[TOP STORY] How much did we give last year?

Simon Brown (0:02)

MoneywebNOW, on the money.

This podcast is brought to you by Stanlip Asset Management. Invest in more global opportunities through their partnership with JP Morgan Asset Management. You're waiting to get Tracy Muller on the line. She, of course, is head of advice and Philanthropy at Nedbank Private Wealth. Tracy, we have you on the line. Your last edition of The Giving Report, looking at how South Africans are giving or helping those less fortunate, I suppose the headline is going to be, how much did we give last year?

Tracy Muller (0:34)

Good morning, Simon, and to your listeners as well. Really a good news story.

South Africans gave in three different ways. They gave money, they gave in goods, and they also gave of their time. In terms of money and the value of goods, that was just under six billion rand.

Simon Brown (0:55)

Wow.

Okay, wow, that is a giant number. But I like what you say. I mean, to be clear, money matters. Absolutely it does. Six billion is a big number. But time can matter as well, and other bits and pieces can matter. Giving of time and giving of other things is equally as important, and maybe in some cases a little bit more.

Tracy Muller (1:16)

Absolutely. Couldn't agree more.

And the contribution was about, I think it was about 3.1 million in volunteer hours that was given to non-profit organizations. And if you just think about it, Simon, for some of those non-profit organizations, to have someone that is, say, an accountant or a lawyer or someone that's just actually coming to help out, to be an extra set of hands, that can make a huge difference in the life of an organization. So hugely valuable when individuals actually volunteer time to these organizations.

Simon Brown (1:55)

I hadn't thought of that. It's expert time. Sometimes it's washing dishes or weeding the garden, but sometimes you are an expert in your particular field and you can give that.

What is the age demographic? I mean, typically we think around the sort of giving will be the older generation, they're in retirement, they've got time because they have retired. Does that pair out to, are we seeing younger South Africans involved as well?

Tracy Muller (2:16)

So interestingly enough, this time around, we're seeing over a third of the individuals are actually younger generation that are actually giving.

It's really interesting to see because historically, philanthropy and philanthropists, to your point, has been linked with the older generation, individuals that build wealth over a long period of time. What we're seeing coming through this report now, is the younger generation are actually giving of their time. So they may not have the money to give initially whilst they build up the wealth, but they are wanting to make a difference as soon as possible. So even if it's not giving financially, it's giving of their time. It's sitting on boards. It's like I said earlier, helping out with these organizations. So definitely a shift towards seeing a younger generation emerging as the current givers.

Simon Brown (3:14)

Is this changing the process of the nonprofit sector in South Africa?

It's important the world over. My sense is maybe particularly because of our unemployment and our poverty, perhaps even more important in South Africa. Is this sort of, I'll be seeing a shift happening in terms of the space because of A, 6 billion, giant number, but B, lots of time, lots of support, lots of expertise?

Tracy Muller (3:41)

So we are seeing a shift happen, but I think I just need to qualify that as well because 6 billion sounds like a lot, but when you look at these over 300 registered nonprofit organizations that are all doing amazing work, it doesn't go very far. So I mean, we are definitely seeing a shift. And I think one of the things that's come through the report as well, is there needs to be more alignment with the funding. Because if you have more alignment in terms, just as an example, donating through a collective giving vehicle, as an example.

If everybody pulls funding, it means that that funding, you can grow that funding and it can actually potentially do larger projects and have greater impact because you've got that collective giving kind of structure that's happening. So I think to create impact, it requires a community. It's not an individual that's going to be able to do it, or a couple of individuals. It actually requires a community to be able to really make a difference.

Simon Brown (4:53)

The cliché that it takes a village, it absolutely does.

Last question, I mean, oftentimes my sense is that, and I know I'm guilty of this sometimes, I sign up the debit order, the money goes off every month, I kind of feel that I'm doing something. But I'm not quite sure where it's ending, if it's been effectively used, etc. Are we seeing donors perhaps looking for more transparency, more evidence of impact? Absolutely. Not to say it isn't happening, but just to sort of make sure that it is happening.