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We need your help to create...

AfrikaBurn is not a self-driven vehicle, and in order to keep our mutant engine running,
we ask the community to continue nurturing this thing we built and love.

how did we get here?

The reasons we exist – and our ability to do so – has been heavily dependent on groups and individuals contributing towards an annual communal art experiment in the Tankwa.

We’re now two years without an event, with a plan for a smaller capacity event this year.

Our ability to exist year round was heavily dependent on participants paying to create an annual experiment in Tankwa Town.

Every R1 gets carefully spent...

We don't just burn things, we build things too

CHILDREN

Education and development for Tankwa’s school age learners.

animals

Animal Welfare service provision for Tankwa’s donkeys and horses.

Plants

Rehabilitation and protection of the Tankwa habitat.

Photo thanks to Jonx Pillemer

Planet

Sustainable development programmes on Quaggafontein.

EMPOWERMENT

Applying our methods to capacity building, self-help and skills transfer.

Education and development for Tankwa’s school age learners includes:

  • Feeding scheme at Elandsvlei Primary School
  • Teaching assistance at Elandsvlei Primary School
  • Financial support for continuing education at Calvinia High School

 

An average of 40 children annually are supported by AfrikaBurn through Elandsvlei Primary a quintile 1 school meaning that they are required to offer places at no cost. When the learners move onto high school some 120kms away, they are accommodated in a hostel. Currently there are two Tankwa learners at Calvinia High. A former learner who was supported in her schooling by AfrikaBurn is currently completing her education degree online whilst working as an assistant teacher at Elandsvlei. Keeping the school open is essential for the families in the Tankwa Karoo given the vast distances to surrounding towns and villages.

Animal Welfare* service provision for Tankwa’s donkeys and horses includes:

  • Subsidized fodder
  • Vet and farrier monitoring visits
  • Replacement materials for harnessing
  • Basic training in harness making and first aid
  • Animal first aid kits

 

In partnership with an expert team from the Cart Horse Protection Association, AfrikaBurn helps the karretjiemense of the Tankwa keep their donkeys and horses healthy and happy through monitoring, medicines, feed, materials and basic training. Visits monitor between 25-50 equines.

*Animal welfare provision has also included pet food and a spayathon for dogs and cats.

Rehabilitation of the Tankwa habitat and protection of the natural environment on Quaggafontein Farm includes:

  • Development of an integrated and holistic plan for ecological restoration
  • Soil stabilization Seed farm (shed, nursery) and equipment
  • Participatory eco restoration programmes involving Tankwa community
  • Weather station

 

With a long time-horizon and a solid dose of idealism, the restoration and regeneration of the denuded Quaggafontien and Vaalfontien farms to healthy working ecological systems within a very challenging environment, requiring inventiveness, innovation and hard work is catnip for the burner community. Restoration of the Tankwa grasses is a long term commitment and something that our neighbour SANParks has identified as requiring intervention due to overgrazing spanning centuries.

Photo thanks to Monique SchiessSustainable development programmes on Quaggafontein and Vaalfontein Farms include:

  • Integrated renewable power: solar, wind, waste plastic conversion
  • Humanure and greywater processing
  • Food gardens
  • Leave No Trace programme expansion
  • Water systems integration
  • Carbon offset programme
  • Green building

 

AfrikaBurn is working towards being net positive, meaning in the future, our existence improves the ecosystem. This requires an expansion of our Leave No Trace work, ensuring all activities, operations and infrastructure choices are informed by an ecological imperative of being regenerative, inclusive and equitable, and in long term we do not produce waste. Once established, our circular waste economy systems (created through open source, open science and open innovation) will be showcased and utilized as a resource and tool for environmental education and food security.

AfrikaBurn changes people's lives

Much more than a week in the desert, we have facilitated a huge number of smaller events and creative community upliftment projects, locally as well as in the Tankwa Karoo:

  • The Dignity Project
  • The Intersect online dialogues
  • Tankwa Outreach
  • Created the Department of Stuff
  • HomeBurn, the Multiverse and eCompression
  • eTopia hybrid event
  • EcoTrip
  • Junction Fashion Show
  • Creative crew trips, Back to the Sous & Camp Phoenix
  • Pot, SKOP and Slaap exhibitions
  • Resilience In Shared Endeavor (RISE)
  • Hammerschool

How you can help

Make it rain

We need bridging finance to get to the other side of this pandemic, while still being relevant and active as a movement for change within a lockdown situation.

AfrikaBurn has a run a highly successful NGO to date. We do great work, we have beautifully balanced open books, we had robust financial reserves … which lasted us well over a year without income.

There is absolutely no reason why AfrikaBurn will not continue to thrive as soon as the ‘new normal’ is established. Right now we’re at the end of our financial reserves and need to get to the other side of this thing to be able to change peoples lives for the better.

HOw much?

