Crowd-funding for students in need

Tertiary and often high school education are ‘luxuries’ not everyone is able to enjoy due to the various financial challenges most households face.

But Fundi, an education solution provider in the financial technology (FinTech) space, recently launched a new funding model to assist disadvantaged students who deserve opportunities to further their studies, but are hampered by their financial situation.

The Fundi Fund, officially launched on 29 November at their Constantia Office Park offices, is a crowd-funding platform which will allow people to contribute to educating others.

Fundi CEO, Tshepo Ditshego shed light on how this project started. “Last year, when we were looking at making an impact with our Corporate Social Investment (CSI) money and funds from our staff members who contribute part of their salaries to help fund students’ tuition, we became frustrated because we wanted to do more. We consequently came up with the idea of creating a fund to which not only staff members could contribute, but everyone else, whether corporate or individual,” Ditshego explained.

Explaining the concept, he cited the KFC Adding Hope campaign to which customers donate R2, but explained the uniqueness of their own idea. “The mechanism behind the Fundi Fund is simple – team members consent to a monthly deduction from their salary. This amount is then pooled across the company, with Fundi matching it from its own CSI funding,” he detailed.

In a move to strengthen the fund’s impact, Ditshego said they registered their own foundation with trustees in October. “The idea behind this model is to do more and get more resources to help more students,” he said. He emphasised that the funds will be used to enhance the education of students in terms of providing bursary support, making sure that people pass and assist those with physical and learning disabilities.

While this platform may be new, Ditshego noted that the fund has already changed the lives of 12 learners, with eight of them being children of staff members.

“This is quite remarkable if you consider our comparatively small team – and the value of a full educational bursary,” he said.

When asked about their target, he said the sky is the limit but hoped to collect millions. “I think somewhere in the millions; R100 million will be a nice starting point,” he envisaged.

He added that while staff can stop contributing at any time, very few do. “In fact, if anything, we’ve seen an increase in the team members’ generosity over the years. This is both humbling and inspiring, given that most of them have their own families and children they’re supporting through school or college. It has demonstrated the real potential of a collective effort in this space,” he said.

Ditshego encouraged potential funders and prospective students requiring loans to visit their website at https://www.fundi.co.za for more information on their offering.