A. survey of co~munal clubs serviced by the Africa Co-operative Action Trust (ACAT) in KwaZulu during 1989 is used to identify attributes and savings behaviour of club ?'embers. Discriminant analysis shOW& that garden club members tend to have higher on-farm income per household member and receive more KwaZulu Department of Agriculture (KDA) extension input than savings club members. Members who belong solely to a savings club receive more ACAT training and tend to be further from infrastructural amenities. Garden clubs can assist rural dcvetoi:i~cnt by encouraging surplus production for sale and focusing KDA extension efforts. Savings clubs improve access of rural people to trammg and farm inputs. Club savings increase during the pre-planting season (August to November) when input pun:hascs are made: Post-planting savings arc much lower, indicating allocation of funds to alternative uses (reduced incentive to sav~ un.111 next pre-plant mg season?, These patterns suggest that members use savings clubs to obtain inputs rather than as typical savings m~t1tut1o~s. Total r~al ann~al savt?l!;S and withdrawals in savings clubs fell between 1985 and 1987, due to a fall in average club membership. This was associated with declining real annual ACAT-KwaZulu operating budgets which reduced ACAT staff visits to clubs and assistance with input deliveries.