Companies are no longer taking the honest supportive role of using brand awareness and brand association to donate to or sponsor events and causes, but using it to their own personal benefit, placing serious demands for excessive sales as a form of return on investment.

“Has the world lost its soul and the core values that we once shared?” questions Opulent Experiences’ Barbara Lenhard. It is for this reason that local company Opulent Living Experiences has turned to the well-known crowdfunding platform www.Indiegogo.com to support its latest charity initiative in aid of Women’s Day and Breast Cancer organisation Project Flamingo.

Divas Unite, a dream of event organiser Barbara Lenhard, was launched earlier this year to celebrate the mothers, the wives, the sisters and the daughters of our rainbow nation in a charity concert to take place at the iconic Cape Town City Hall. After one of the main sponsors for the event withdrew at the eleventh hour, leaving the team and Project Flamingo financially exposed, Lenhard has turned to crowdfunding to raise additional funds to cover the organisation and running of the event in order for it to still take place, and for Liana Roodt and the group of workers from Project Flamingo to be able to continue their fantastic work.

Says Lenhard, “It’s a relatively new concept in South Africa and as a result many are cautious of the unknown, but with the challenge that we are now faced in our search for funding for this event, crowdfunding seems like the way forward. Instead of the timeous procedure of contacting a specific marketing manager or CEO to invest, crowdfunding allows individuals to contribute towards the initiative with an amount that they are happy with. Since 2014 stats have shown that crowdfunding in South Africa has grown by over 101%, proving it to be a successful platform for individuals, companies and the like to give back and support philanthropic ideas.”

"Between 20 and 40 women in the public sector in greater Cape Town area of the Western Cape are diagnosed with breast cancer on a weekly basis and rely on the generous support of the public and corporates to help deliver timeous surgery. We really hope Divas Unite will be well supported by the public to ensure a successful Women’s Day concert and surgeries for our patients,” comments CEO of Project Flamingo, Liana Roodt

For more information, email Barbara Lenhard at [email protected] or phone +27 21 433-1699.