Pledge your Birthday

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• What is a birthday pledge?

  A birthday pledge is a unique way to celebrate your birthday by allowing your friends and family to make a life-saving donation to MSF in lieu of buying you a gift. Pledging your birthday is free and once you have pledged, a campaign page is created for you where your friends can make donations for your birthday. Share the page with as many people as you want to make your impact as big as possible.

• How do I make a pledge?

  You can make your pledge by clicking here and manually entering your details or click below to log in via Facebook.

  

  You can also make a pledge by sending an email to donorservices@joburg.msf.org and letting us know your name, when your birthday is, and how much you would like to raise from your birthday campaign.

• What happens after I pledge?

  Once you have registered your birthday pledge on the website you can start sharing your birthday campaign page with your supporters. This can be done by sharing to Facebook, Twitter, and on WhatsApp by using the relevant buttons on your birthday page.

  Please note that WhatsApp sharing is ONLY available on mobile internet browsers (not desktops).

• How much should I pledge?

  You can pledge any amount you think you can raise with the support of your friends and family, or an amount you can donate yourself.

  A gift of R50 can provide vaccination and lifelong protection from measles for over 30 children. R500 can provide first line ARV treatment for a child with HIV.

• Are there any fundraising targets?

  There are no fundraising targets imposed on you, however MSF recommends a soft target of R 5,000 as a target to set yourself for your campaign. Setting a target amount for your birthday campaign provides you and your supporters a goal to work towards. Updating your birthday campaign page with a target amount in the description will help provide the visibility that you would like to achieve with your supporters. Whether it’s R 1000 or R 100,000 setting a goal amount will help you mobilise your supporters towards achieving your goals.

• What’s the best way of achieving my goals?

  The whole idea of pledging your birthday is to spread your campaign page with as many of your supporters as possible. Imagine if just 10 of your friends contributed R100 each. That’s already R 1,000. Or, what about hosting this campaign with colleagues at work, friends at school, or within your family? The more you can spread your campaign within your social circles, the more likely you are to reach and even surpass your fundraising goals.

• How long does my birthday campaign stay open for?

  Your birthday campaign will remain active for the rest of your birthday pledge year. That gives you the ability to fundraise amongst your social circles well past your actual birthday.

• Is the pledge recurring?

  The pledge is for your next birthday only and a different pledge can be made for each birthday after that. You may want to change the theme, message or pledge amount for each birthday, and creating a unique once-off pledge allows for that.

• How do donations show up on my birthday page?

  Once someone has donated, you’ll be able to see their name and their date of contribution on your birthday pledge page. Your birthday campaign’s Rand value will be displayed as a total from all of your supporters.

  IMPORTANT: Ensure that your supporters click on the "Donate" button from YOUR birthday page; if they don’t their donation will not reflect on your birthday campaign page.

• Why should I pledge my birthday?

  By including MSF in the celebration of your birthday you not only increase awareness of our work, but also save lives. A donation of this kind extends the goodwill of the occasion far beyond the day itself, helping to ensure emergency medical aid for people in crisis situations around the world.