Last Christmas, generous individuals and corporate heroes made it matter by contributing over R212,000 to projects benefitting people, education, health and the environment.

Our alternative gift campaign, Make Christmas Matter, gave people the opportunity to choose gifts that will change lives by funding four carefully assessed development projects.

Together, you raised:

• R55,650 for a toy library for Mbuba village, KwaZulu-Natal
• R56,250 for Eco-schools support for a Midlands primary school
• R69,150 to upgrade the kitchen at St Joseph’s Home for chronically ill and disabled children
• R30,950 for independent living tools for sight impaired people in the Free State

Exceeding expectations

Make Christmas Matter supporters exceeded our expectations by fully funding all four projects with change left over to support other worthy SA Social Investment Exchange projects in the four gift groups.

Corporate heroes

The Make Christmas Matter campaign would not be possible without founding sponsors, Cadiz Financial Services Group. Their support of Make Christmas Matter has helped to leverage over R2.2 million for 26 development projects ranging from a family planning programme in the Northern Cape to an environmental project that manages the rehabilitation and release of animals back into the wild.

Support for Make Christmas Matter projects in 2009 also came from the Lipshitz Charitable Trust, Noah Financial Innovation, Origin, Coronation Fund Managers and Headlines PR.

Track progress

You can track the progress and impact of the Make Christmas Matter 2009 projects as they move into the implementation phase on the SA Social Investment Exchange at any time during the year.