Maybe you’ve considered contributing to charity in some way, whether by fundraising, volunteering or buying Christmas presents for the less fortunate over the festive season. But how do you know which organisations really need your help and how do you go about assisting them?

GivenGain, based in Stellenbosch, aims to provide these organisations with the platform and means to manage their fundraising and enables you as individual to get involved.

The GivenGain Group was founded in July 2001 by two brothers inspired by the idea that “it is more blessed to give than to receive”. Eleven years later the foundation is stronger than ever, spans over the South African border to Switzerland and has become an integral part of the organised, private, non-profit sector. During this time, GivenGain Foundation has processed more than R400 million in donations.

The GivenGain Foundation helps non-profit organisations build strong, sustainable funding models and also assists individuals to achieve extraordinary things while raising money for their favourite causes. The GivenGain platform enables non-profit organisations to mobilise their online fundraising at a fraction of the traditional time and cost while enabling individuals to fundraise online for projects on their behalf in a secure way.

To support your favourite non-profit organisation (cause) this festive season, go to www.givengain.com/causes and search by Cause or Keyword. Or would you like to start a Christmas project  on behalf of an organisation and invite your friends to support the cause? Then the Activist initiative is for you – www.givengain.com/learn/activists/

For more information visit www.givengain.com or send an email to support@givengain.com

CHOC Childhood Cancer Foundation SA is a national organisation dedicated to providing assistance to children that are battling cancer or life-threatening blood disorders, and their families.

CHOC Western Cape has three facilities that provide a ‘home away from home’ for disadvantaged families that travel long distances for treatment. The CHOC Lodge Tygerberg provides assistance to families receiving treatment at Tygerberg Children’s Hospital, while the CHOC House Plumstead takes in families from Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and Groote Schuur Hospital.

Earlier this year, Wendy Robyn from IT’s network department took it upon herself to collect presents for children residing in these houses. IT staff donated 22 gift packages and these were successfully dropped off at the CHOC Tygerberg Lodge last week. Some gifts will go to  patients at the Paediatric Oncology Ward at Tygerberg and the balance will go to Red Cross.

This foundation receives no support from government and rely on donations and financial support from the public.  Therefore they depend on any support you are able to afford and willing to give. For more information click the link below or contact Lynette at lynette.muthuray@choc.org.za.

Read more on CHOC SA.

Information Technology’s User Services department this year decided to forgo their Christmas presents and rather put a smile on someone else’s face.

Each year staff and IT User services exchange presents to show how much they appreciate their colleagues. This year however, they decided that it’s more important to make a small difference in someone less fortunate’s life, especially at this time of year.

Choosing a charity wasn’t easiest task, but it was decided to support SU’s Employee Volunteer Programme’s campaign to donate toys to terminally ill children. Each staff member donated R50-00 for this cause and with a sum total of R2200-00 gifts were bought for children from the age of 4 to 16.

Staff decided not only to buy the gifts, but also to wrap it themselves and last Friday everyone jumped in and started wrapping until only a huge stack of gifts were left.

We’d like to challenge other departements to rather use the money for their year end function or gifts for a better purpose. Most of us already have everything we need, put many have nothing to look forward to this Christmas. A small gift will make a world of difference to someone else and you won’t even miss the money.