Durban - The internet often gets a bad rap, thanks to web scams, spam and phishing. But it’s also a wonderful tool for good, a fact perfectly illustrated by a heart-warming case I came across in the past week.
As far as institutions go, they don’t get more old-fashioned than Uncle Jumbos, the much loved circus-themed end-of-year charity pantomime run by the Kloof Round Table for the past 38 years. But when the marquee used for the show was destroyed by a freak storm, Kloof firm Always Active Technologies, a supplier of cellphone and internet services to some of SA’s biggest companies, put its tech know-how to work on raising the close to R200 000 still needed to buy a new “big top”.
The tent was wrecked just before last year’s show, forcing the organisers to hire another one at a cost of R45 000. This all but wiped out the funds the Round Table was able to raise for the many deserving charities it supports and the organisation reluctantly concluded that, unless it was able to get its own replacement tent, it would have to cancel this year’s Uncle Jumbos show.
Round Tabler and AAT employee Carl Paton mentioned the dilemma to the company’s CEO, Loet de Swart, and business development manager, Alan Haarhoff, and they immediately agreed to help.
AAT staff set to work enthusiastically brainstorming ideas for raising the funds for a new marquee and the result, in a remarkably short space of time, was SaveUncleJumbos.co.za, a simple but effective website encouraging businesses to donate to the tent project.
It’s based on the Million Dollar Homepage, the brainchild of English student Alex Tew, comprising a million pixels arranged in a 1000 × 1000 pixel grid, which he sold off for $1 per pixel to fund his university studies.
The version AAT came up with is a lot less complicated, but just as eye-catching. Instead of pixels, the campaign is selling blocks on a virtual marquee. Each block contains the donor’s name or company logo and, if they wish, a link to their website.
“Each block costs R1 000 and will remain online indefinitely,” explains De Swart. “The donor simply needs to supply their company’s artwork, and we will take care of the rest. Sure, it’s a great way to get brand recognition, but it’s really about a charitable act, which, in turn, will help leverage so much more charity fund-raising in future.”
Not content with building and promoting the website, AAT has also purchased several blocks on behalf of its own businesses including Streetmaps.co.za; mStatements, a cellphone statements service; and ICE+, a voice-free, cellphone panic button.
“We’ve started the ball rolling. Now we challenge other businesses, particularly in the technology sector and Highway area, to match or better our contribution,” De Swart says.
Donations are paid directly into the Round Table’s bank account. Visit SaveUncleJumbos.co.za for full details. - Sunday Tribune
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