AJOO CROWDFUNDING IN NIGERIA — The Story
The act of giving to another is a show of humanitarianism. That is, the thought and action of giving shows that we are still humans. However, this show of kindness can be ruined.
How?
Michael Adebanjo stumbled one of the skits of ‘Kalistus’ on Tunde Ednut’s Instagram page. The skit portrayed a Kalistus who went around defrauding people with the story that his wife had put to bed and birthed a twin. He needed only 500 naira to buy petrol into his car. Some who didn’t have told him they didn’t and prayed he would get. But many helped him innocently. The story, however, took another twist when Kalistus met a particular young man who was really ready to assist him; and what did this smart young man do? He took Kalistus to the petroleum station and bought him the petrol that he needed. Rather than give him the money like others were doing, the young man took the effort to go with Kalistus to the petrol station and paid the attendant himself. He didn’t just stop his good work there, he also wanted to go with Kalistus to the car to fuel it up — there was no car to take him to. So, Kalistus kept on going around the area and yes, this young man followed him everywhere to be sure until Kalistus was frustrated. He gave up and told the young man to take back his fuel. Such a very wise man. Right there, Kalistus knew his game was up. Thumbs up to this particular young man who we didn’t get his name. So far, has Kalistus made giving beautiful or ugly? Comments are highly welcomed. Truly, the situation of things, the Covid pandemic making things worse, may want to encourage people to loot others of their money, no matter how little or much. Another truth is shutting one’s bowels of mercy and taking a stern face in public. But then, our problems remain. This, amidst other things, is the reason AjooNG was established. AjooNG has come to help givers of money and receivers of fund.
Ajo, translated in the Yoruba language, means Empathy, Community and Fundraising. Similarly, these are the core values of AjooNG. We are here to meet the financial needs of people by raising funds. The people are not strangers but a community who want to ease their lives and that of others through crowdfunding. Unlike other crowdfunding websites, AjooNG offers reward-based donation, refund policy and verification of campaigners.
The section of reward-based donation is funding a campaign for a particular reward. That is, donors are allowed to get something in return from campaigners. For example, a user that plans to set up a fashion house but cannot afford to buy sewing machines can solicit for funds with the pre-defined reward of sewing cloths for a particular period for those that contribute to the purchase of the machines. So, AjooNG permits fundraisers to solicit for funding from the crowd on the website for a pre-defined reward. The users then make contributions to the various campaigns on the platform based on the already defined reward. With this section, AjooNG believes that donors will be more willingly, inspired and motivated to come again and donate for another cause.
Ajoo’s standpoint is trust. AjooNG drives toward establishing a trustworthy platform to her campaigners and donors. The refund policy is one of such determinants. AjooNG will refund donations to donors if a campaign expires or fails to fulfil its purpose(s). With this policy, AjooNG believes that the level of trust donors will place on the platform will be premium.
The question remains, “won’t Nigerians fake problems to Ajoo in order to be a beneficiary?” Community remains one of the bedrock corporate value of AjooNG. And that is why we believe everyone, who is interested in being a part of Ajoo as a company, can assist in vetting the campaigns and also assist the campaigners to ensure that the needs are solved. With AjooNG volunteers, we will not only raise money but we will also maintain the integrity of campaigns that are being posted through the company’s volunteers who are spread across the nation.
Ajoo.ng will help sick individuals seeking assistance, entrepreneurs finding non-equitable funds and non-profits gaining support from people with small donations. Alongside, ajoo.ng will serve those giving out the funds by ensuring that their money is used for its precise purpose and not otherwise. In addition, ajoo.ng will vet every campaign before it is funded. So, with AjooNG, fundraising is being redefined.
