Strengthening LAT from within: first milestones of the Humentum consultancy

In May 2025, the LAT proudly launched a financial sustainability consultancy with Humentum, as part of the Ford Weaving Resilience Program. This initiative aims to equip LAT with stronger internal systems, improved financial resilience, and long-term independence. Now that the first phase is underway, we’re excited to share key milestones and lessons from the journey so far.

Diagnosing Our Starting Point

The consultancy began with a desk review of LAT’s internal governance and financial practices. This included an in-depth analysis of:

• Our governance documents and financial audit reports
• Sources of income and financial reserve levels
• Membership trends (growth from 5,812 to 6,004 members in 2024)
• Asset portfolio

This review confirmed LAT’s strengths – including a strong member base and existing unrestricted revenue – but also flagged areas needing urgent attention:

• Outdated strategic and financial plans
• Lack of internal risk registers, fundraising policies, and HR procedures
• Audit gaps and untracked fixed assets
• Need for stakeholder and income diversification strategies

Building a Roadmap for Resilience

In response, Humentum’s team introduced a structured Strategic Financial Management Framework. This model encourages LAT to shift from reactive, short-term operations to proactive, long-term planning. A core message was: “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

The strategy is structured around three key questions:

1. Where are we now?
   → Through SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats), risk, income, and stakeholder analyses
2. Where do we want to go?
   → By setting reserves targets, income diversification goals, and sustainability benchmarks
3. How will we get there?
   → Through policy development, financing strategy, stakeholder engagement, and mentoring

What We’ve Learned So Far

The first online sessions revealed valuable insights:

• Financial sustainability is not just about funding, it’s about credibility, internal controls, and strategic foresight
• A diversified income base is vital: organizations relying on one or two donors are highly vulnerable
• LAT can capitalize on its assets and its strong brand to generate more unrestricted income, including consultancies, training, and ethical partnerships
• Building financial reserves is essential to buffer against unforeseen shocks and it must begin now

What Comes Next

The consultancy spans from May to August 2025, and is structured as follows:

• 7 Online capacity-building workshops (May–June 2025)
• 4 Mentoring and coaching sessions (July 2025)
• Drafting of key financial policies (August 2025)
• Peer reviews and finalization (August 2025)
• Impact assessment (TBD but likely November 2025)

By the end of this process, LAT will have a complete Financing Strategy, a set of financial and ethical policies, and a clear roadmap to sustainability.

Why This Matters

At its core, this work ensures that LAT can continue defending the rights of teachers, providing services to its members, and engaging in advocacy without depending solely on external donors. It is also a demonstration to partners – national and international – of LAT’s growing capacity, professionalism, and vision.

“The organization and its core work will not collapse if external funding is withdrawn.”
– Definition of financial sustainability, Humentum Session 1 (Norton, 2009)

A Collective Effort

This progress would not be possible without the dedication of LAT’s leadership and staff, and the support of Humentum’s expert team. Together, we are building the foundation for a resilient and independent LAT, one that speaks powerfully for educators in Lesotho.