WILL YOU LIFT A FINGER TO HELP?
Who says modern technology is complicated? By sending just one SMS to the number 32221, South African cell-phone owners now have the opportunity to make a lasting and meaningful contribution to the fight against HIV/Aids!
Whilst the average South African is fully aware of the effect that HIV/Aids is having on our population, the options available for the public to show support for the fight against the pandemic are relatively scarce and very rarely simple.
However, this is all about to change as two of South Africa’s leading ‘Aids’ organisations, Cotlands and the Topsy Foundation, have joined forces to offer South Africans from all walks of life a unique and innovative opportunity to show their support for the fight against HIV/Aids. The campaign, endorsed by television personality Leanne Manas and backed by Exactmobile, is essentially an SMS fundraising campaign - with a difference.
The innovative mobile billing solution supplied by Exactmobile incorporates a subscription billing system i.e. those who participate in the campaign will have the nominal amount of R10 automatically deducted from their account each month, regardless of whether the person is a prepaid or contract subscriber.
Those wishing to support this campaign are encouraged to send an SMS with the word ‘Support’ to 32221, at a cost of only R1. They are then registered by SMS for the donation and the first R10 goes off their account. On a monthly basis the R10 will then be deducted on the same day of their registration e.g. the 17th. Naturally, anyone wishing to unsubscribe themselves can do so by simply sending an SMS with the message ‘Stop Support’ to the same number at a cost of R1, which will immediately unsubscribe them from the campaign.
The partnership between Topsy and Cotlands gives the campaign a more national reach, with both organisations heavily involved in Community Outreach programmes, offering relief services to people, many being children, affected by HIV/Aids and extreme poverty.
“This is without a doubt the easiest way for the public to show support for the good work Topsy and Cotlands is doing,’ commented Leanne Manas, ambassador for the campaign, ‘the ease of the transaction surpasses even that of internet banking transfers and its such a nominal amount per month that almost all South Africans who own a cell-phone can contribute.’
Of each R10 donated by subscribers per month, R6 will reach the two beneficiary organisations whilst the balance will be allocated to value-added tax, banking fees, network servicing, and other mobile billing costs. Exactmobile will not benefit financially from their involvement in this campaign.
“It would be unrealistic to expect a smaller margin to be allocated to administration. This is the price we pay for the convenience of the campaign and it remains a relatively small price to pay. It is also in line with international norms,’ added Manas.
With transparency and accountability being key concerns for forward-thinking NGO’s these days, a website has been launched which subscribers to the campaign can visit and find out how their investment is being applied.
‘Cotlands and Topsy are well-respected and trusted brands, we feel it is only appropriate that through the website, we instil a sense of confidence in our subscribers that their money is being put to good use,’ stated Manas.
Collectively, Topsy and Cotlands reach well over 10 000 people per month offering services ranging from medical and social welfare support, orphan support, food supplementation, educational support and hospice services. As such, approximately R30 million per annum are required to sustain the operations of both organisations collectively.
For more information, kindly visit www.topsyfoundation.org.za, www.cotlands.org, www.exactmobile.com, or contact
Ryan Birkin
Mobile Solutions
Exactmobile
011 467 1677
ryanb@exactmobile.com
Rochelle van Heerden
Fundraising Manager
Cotlands
011 683 7200
Rochelle@cotlands.org
Grant Law
Director of Communication and Fundraising
Topsy Foundation
011 709 6806
Topsyfoundation@ogilvy.co.za
Leanne Manas and kids
RAISING A NATION
Cotlands, celebrating its 70th birthday this year, has evolved into an organisation whose scope now extends far beyond its original facility in Turffontein. Today, working among disadvantaged communities in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Western Cape and Eastern Cape, it has became very apparent that in past decades of our organisation’s history, we were only skimming the surface of the real needs of South African communities.
The age group most predominantly infected with HIV in this country is 25 to 29, with a staggering statistic of 33%. Against this background, it is easy to understand why we have an ever growing population of orphaned and ill children. These children are being brought up by ageing grandparents or are supporting themselves and their younger siblings in desperate circumstances.
This is an unfortunate and challenging reality, but rather than stand by in quiet desperation, we have chosen to take a proactive stance in the face of this calamity.
One of our responses has been to devise the “Raising A Nation” campaign, a project that presents ordinary South Africans with the opportunity to make a small, but important, difference. Currently Cotlands cares for almost 2000 children each month, but, through this initiative, we would like to increase the number of beneficiaries significantly over the coming year.
Caring for a child under the Cotlands umbrella is a financially demanding undertaking. Through the Cotlands outreach programme, care workers go out into communities and ensure that the children receive food, clothing and basic essentials. They also assist the children by providing support and counselling and encouraging them to remain in school and acquire as much basic education as possible. The care workers help out with accessing and administering medication, including antiretroviral therapy, and monitor the children’s health at each visit.
Our national network of care workers is continually identifying more and more children who need this kind of help, but as resources are already stretched, new intakes have to be limited. Cotlands plans to increase capacity in our outreach programmes so that we can increase the number of children benefiting from these services, but to achieve this, we need sustainable funding.
It costs Cotlands on average R8 per day to care for a child, and the Raising A Nation campaign aims to encourage individuals to contribute, via debit order, R8 or multiples of R8 each month to support additional children, so that together, we can bring hope to life.
To support this initiative please download the Raising A Nation debit order form for the Cotlands website. Click here
Article by Adele Horin. Reproduced with kind permission from the Sydney Morning Herald, Australia.
JAMES HECKMAN - a Nobel prizewinning economist talks passionately about children saying we should invest heavily in programs for young disadvantaged children because it makes economic sense.
"The gains from investing in young children can be quantified," he says, "and they are large."
Every rand spent on disadvantaged children in the critical pre-school years, through intensive enrichment programs, generates a 17 per cent annual return to the child and society. By the time the children are aged 40, society will be repaid many times over, through reduced crime, welfare payments and higher tax revenue.
Professor Heckman, who won the prestigious prize for economics in 2000 for work on econometric methodology speaks with feeling of the children who miss out on intellectual stimulation and end up at a huge disadvantage by age six: "Once a child falls behind, he or she is likely to remain behind."
From the University of Chicago , he began his research evaluating the economic returns of job re-training programs. To his dismay, he found them to be largely ineffective, as were adult literacy and prisoner rehabilitation programs.
It was more difficult for older people to learn new skills, and there were fewer years for society to recoup the huge costs of re-training them. Then he turned to the other end of the age spectrum, and found cause for optimism in the results of early intervention programs.
These showed disadvantaged children who experienced intensive preschool and home visiting programs did far better as the years rolled on than did control groups. Even if the programs did not always raise IQ, they had lasting effects on motivation, self-control and ability to plan.
"Learning begets learning, skill begets skill," Professor Heckman says. "The earlier the seed is planted and watered, the faster and larger it grows."
