This interview series with our #Nonprofit Service Provider Classifieds advertisers aims to unveil the stories and motivations behind those who specialise in uplifting and guiding the nonprofit community.

In this interview, we get to know Nicole Copley, NGOLaw.

Tell me about yourself and your company/consulting services.

I started out as a Commercial and business lawyer with a big law firm, which didn't suit my personality. As a newlywed, I moved to a small town in KZN called Ladysmith and established a remote legal consultancy working with non-profits from all over the country. This was back in the 90s! So we were well placed for remote work when Covid hit.

When I moved back to Durban I started growing this little team, and there are now seven of us.

What inspired you to focus your career on the nonprofit sector?

I think that I am a natural optimist. It’s a wonderful thing to work in a space where people are shedding negativity and facing forward, doing amazing things and persisting. My favourite things about my clients are their passion, energy, and sheer endurance. Organisations I’ve worked with for over 30 years continue to do amazing work against all odds.

I’m also a bit of a narrative addict; I love a story. The positive stories nonprofits tell and helping them frame those stories to attract the support they need is what we’re about. Ensuring that their structures and governance align and support their stories allows them to raise funds and make an impact.

What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced in this sector? How have you overcome them?

One major challenge is funding and funding cycles. We’ve responded by offering various payment options for our services, like fixed fees and incremental assistance. For example, we offer discounted online consults where clients get two lawyers in a room to throw ideas on the table. We also add value through writing; when we learn things, we write about them and share that knowledge through our newsletters and other platforms.

My favourite things about my clients are their passion, energy, and sheer endurance. Organisations I’ve worked with for over 30 years continue to do amazing work against all odds.

Another challenge is the sporadic nature of nonprofit work. There can be a major emergency or complete radio silence. In most businesses, you’d close down such clients, but in this sector, you know they’ll be back when they need you. Experience helps you not to worry about these cycles.

How do you help nonprofit clients accomplish their missions more effectively?

It depends on what the client needs, but there are certain legal models that we recommend based on current laws. We focus on compliance, governance, and credibility.

Founder syndrome is a big issue; many organisations don’t survive the transition from their founder to a new CEO. Because of this, we have conversations with new founders about planning for their succession right from the start of conceptualising the organisation.

For boards, we encourage terms of office with mandatory gap years to ensure turnover and fresh perspectives. This helps prevent dependency on particular individuals and ensures continuity. We also recommend coaching for CEOs and boards to help them navigate their roles and relationships better.

How do you see the nonprofit sector evolving in the next 5-10 years? How are you preparing for those changes?

That’s a creative question! There are things one would like to see and then there are realities. Ideally, it would be amazing to see more collaboration and less competition for scarce resources like funding. I love collaborative projects where organisations come together for a specific cause. It’s hard to say if this is a trend or just a phase, but I’m seeing more of these collaborations lately.

I admire organisations that find innovative ways to make measurable impacts. I think in the next few years, as people understand the importance of data and its trackability, reporting and impact measurement will become more data-driven and less narrative-based. Hopefully, this will lead to more funding and work driven by a proper comprehension of the need and the impact, rather than just doing things that make people feel good.

What do you wish more people understood about working with nonprofits?

Many professionals still have old-fashioned ideas about what nonprofits do. They’d be surprised at the breadth, range, and innovation happening in the sector. Nonprofits aren’t only about soup kitchens and shelters; they include data analysts, app builders, economists, innovators and more. The value kickback from working with inspiring nonprofit projects is immense.

Nonprofits can be at the cutting edge of entrepreneurship and innovation in their own unique way. That's something of a necessity, because they're having to make do with so little.

We work with all types of nonprofits, and deal with a lot of startups and founders. We help them think through ‘what they want to be when they grow up’, which legal structure would best suit them, and help them get the foundations correctly laid.

The nonprofit space is a challenging one to work in. What do you do to take care of yourself?

As I get older, I’m finding so much peace in owning up to who I am instead of trying to fit that classic ‘professional lawyer’ mould. I’m embracing the soup of neurodivergence in my head, and I'm finding that as I relax and be more myself with my clients, our connection is more authentic, the service I give is better, and I find it much less stressful.

Besides that, I rely on outlets like boxing and yoga. I also love sea swimming, bird watching, baking, and reading.

What services do you offer at NGO Law, and what kind of nonprofit would benefit from your help?

We work with all types of nonprofits, and deal with a lot of startups and founders. We help them think through ‘what they want to be when they grow up’, which legal structure would best suit them, and help them get the foundations correctly laid. We assist organisations at other stages in their growth, with updates to documents, training boards, navigating changes. We handle compliance work, board term tracking, BEE affidavits, as well as contracts, MOIs, grant agreements, and tax advice around exemptions. We also help with CIPC registrations, registering changes to directors, and offer advice around tax exemption laws. We ensure that organisations don’t miss out on any advantages and provide crucial interventions.

The NGOLaw team

We’ve been doing more work lobbying around legislation. And explaining proposed legal changes. I love simplifying complex laws. It helps reduce the reactionary fear nonprofits often have towards government and legislation. Sometimes these laws are beneficial, like the new Section 18A reporting – which is a good thing! This law aims to reduce fraud and could lead to more funding for nonprofits.

What sets us apart in terms of legal service providers in this space is that NGOLaw is not just one person, it's a whole team of us. We offer a full suite of services to nonprofit sector, from the tiniest micro startups to the big, well-established international organisations.

• Find out more about NGOLaw in our #Classifieds

• Visit the NGOLaw website