Survive = ±R400K p/m

 
Assuming we can have a smaller AfrikaBurn in 2022, and ticketing starts in September, we need a gift of R1 Million before the end of July.

Thrive = ±R1 million p/m

 
If we can have a smaller AfrikaBurn in 2022, as well as a Streetopia event, Decompressions and EcoTrips etc. we need a gift of R2 million by the end of July.

You’ll have the opportunity to say:
“I helped build that”

The pandemic opportunity

With your support, AfrikaBurn is able to walk the tightrope of the pandemic and builds sustainable default world income outside of the annual event through various ethical and responsible sources – fundraising, smaller events etc.

Regular income from other sources allows the org to keep the annual AfrikaBurn event costs lower … enabling easier access to a broader diversity of people.

Event income is ‘cherry on the top’ and allows for AfrikaBurn to do even more great work in the future, instead of our ambition to improve people’s lives being capped by annual event numbers.

AfrikaBurn can survive another pandemic – future proofing the org, the event and the movement.

A Punning Clan

You're already an important

patron of the arts

You’ve been one since you found the Burnerverse, and a donor as long as you’ve participated in AfrikaBurn, and it wouldn’t be the same level of ‘spectacularly life changing’ if it wasn’t for you. Thank-you for all your support to date.

EACH ONE REACH ONE: Show your support!

Spread the word about AfrikaBurn. Share this fundraising page with your network of friends and colleagues and ask them to live a legacy of art.

Your network enables a growing movement for change and we’re asking you to step up and support us now to continue the good work. 

Our organisation, the human scaffolding of AfrikaBurn, allows you to invest in the future of your creative community.

A message from BOBMAN:

Wash your hands! Good. Now it’s time for me to be serious for the first time in a very long time. My life was changed forever by AfrikaBurn … since we began this experiment in Tankwa Town we’ve been changing thousands of peoples (and animals!) lives for the better each and every year. For the first time ever it actually looks like we might not be able to burn again if we can’t make it through this pandemic. I desperately want to meet you on Quaggafontein next year and share some dusty hugs and love. Please consider donating or fundraising for AfrikaBurn so we can get out the other side of this thing.

Sending Big Bobman Burner love
Robert/Miss Nesbitt x

How to help?

We need cold hard financial support to keep supporting our community of artists. Why not host a fundraising event for AfrikaBurn? You could throw a (socially distant) party, you can do a cake sale, a sponsored walk, an online lecture or talk, a purple wedding … basically anything you would like to do to raise funds. AfrikaBurn will support you as much as we possibly can, with advice, logistics and awareness of your fundraiser event.

The money you raise enables a growing movement for change and (just like in the desert) we’re asking you to step up and participate now, to continue the good work.

Could you ...

more about AfrikaBurn

Development Programmes

Learn about some of the development programs we're running in our local communities.

Our New FOREVER HOME

Welcome to a new world of possibilities, ideas, collaborations and magic - Quaggafontein.

LEARN ABOUT THE ORGANISATION

Find out more about AfrikaBurn - an organisation that's a positive vector for change in our world.

There's Work to be done

There’s a lot of work to be done to build our shared future and income is required to make it happen.

AfrikaBurn is a vast community collective and globally recognised art movement, generative of value and difference in the world. We’re artists, innovators, makers, thinkers, collaborators and doers.

Want to connect us to your network?

Find out more  about why we are fundraising by downloading our ‘ask’ document below

Salaries cut by 53%
Operating costs reduced by 36%

We have evolved as an organisation to survive the storm

For survival, AfrikaBurn requires R500k per month to maintain foundational operations that facilitate our creative community.
[approximately 35k USD | 29k EUR |25k GBP | 32k CHF] 

That’s R6m [420k USD| 350k EUR] needed to April 2022 when we can hopefully have our next main event.

[…other and crypto currencies welcome]

Get your hands dirty ...

how CAN you help?

Make a donation

A donation will help us keep doing the good work we do, supporting creativity and idea generation for years to come.

Host an event

Anyone can get involved. Hosting a fundraiser for AfrikaBurn is easy and we'll help you to make it awesome.

Ask

Can people in your own networks help AfrikaBurn and donate to the cause you love? Each one reach one!

help to future proof AfrikaBurn

  • Live a legacy of art
  • Support the human scaffolding
  • Invest in the future of the creative community
  • Each one reach one – tell someone who can also assist
  • Find your piece to build the bigger puzzle

Frequently asked questions

At the beginning of 2021, we thought we’d reached the end of the road with our insurance claim being rejected,  and that we would be issuing the coupons. However, a Supreme Court ruling on a business interruption case, at the end of January, meant that the UK Financial Ombudsman undertook to review any potential impact the court ruling would have on other claims. Our case is ongoing and as soon as we have an answer either way we will notify people directly.

The art created through the movement of AfrikaBurn has never and will never come from a notion of “what will sell”. In asking for donations, we are offering our community the opportunity to invest in the future of the culture and the innovation that the AfrikaBurn movement brings into the world.

