Vodacom, the South African operator, has launched ConnectforChange which is a donation platform that enables customers to donate their airtime or cash to a worthy cause. Customers can now make a donation via the My Vodacom App, a USSD string as well as the newly-launched VodaPay app. Customers also have the option to make a cash donation via EFT or bank deposit.

Vodacom postpaid (contract) and hybrid (top-up) customers can make a donation ranging from as little as $0.12 up to $3.11 by adding the amount to their monthly bill, and prepaid customers can make a fixed donation which will be deducted from their airtime balance.

Contract customers have the option to make a once-off or recurring donation, while prepaid customers can donate as often as they wish for as long as they have a positive airtime balance. The donations, which will be facilitated through an independent trust, will be directed to the ConnectforChange beneficiaries.

It has to be noted that at their launch, Vodacom and its trustees identified The Lunch Box Fund (LBF), an organisation which has responded to the education crisis faced by millions of South Africans since 2005. The LBF is a national organisation that offers turnkey nutritional solutions as a foundation to learning across all education settings in South Africa.

Customers are also able to donate their earned VodaBucks, Vodacom’s virtual currency, towards a meal hamper which will be distributed by the LBF. Situated under the Food & Household tab in the VodaBucks Store, customers are able to donate 20 VodaBucks. Plans are underway to ramp up additional opportunities and beneficiaries to expand the scope of donations.

To recall, in 2021, the LBF reached 31,033 children in 996 schools, serving over five million hot, nutritionally fortified meals throughout the year. It also extended its reach to include Early Childhood Development centres and home-based programmes, to libraries and come-and-play buses. The aim is to support quality education for children in under-resourced rural areas.