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Financials and proposals

General IkamvaYouth Financial Information:

IkamvaYouth believes in enabling all interested parties the right to view our financial information. For this reason this page will be regularly updated with information pertaining to our financial status, financially related processes and current proposals being reviewed by funders as well as our rationale for our financial model.

IkamvaYouth's Financial Model

From its inception, IkamvaYouth has sought to operate with as little funding as possible. The rationale behind this is that the less funding required, the more replicable and sustainable the model can be across poor areas in South Africa. IkamvaYouth has been operating since 2003 and is completely volunteer-initiated, managed and run. Its growth and impact have been phenomenal, despite operating without sponsorship.

 

The core component driving our sustainability is the returning of learners to volunteer once entering tertiary education or employment. Over 50% of learners returned last year to assist the organisation in volunteering their time to tutor, and be actively part of the management committee.

During 2003, the organisation was entirely funded by its volunteers, who covered the organisation's only costs during that year - transport and communications.

Between 2004 and the present, the organisation has received approximately $8,000 from individual donations, $25,000 from awards, $31,000 from a company and foundations. We have also generated about $1,000 through our photography projects, and $1,000 from running leadership, life skills and computer literacy training for other youth organisations.

But again, most of our donations are non-monetary:

  • The Library and Information Services division of the Department of Social Development providing venues for tutoring, workshops and the computer lab;
  • Volunteer tutors' time and self-funded transport, telephone and Internet connectivity costs;
  • The database and website developed, administered and updated by volunteers
  • Information technology equipment donated by companies (e.g. Via technologies and JMC) and individuals (donating second-hand equipment) for the computer lab
  • All technical support has been done on a volunteer basis;
  • External organisations (e.g. Aids Legal Network, Business Network, Lucca Leadership, Inkhanyezi, AJ College etc.) running workshops with our learners
  • Food was donated from supermarkets (e.g. Woolworths) for the holiday programme

The IkamvaYouth model has been proven in its impact, efficacy and replicability. Yet the challenges for sustainability and roll-out include the following:

  • Salaried staff coordinating activities to improve effectiveness of programmes;
  • Internet connecitivity to implement IkamvaYouth Online which will enable online tutoring considerbaly increasing the impact of IkamvaYouth;
  • Setting up a centre for operations in Khayelitsha;
  • Ever-increasing costs of transportation;
  • Buidling capacity of ex-learners to enable them to enable them to confidently manage the project and library centres.

IkamvaYouth currently requires funding to establish a head quarters from which to operate. The core team needs the space and time to focus on building the capacity of and supporting the young leaders who have taken on managing the new branches. IkamvaYouth is also beginning to grow out of the space afforded by the libraries, as most do not have room for extra workshops, counselling, or computer labs. With a centre in Khayelitsha, the organisation can set up an art room, computer lab, science lab, counselling room and space for workshops etc.

The large increase in required funding is thus for ensuring the sustainability and replicability of the IkamvaYouth model. With a core team to support the current and emerging branches, as well as the establishment of more branches in libraries across the country, IkamvaYouth will be able to make a significant, positive difference in the lives of many more disadvantaged youth.

Although 2007 will see a significant increase in the amount of funding required, the budget should not increase significantly thereafter, while reaching exponentially more learners as branches in other libraries are established. This seed funding will enable IkamvaYouth to become more proficient at maximising its funding from external sources, by enabling the generation of its own revenue through the following activities:

  • Charging a small amount (e.g. US14 cents per megabyte) for access to Internet connectivity (for usage other than IkamvaYouthOnline and organisational administration), printing and fax services
  • Holding national and international photography exhibitions
  • Creating and selling a book comprising photography, poetry, art and creative and discursive writing.
  • Selling photographs and DVDs online

Financial Statements to date:

Our financial statements:

1 December 2006 - 30th November 2007
1 December 2005 - 30th November 2006
1st March 2003 - 30th November 2005

Proposed budgets:

1st December 2007 - 30th November 2008

 

IkamvaYouth’s loan fund policy:

 

Due to the limited funds available to IkamvaYouth we can not support our learners with bursaries. When such funds became available we will extend our support to our learners to include some bursaries.

Our current loan policy ensures that learners are able to apply and register for university before they receive institutional financial support. There exists a cyclical trap whereby learners cant receive financial aid until they are registered and many institutions wont allow learners to pay a reduced registration fee unless they have proof of financial support – be that financial aid or otherwise. As a result some institutions charge students exorbitant registration fees equivalent to the monthly mean income of South Africans.

Our current loan policy lends approximately R7500 to learners to support them with covering these fees. As we receive more funding specifically in support of the loan/bursary fund we will expand this fund accordingly. Upon receiving the loan students (or their parents in the case where students are under the age of 21) sign a contract outlining how much they are loaning (which can not exceed 50 % of the amount they are required to pay at the institution ensuring that IkamvaYouth can support more learners) and how they are going to repay the loan during the course of the next year. Contract holders stipulate specific monthly amounts making the process easier to monitor and easier for learners to realize the financial responsibility.

We believe in open financial statements to ensure transparency and increased participation by our stakeholders. Due to this we have listed those learners who currently hold loans with IkamvaYouth openly on the IkamvaYouth website. Learners who do not repay their loans in the allocated time will be charged interest at prime + 2%. Each year a presentation will be made to the matric group indicating which previous students have not repaid their loans as it is essentially these learners who are have their opportunities constrained by the bad debt.

Proposals and Competition Submissions