We need advice on how to structure dividend flows and reinvestments between our nonprofit and for-profit entities because this affects long-term sustainability and governance. Help us make the model funder-ready. 

Dividend Policy: How should we structure dividends between entities, and when should payouts begin?
Reinvestment Rules: What criteria should govern reinvesting profits versus paying dividends (e.g., growth milestones)?
Governance & MOUs: What governance structures or inter-entity MOUs should guide decisions and reporting?
Benchmarks/Case Studies: Any SA/global hybrid models we can learn from?
Risk & Reserves: What compliance/perception risks should we watch for, and what cash-reserve logic (e.g., 3–6 months OPEX) makes sense before dividends?

Please create a one-page explainer and simple cash-flow diagram showing how funds move between the Trust and the 51%-owned Pty. 

The Wot-if? Trust is a community-rooted public-benefit organisation based in Diepsloot. Its purpose is to grow the township economy by creating programmes, spaces and partnerships that connect residents especially youth and entrepreneurs to skills, technology, markets and income-earning opportunities. The Trust also serves as a delivery partner for corporate Socio-Economic Development and Enterprise and Supplier Development commitments in Diepsloot, ensuring compliant, well-governed impact that benefits the local community.

Collabo (Pty) Ltd is a majority (51% owned by the Wot If Trust) community-owned social enterprise created with the Wot-if? Trust to turn local economic opportunities into sustainable jobs and revenue. Collabo focuses on supplier development and circular-economy waste operations (including electronic waste, textiles/clothing and organic waste), offering compliant waste-management services to companies while building township value chains.

How the partnership between the Wot-If Trust and Collabo could work (still being finalised):
The Wot-if? Trust develops people and partnerships: recruitment, training and mentoring, community mobilisation, monitoring and evaluation, and funder/corporate relationship management and reporting. Collabo operates the commercial engine: leasing and running production sites, paying youth for on-the-job experience, managing logistics and quality, fulfilling offtake/sales, and ensuring health, safety and environmental compliance. Collabo is 51% owned by The Wot-if? Trust. It is designed to generate revenue and eventually pay dividends to the Trust, contributing to operational sustainability. 

However, we need to figure out how this works in practice. What is the right balance between reinvesting in Collabo’s growth vs transferring profit to Wot-if? We also want to ensure the model holds up to due diligence and is legally sound from a governance perspective.

Both entities currently non-compliant (Collabo catching up audits; Trust behind on PAYE – will fix once a big grant from the IDC funds land).

We need a clear policy for FY 2027 onward: how much profit Collabo retains vs pays out; audit & reporting mechanics; due-diligence proof.

Anything we do here will probably only become effective in the 2027 Financial Year (our financial year end is Feb 26)