail sales.
Fundraising by source
The graph below provides a breakdown of fundraising general (non-competition and non-retail fundraising sources). This demonstrates the importance of each diverse income stream as a contributor to steady growth over time.
Fundraising general breakdown
| Value created and preserved over time | |||||
| Key organisational metrics to track our performance | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | ||
| Revenue contributions from different funding sources | R221 million | R200 million | R187 million | ||
| Number of donors and supporters | 101 853 | 100 021* | 101 777 |
* Restated due to redefining the classification of donors.
10-year income, expenses and capital trendline
Over the past 10 years, the NSRI has shown steady growth in income, matched by appropriate operating cost increases while supporting our intensive capital investment programme, which began in 2017, with the new deep-sea fleet regeneration programme.
Income*
(2024: R200.0 million)
Operating surplus
(2024: R13.4 million)
Retail sales
(2024: R6.9 million)
General fundraising
(2024: R47.8 million)
Fundraising centre competitions
(2024: R140.3 million)
* Excludes distribution from Endowment Trust.
- Maintenance and operational costs are increasing due to inflation and ageing infrastructure.
- Market volatility creates uncertainty in long-term financial planning.
- Economic pressure constrains donations from individuals and organisations.
- Donor fatigue creates pressure from competing non-profit entities.
- Consolidate automation gains in fundraising and financial management to ensure full adoption of digital workflows.
- Complete Microsoft Business Central, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), point-of-sale and banking system integrations to strengthen real-time control and reporting.
- Enhance analytical and reporting capability to support insights-driven decision-making.
- Implement structured staff development and training programmes aligned with digital transformation goals.
- Maintain zero repeat audit findings through disciplined control processes and continuous monitoring.
- Increase our reach into corporates, government and state-owned enterprises, individuals and international funding segments.
- Strengthen donor experiences through improved engagement platforms.
CASE STUDY
Changing the Score on Drowning:
Turning sport into sustainable fundraising
Sustainable funding results
The NSRI delivered a strong operating surplus of R19.2 million for the year ended 31 December 2025, R1.6 million ahead of budget, demonstrating financial resilience in a demanding operating environment. This surplus excludes the R47 million NSRI Endowment Trust distribution and provides the funds for our intensive capital expenditure programme.
Total revenue reached R221.3 million, R1.6 million above the budget of R219.7 million and R21.4 million (11%) higher than in 2024. This year-on-year growth includes a once-off surplus on the sale of the Glengariff property (R10.1 million). Excluding this, underlying revenue grew by R11.3 million (6%) compared to the prior year.
Revenue from fundraising activities of R206.5 million increased by R11.2 million (6%) compared to 2024 (R195.4 million), reflecting sustained growth across core fundraising streams. This is a remarkable achievement in a year when many NPOs and NPCs contracted, particularly following cuts in international aid to South Africa.
Our general fundraising portfolio raised R56.6 million in 2025 (2024: R47.8 million), reflecting strong year-on-year growth of 18.4%. This is also 12% ahead of the R50.6 million budget, demonstrating broad-based strength across multiple income categories.
In 2025, our fundraising centre competitions delivered R142.8 million, confirming this source as a primary revenue engine contributing approximately 69% of total operating income. This result was 1.1% above budget and 1.8% higher than 2024.
Read our financial results for detailed information.
Funding streams
We raise funds from a variety of sources and through multiple channels.
Competition and individual fundraising
We have two flagship fundraising competitions (the monthly giving cash prize and the car competition), which are driven by our outbound call centre. They are part of our powerful performance marketing model, which also drives direct individual donor appeals and retail online sales through multiple channels. We also engage with donors through events and activations at our stations and in local communities.
Business fundraising
We focus on engagements and partnerships with corporates, institutions, trusts, foundations and government departments. Relationship management and personal interactions are key in this approach. We target industry sectors and partners best aligned to our common cause, including the shipping, tourism and fishing industries.
Service income
Service income comes from a variety of organisations and institutions, including government and corporates. We provide services including lifeguarding, water safety training and medevacs.
Retail sales
Our clothing and merchandise offering provides a growing revenue stream from our stores and, increasingly, from direct online sales.
R5.3 million above budget (+5%)
Join the Crew that Saves Lives campaign, launched in the first quarter of 2025, was the primary monthly giving online acquisition platform.
Positive performance peaks were created around three grand prize draws during the year.
At R26.0 million , the competition grew by R700 000 (2.8%) year on year and achieved a record single-day sale of 976 tickets (R678 320).
The NSRI also secured a landmark new Suzuki Auto partnership for 2026.
In 2025, our direct and social media campaigns added impetus to new donor volumes through improved lead generation and conversion rates. The combination of face-to-face and monthly giving’s new acquisition approaches created a resilient and cost-effective donor pipeline.
Overall, the number of unique donors grew by 1.8% in 2025 compared to 2024, demonstrating our commitment to continuously strengthen donor retention and loyalty.
To subsidise crew clothing and PPE, the NSRI offers a range of branded clothing at its V&A Waterfront store in Cape Town and online. A professionalised approach was initiated in 2024 and embedded in 2025, delivering a turnover of R7.2 million last year (R7 million in 2024, R3.2 million in 2023), with online sales recording the strongest growth to reach R2.3 million for the year (R1.4 million in 2024, R0.3 million in 2023).
