With the news that Interfund had closed, there was a sense of loss, sadness and even anger that such an important resource could be lost. An increasing number of NGOs have closed their doors in South Africa over the past few years, but Interfund was different. It wasn’t just another NGO; it had a history as a grantmaker that provided financial and capacity-building support to civil society organizations in a context of limited resources. True, there had always been a question mark as to whether it was an organization with a permanent role to play, but when it closed there was no reason to think that it had outlived its usefulness. So why did it close?