FAQs
The second Michaelhouse Giving Day? When was the first one?
In 2022. It was a first for us and a big experiment. The Michaelhouse Community did not disappoint and we raised R2.4m million. iThat generosity s changing lives!
When is the 2nd Michaelhouse Giving Day?
Our next Giving Day will be in 2024. we felt skipping a year was sensible to keep the excitement high. Look out for exact dates in early 2024.
36 hours? Isn’t that a day and half?
The Michaelhouse community is global. When we are awake in the South Africa, other members of the Michaelhouse Community in Australia might be asleep. So, to make sure everybody has the chance to get involved, the campaign will run for 36 hours.
Where is it taking place?
🌍 Everywhere! It is an online event. We will be communicating - via email and social media - in the build up and throughout the day on progress and challenges.
What exactly is the 2nd Michaelhouse Giving Day?
Following on from the splendid success of our first ever Giving Day in 2022, the idea is to harness the power and reach of the internet to bring the global Michaelhouse community together (online) over a 36-hour period - old boys, parents, past-parents, staff, friends of Michaelhouse and boys - to give and create hope through the raising of funds for a broad church of causes that are important to us - fast! There are three areas which we are likely to focus our causes in 2024:
- Ensuring that Michaelhouse remains accessible to as many South Africans as possible
- Community partnership, outreach and knowledge share
- Being carbon negative and estate sustainability
What are the causes?
These are the provisional SEVEN causes.
They range from support to projects in the local community; to changing lives through contributions to bursaries; to sustainability projects; to funds that just help ‘fill in the gaps’ for our boys by funding extras that enable boys to experience all that Michaelhouse has to offer (eg. sports kit, cultural tours, etc)..
Most causes will be ‘restricted’ i.e. the funds are spent on the specific cause only. Some are ‘unrestricted’ i.e. the funds will be spent where they are most needed. NB: Only the Annual Fund is unrestricted.
How can I find out more about the causes?
The details of the causes will be added to the home page here in the weeks leading up to the Giving Day. We'll keep you updated on this!
How do I donate to causes?
It’s pretty easy! Each cause has a red ‘Make a Gift’ button. If you are browsing the causes, you can also go straight to the ‘Make a Gift’ button at the top of the page or if you want more detail cause logo (or the cause title) 👇🏽👇🏽
Another way: at the top of this page, you’ll see a red button called ‘make a gift’.
Click on it and it will open a window for you to select the causes that resonate with you. Enter your amounts and it will take you through the payment gateways.
NOTE: Button will only appear once the Giving Day website opens
You mentioned ‘challenges’, what are they?
We will announce challenges in the build up and on the day. This will include livestreams of challenges at the school that the boys will play a part in. You can also set up your own challenge!
Check out the ‘Challenges’ section [still to be set up].A challenge is a great way for donors to use their gift as a means of inspiring and encouraging other donors. Typically, a donor will commit to donating some amount of money to a cause, with a precondition - or challenge - that all other donors must meet some goal or take some action within a certain amount of time in order for the gift to be fulfilled. Common challenges include goals for total money raised or total number of donors, and "rand-for-rand" matches that effectively double or triple the impact of all donations up to a certain amount.
If you lay down a challenge, think about injecting a bit of healthy competition between houses, leavers years, parents, old boys, and Old Boys’ Club branches around the world! We definitely going to be doing that!
Is there an aim/target?
When will we find out how much has been raised?
Progress is live! Overall progress (how many donors and how much we have raised) is at the top of the Giving Day page. Progress of each cause and who is topping the leaderboards will be live on the Giving Day home page and the ‘Leaderboard’ page!
Can I get tax breaks on my donations?
Yes! If you are giving from South Africa, just follow the instructions and you will be issued a receipt for a Section 18A. If you are giving from the UK or the United States, there are separate instructions for Gift Aid (UK Trust cause only) and IRS tax relief respectively (check out 'Make a Gift $' at top of this page).
If tax documentation is not automated eg. for IRS giving, we will issue tax documentation within 28 days of the receipt of funds. If you are giving from anywhere else in the world, unfortunately we do not have the ability at this stage offer tax efficient giving.
This is exciting! Can I be involved with making the Giving Day a success?
Absolutely!
Each cause needs a champions and ambassadors to spread the word in the community during the build up and then to encourage as many people as possible to support the causes in the day. Check out the ‘Get Involved’ section or get in touch with us at devoffice@michaelhouse.org.
Who will you communicate with and how?
We will raise awareness in the build up and during the campaign via email, on our giving day page and social media. We will email current parents, some past parents and old boys. We will do this in line with the POPI act 2020. Should you no longer with to receive correspondence, there is an unsubscribe button at the bottom of each email that we will send you.
How will we know what happens to our donations?
Michaelhouse produces an impact statement. The most recent was published in April 2023 covering all donations to the school in 2022. It's focus is not just to share totals, but more importantly how your generosity has been put to work for the benefit of the boys, the staff and the wider community. Click on the image below to read the impact report.
What happens to my donation if a target is not met?
As many causes are ongoing such as the Bursary Endowment Trust or the FABs Fund, this would likely only apply to capital projects where we have a target amount to raise. Where we ever not able to raise the funds for a project you have donated to, we would write to you, explain the situation and either offer you an alternative cause to defer your donation to or offer to return your donation.