The party-affiliated foundations in Germany have been cooperating with parties in transition countries for over 30 years. However, this form of party support has rarely been the subject of empirical analyses: What options do the party-affiliated foundations have in the field of party support? What concepts underlie their funding measures? How are these concepts implemented in practice, and what challenges must be overcome? This study addresses these questions using the example of the party support programs of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Kenya and South Africa. The prerequisites for successful transformation effects through party support are at the center of the comparative analysis. The work develops a phase model of party support and presents it alongside the continuum of party institutions.