Brownie Points secures renewed social impact funding

Brownie Points is delighted to announce the continuation of its mission-driven work with the renewal of funding for a third round from the Social Employment Fund (SEF), underscoring its significant achievements in fostering economic empowerment and sustainable community development across South Africa.

Since its inception in October 2022, Brownie Points has employed 2,979 participants, who collectively worked over 192,011 days and contributed more than 1,536,088 hours to various community projects through its platform; www.browniepoints.africa. The initiative has disbursed over R45 million in wages and utilised R11 million for tools, PPE, materials, and training, enhancing both economic and social capital. So far, around 1 out of 5 past participants have gone on to further their studies or started permanent jobs, with many more becoming job-ready and hopeful about their future, and 61 participants receiving certificates of excellence.

The third funding round, commencing July 1st, 2024, and spanning 10 months until April 2025, aims to build on previous successes and foster innovation in sustainability, training, and community impact.

The Brownie Points platform significantly enhances SEF and its partners with a range of innovative resources and capabilities.

“We’ve created a SIP Survival Guide to share our programme management tips and digital tools with other SIPs,” says Pascale Du Toit, CEO & Founder of Brownie Points. “We custom-built a digital workspace to simplify partner and participant management, as well as financial and impact reporting. We’re in the process of negotiating online learning discounts for participants across the SEF programme and exploring a partnership with online learning platform Alison.com to enable many more South Africans, who previously could not afford certificates, to earn CPD-accredited certificates. Going forward, we will be building a social enterprise model, to assist nonprofits in becoming more sustainable without having to compromise on their vision.”

The Brownie Points social enterprise model effectively balances the power dynamic between those who provide funding and those who directly drive impactful change on the ground, Brownie Points calls on companies to engage in making a shift to level the playing field in terms of prioritising not only profit-creating activities, but impact-creating ones, and acknowledging and compensating the value of this impact.

“The nonprofit and corporate responsibility sector is based on a flawed model that often creates undignified dependencies. We have significant mindset and systemic challenges to overcome if we want nonprofits to be financially sustainable and keep making our world a better place,” says Pascale. “If you were considering investing in a business and saw that their business plan does not include any budgets for salaries, you would be extremely concerned. Everyone knows that – in order to create anything of value – one needs human capital to make it happen.”

With the next round of funding secured, the focus is on building on lessons learned from previous rounds. The initial phases were dedicated to gaining insights into program intricacies and requirements, allowing for streamlined management and administrative processes. Round 3 aims to push boundaries in innovation, sustainability, and training while emphasising and showcasing the significant impact achieved by their cohort.

Companies and individuals can get involved by sponsoring participants, work months, or even one or more workdays and unlocking an online, always-live report of the impact they co-create with nonprofits and participants.

Everyone is invited to get in touch by emailing hi@browniepoints.africa to match their company and individual interests with their impact opportunities.

Brownie Points’ continued success in securing funding for Round 3 bolsters the effectiveness of their initiatives and the transformative impact achieved thus far. As they look to the future with optimism, they remain committed to advancing their mission of creating sustainable opportunities and driving positive change within the communities of South Africa. With a strong foundation laid by their past achievements, Brownie Points is poised to make an even greater impact in the social enterprise sector, building on their momentum to foster lasting societal benefits.