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 talk with Zahir Mirza, founder of ActiveDonor.

Tell me about yourself and your company/consulting services.

I’m an electronic engineer by training, and I spent about 15 years in industry—places like Toyota and Rand Water—doing automation and large-scale systems work. I didn’t grow up in the nonprofit world, so when I came into it, a lot of things didn’t make sense to me.

ActiveDonor started kind of by accident. A friend of mine, who now runs a nonprofit and is my co-founder, came to me maybe seven or eight years ago. He said, “I’m running this charity, but everything’s all over the place. I need a way to manage donations and keep track of who’s giving what.” I assumed there’d be loads of software tools out there already, but none of them really worked for the South African context.

So I built something basic for him, and he paid me for it—it was just a side project. I also offered it to another nonprofit working in autism support where I was volunteering. The feedback was great, and with my co-founder’s network, we started offering it to more people—free, just to help out.

Eventually I invested more time in rebuilding the system, and we onboarded a fresh group of 15 organisations with a six-month free trial. At the end of that, all of them chose to stay, and that was the start. Since then, we’ve had a steady stream of growth. Today, ActiveDonor helps hundreds of nonprofits track donor data, issue Section 18A certificates, and submit IT3(d) returns directly to SARS in minutes, all in one platform, saving organizations countless hours of admin work each month.

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

It wasn’t intentional at first. Like I said, I came into this from the outside. But the reason I stayed is because I saw this massive inefficiency, people doing admin work manually, tracking donations in Excel, issuing certificates with Word templates. As a tech person, I couldn’t understand why things were still being done that way.

And then I saw that nothing really catered to our South African nonprofit ecosystem. I built something that worked for my friend, and then realised how many others were struggling with the same issues. The more I worked with nonprofits, the more I realised how much impact we could make just by removing these pain points. It’s grown from there. And the fact that it actually makes a difference? That’s what keeps me here.

What do you find most rewarding about working with nonprofits?

What’s really rewarding is the scale of impact. We’re a small, dedicated team—just a handful of us—but we support over 700 nonprofit professionals. And they, in turn, are reaching thousands across the country. Software is a force multiplier. You build something once, and hundreds of people use it. That leverage means even a small improvement can have a huge impact down the line.

Also, the feedback from users is incredibly fulfilling. If you look at our reviews, you’ll see that we’re constantly listening, adapting, and improving based on what nonprofits tell us they need. That’s probably what I value most: the opportunity to keep learning and serving a sector that genuinely matters.

 Trust was the first big challenge. Early on, we didn’t have a track record ... We overcame that by listening and building carefully.

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

Trust was the first big challenge. Early on, we didn’t have a track record. We were asking organisations to trust us with sensitive donor data, and that’s a huge ask. People wanted to know, “Will you be around in five years? Is my data safe? Are you going to share it with anyone?”

We overcame that by listening and building carefully. We earned our place by solving real problems. Over time, our system became more robust.

Another major challenge has been managing deadlines, especially around the IT3(d) submissions to SARS. It’s a technical, repetitive, and often stressful process for nonprofits. We started anticipating these crunch points and proactively built tools and onboarding systems to help people stay compliant easily.

We’ve had calls the just before the deadline—people in panic. One woman who works at a children’s home phoned me at 7am while she was on her way to court. She was not sure if she could trust us. She saw that a friend had reviewed us online, phoned them to check, then called me. We onboarded her that same day.  She just uploaded her Excel data, reviewed it, clicked submit, and she was done. Five minutes later, she had confirmation from SARS - a process that typically takes organizations days or even weeks when done manually. That's the kind of transformation that shows we've come a long way.

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

Nonprofits are becoming more digital and more data-driven. It’s happening faster now. We’re seeing a shift towards donor-centric approaches, tighter compliance regulations, and more interest in collaboration. Organisations will need to do even more with fewer resources, and the ones that thrive will be the ones that adopt the right tech early.

AI is also going to be a bigger part of the picture. It’s creeping into everything we do, and I don’t think we can ignore it. I’m currently diving deep into AI myself, figuring out how we can integrate it meaningfully into ActiveDonor. The platform is going to look very different in a few years. We’re not standing still.

What’s really rewarding is the scale of impact...we support over 700 nonprofit professionals. And they, in turn, are reaching thousands across the country. Software is a force multiplier.

Can you share an example of a nonprofit client you’re especially proud to have worked with and why?

There are just too many. It’s like asking someone to pick a favourite child—impossible. We’ve worked with big names like Reach for a Dream, Gift of the Givers, and Islamic Relief. Many have tens of thousands of donors on our system. But we also work with many small organisations - like Wheel Well, a remarkable children's road safety charity with far fewer donors yet doing incredible work.

What amazes me most is the diversity in the nonprofits we serve. You’ve got people fighting fires, helping animals, rescuing children, providing legal support—all kinds of causes. And we get to support all of them, quietly, behind the scenes.

The nonprofit space is a challenging one to work in, whether you are nonprofit staff or a service provider. What do you do to take care of yourself?

Honestly, not enough. I used to cycle and do a bit of running—mountain biking was a favourite—but I’ve let that slip. These days, it’s mostly just trying to be present for my family. My kids are teenagers now, so that keeps me on my toes. Most of my free time is just supporting them, keeping things running at home.

I’m also naturally curious. What keeps me going is learning—understanding how things work. That’s probably why I’ve taken such a deep dive into AI recently. I still feel like a kid in that way. But yeah, I should do more.

What do you think sets your company or your services apart in the nonprofit services sector? In other words, why should nonprofits work with you?

We listen. That’s the biggest thing. I’m not from this sector, so I don’t assume I know everything. I have to listen to understand what nonprofits need, where they’re struggling, and how we can make things easier. Every feature we’ve added to ActiveDonor came from real feedback, real conversations.

We’ve built the platform specifically for the South African nonprofit environment, based on real-life nonprofit workflows. It’s not some imported tool trying to force itself into a context it doesn’t understand. We know the challenges, like Section 18A, IT3(d), and tight admin deadlines, and we’ve built ActiveDonor as a reliable, all-in-one solution that eliminates complexity for nonprofit administrators.

We’re responsive, too. If someone calls me the day before a SARS deadline in a panic, we onboard them, walk them through the process, and they’re done in minutes. We’ve built trust by showing up, solving problems, and constantly evolving the platform. We’re not trying to be everything to everyone, but we’ve created a comprehensive system that solves a number of different problems for nonprofits, helping them do their work more effectively and with a lot less stress.

• Find out more about ActiveDonor  in our #Classifieds
  

• Visit the ActiveDonor website