Tuesday 29 May 2012

How do I go about fundraising in South Africa?





I had a stressful day yesterday...moving house...Today I went to an Informal Settlement and everything was put into perspective.

I found a day care centre for children aged 6 months to 6 years. I was representing another charity last week supporting the donation of shoe boxes filled with gifts for Christmas.

The day care caters for 62 children all from the township with 4 members of staff. They charge the parents R70 a month and that's their only income.

Today I turned up with a boot full of shopping, womens clothes and some basic crockery.

The children ran to the car, shouting, waving, the staff carried the bags into their kitchen and thanked me 'God bless you'

It's winter, they have a metal building, with various rugs scattered on the dirt floor, for schooling. There is no insulation, electricity or water. A seperate building for cooking and 2 huts with a hole in the ground for the toilets.

I want to do a one off project for this facility and thats to buy every child a blanket, hat, scarf and pair of gloves. It is winter, wity average night time temperatures around 5c and it's going to get colder) It will cost under R50 per child (that's less than £5) If I can get a deal with a supplier, even better.

But this is where I come unstuck....I don't know how to go about asking for donations. I can ask on twitter but how do we get the money here from other countries.

Are you able to help?

14 comments:

  1. You can put a Paypal Donate button on your website. I have done this a few times, see a site I did recently - http://www.menorahhouse.co.uk/donations.html

    People don't need a paypal account to donate, just a credit or debit card.

    @LJB41

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    1. thank you so much, i'll look into it now

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    2. I spoke with someone about that today, but donations via paypal are taxable...i would need to set myself up as a 'not for profit' charity, which I'm looking into

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  2. What a brilliant idea I am always dubious about giving to charity as so much is taken up with admin and salaries, this way I would know that 100% of my donation would be used for the cause it was collected for. Well done you!

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    1. thank you, theres a new blog post up today about what i want/plan to do http://www.chickenruby.com/2012/05/bloggingforsouthafrica.html #BloggingForSouthAfrica

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  3. Something that people do alot here in Kenya to raise funds is to organise outdoor events at which each participating team pays a sizeable entry fee (usually 20 000 KSh, around £200 for a team of 4-6). (Thats in the reach of expats and middle class Kenyans, and means you make quite alot of money fast.) So for example we've been one of 20 teams (families and mixed groups) participating in a family challenge for the last 3 years for a mental health charity. Its been an overnight thing on a farm, with everyone camping (paying extra for pitches, and more still for beer/meals if wanted so you have a captive audience) but alot of fun getting e.g. adults driving cars blindfold to the directions of the children, lots of mental and physical challenges, all carrying a raw egg. Details here if you'd like to see more http://www.kamilimentalhealth.org/downloads.html They've managed to raise £5000 each year for the last two years, a major achievement in Kenya.

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    1. Thank you for your comment, I will be looking into a fundraising event this end

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  4. The only way forward, I think, is to find a company that is willing to donate blankets, hats, scarfs and gloves. Let me know and I will start hounding people. Or give people an option of posting the items to you. But we know what the post is like???

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  5. How could they get to you? With the thousands of UK parent bloggers surely we could each donate something to kit out every child? Happy to help whichever was you think best. x

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    1. Your idea got me thinking #BloggingForSouthAfrica http://www.chickenruby.com/2012/05/bloggingforsouthafrica.html

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  6. What a great idea! Raising funds is always tricky - it's a good idea to see the sorts of things that get good support locally. Similar to ThresholdMum's suggestion, my cousin (in England) organised a 24 hour football tournament. Teams paid to enter and each also raised sponsor money to play for some/all of the 24 hours. They raised £10k.

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    1. Am going to look into organising a fundraising event this end

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  7. I worked as a journalist in SA for several years and would often be heartbroken at the poverty. I found the fundraising spirit wasn't as great as it is here in the UK. I tried sending things over to SA - 2nd hand clothes etc, but wasn't able to co-ordinate the shipping, even Red Cross couldn't help.

    What about setting up a Just Giving page, so people from all over the world can donate? You can link it to your website. However, the 'charity' you're supporting needs to be listed with Just Giving and a charity number will need to be supplied.

    Another option for getting support from within SA is to proposition it as a corporate social responsibility opportunity that large organisation/s would buy into and be keen to support. You'll need to work out a plan to prove the benefits and value to the organisation. Insensitive, yes, but it's an option.

    If there is a shipping company in SA willing to cover costs for sending clothing and blankets from the UK then I'll help with gathering all the items from here.

    Julie

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    1. Thanks for your support. I've blogged again http://www.chickenruby.com/2012/05/bloggingforsouthafrica.html will some ideas for what people can help with

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