We exist in the default world and our assets:  hardware, software, liveware, need maintenance. We have an ongoing commitment with Quaggafontein Farm, a resource for our community, and as such we are moving out of an annual cycle in Tankwa towards sustained opportunities.

You may choose to donate to a specific programme or generally to AfrikaBurn’s core costs, the latter going to the different aspects of ongoing operations.

There are many ways you can donate: your time hosting a fundraiser, by clicking a button, by sharing this with someone who can help. All guaranteed to generate warm fuzzy feelings of connection. 

The target is what we need to raise over the next year, it is not an all or nothing scenario, rather it’s incremental. Our core operations extend beyond hosting the annual gathering, for which we are most recognised. Right now we are putting in a lot of work at Quaggafontein and have community arts incubation on the go. Funds raised will be utilized in accordance with donors wishes towards ongoing costs.

There are very real costs associated with running a compliant non profit organisation. AfrikaBurn operated on a purely volunteer basis for 4 years when it was first established in 2007, however the organisation and the event grew to a size which necessitated the need for paid staff. With this comes office rental and overhead costs associated with that. 

Running a large-scale, international event is simply not possible with solely volunteers. In order to get our event approved, certain services and provisions are totally non-negotiable, and that means that people need to be 100% reliable. It’s not possible to rely on service providers that are not bound by a SLA or contracted etc. 

Until the pandemic AfrikaBurn and its projects were 95% sustained on ticket sales. Most non profits raise funds through donations and grants to run their programmes and cover their running costs. Donations typically provide the majority of income for non profit organisations. 

Some of those funds were spent on moving to Quaggafontein, we had always planned not to pass this cost on to people who would have been attending the 2020 annual event. We have had ongoing operating needs and costs associated with serving the community, even though they might not be so visible. 

We have a minimum viable amount of R2m that is required to meet all our current obligations including leases, any retrenchment liabilities and costs associated with going on ice. We are treading a path that is ethical and responsible, and actually required to ensure that we can gather again in numbers when we are out of lockdown. 

We’re not going to jeopardise either AfrikaBurn or our community, yet we’re approaching that R2m mark. We have been putting in all efforts to generate revenue and raise funds – asking our community is one of many avenues to get through this period and be sustainable as a creative movement when (hopefully) the pandemic ends. 

Six million Rands is the total of what we need to raise between now and next year when we might be able to hold a large AfrikaBurn event.

We’ve worked it out at around R500 000 a month (U$D 35 000), which sounds like a lot – but when you consider what it takes to make AfrikaBurn happen, the people, logistics, artist support etc. is a fraction of what it was pre-pandemic.

The current team is a skeleton crew, at the moment and to be able to prepare for an annual gathering on Quaggafontein we will need to address this and come out of survival mode. 

We don’t just pay our directors, we pay a huge number of suppliers, freelancers, artists and facilitators. As soon as we grew beyond 1000 people gathering in the Karoo Desert, we needed more support and better structures to be able to facilitate the AfrikaBurn experience that we all know and love. We modeled our organisational structure in a similar way to Burning Man and many other regionals, and as we grew up to be able to handle 13 000 people in the desert we had simultaneously grown a brilliant, highly qualified team to be able pull off the AfrikaBurn experience each year and more. 

Since the pandemic hit we’ve scaled our team back considerably. We’ve reduced our director bill by 75% this was in part due to a restructuring of the directorship from an executive board to a majority non executive board. 

Our current paid director is executive, and like all on the team is currently on reduced income and has taken on increased workload as we have not replaced employed posts that have become vacant, rather, relying on volunteers as best possible.  Everyone is doing what it takes to cut costs to the bone so that we can (hopefully) rev the AfrikaBurn mutant engine later on this year. We are in the same position as many organisations in the creative sector and we believe in this thing as much as you do, which is why we want to keep the doors not only open but projects alive. There’s been a lot happening to keep community connection going and projects in the pipeline that are co-funded.

No, nor are they paid more than directors in other non profits in South Africa. The team (including the executive director) are salary banded according to responsibility and complexity, and paid below market norms according to the Averile Ryder salary scale, although we certainly believe in fair pay. We are incredibly lucky to have a group of paid and unpaid directors and volunteers within operations who are able to set aside their own financial needs right now to move AfrikaBurn forward. No one chooses their own salaries either – this is overseen by a committee. 

Thanks to all the photographers and theme camp images we’ve used for this donation page. We haven’t credited you all individually because we’ve used so many pictures to remind us of the good times. Please get in contact if you have any questions or issues.
Just imagine if we got a dollar for everyone who clicked here

what we need to AFRIKAburn
1
Countries
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Toilets
1
Participants and patrons
0
Mutant vehicles
$ 1 K
funding
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Artworks

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Coronavirus Advisory:

Wash your hands and stay informed. Emergency Hotline: 0800 029 999 | WhatsApp Support Line: 0600-123456