Great Marketing Puts Africa on the Ball

 

Guest post by Andrew Jenkin, Trustee of Africa on the Ball

Africa on the Ball is a non-profit organisation that uses the power of football for community development in deprived areas of Africa. We started in 2010 and have started and sponsored a team in Lusaka, Zambia for the past two years. And now Pimp My Cause marketing volunteers are helping us take things the next level!

Our current situation is that we are sponsoring a team in the 6th tier of Zambian football. They are an Under 18s team that have been playing together for years. Through that team, situated in the compound of Kalingalinga, Lusaka, we are trying to develop the community by getting the boys on the team to help out around the community. They are entitled to apply for educational benefits such as tuition fees in exchange for managing an aspect of the community development scheme. For example, Mavuto Mbewe is now being sponsored to finish school (as he couldn’t afford to finish it as both his parents died) by Elena through Africa on the Ball. In exchange, he will manage the Litter Picking duties around Kalingalinga and be responsible for that aspect of the project.

There are many benefits of purely having the team playing competitive football also, including the opportunity to educate them on life skills such as communication, leadership and team work. Although perhaps the most beneficial aspect of the team is that it gives teenagers at an age when they can become influenced to engage in drinking and drugs (which is rife in parts of Zambia at that age) a focus and a determination that if they can work hard, they can play professional football.

We found out about Pimp My Cause by another organisation who had benefitted from the website, High Five Club.

As a small organisation that is run in spare hours by two volunteers and little to no budget for marketing and assistance in media, we realised that we required help in order to help it develop it further. We wanted to meet people that shared our passion for development through sport in Africa that could offer practical skills we don't have.

Although we hoped to generate some help through Pimp My Cause, we didn't expect to be benefitting to the extent we are. Not too long after signing upto the website, we were introduced to Sevil Ozer Crespo from Maverick. Maverick and Sevil have been extremely generous to us, offering to completely re-develop our website to bring a new appeal to the organisation. After extensive researching into our aims, objectives, goals and values - they've just started the design and we are so excited to see what they come up with.

We also met Matt Tutt on Pimp My Cause. Matt has also been extremely generous and offered to not only be our Online Fundraising Officer, but helped advertised our site on his website and will develop a Facebook app to increase awareness of the organisation and bring attention to the boys on the team who could benefit from sponsoring to go back to school.

These projects are massive to the development of Africa on the Ball. For an organisation to develop in the way it will thanks to Sevil (and Maverick) and Matt, would cost a small fortune in money we'd rather be spending in Africa on the cause. Pimp My Cause will successfully be crucial to our sustainable development as an organisation, which in turn will help us extend our reach in Africa.

We'd like to thank Anna from Pimp My Cause, Sevil from Maverick and Matt Tutt for all their help. We've benefitted greatly from all our their work and without them wouldn't be able to develop our plans in Africa.