A Q&A with Dr L Ramages, Chairman of the Brimstone Empowerment Share Trust

Why do NGOS in the South African context, particularly, benefit from a sustained approach to giving?

Nongovernmental organisations (NGOS) generally depend on the benevolence and philanthropy of caring citizens who have the disposable income to donate or spend at fundraising functions. With an unemployment rate exceeding 30% in South Africa, this pool has contracted significantly and it is from this small core that donations sustain our NGOS. Fundraising functions are indeed helpful to provide funds and establish networks, but are not the most efficient in directing their spend to the NGOS, because of contingent costs of hosting them. Since sustained giving is paramount to viability, the corporate world makes a huge contribution in providing such spend, devoid of contingent costs, by way of benevolent donations.

What measures do you take as an independent board to safeguard the beneficiaries?

BEST is a Trust formed by Brimstone. The board must not deal recklessly with the assets in our trust made available to us by Brimstone. We do meaningful due diligence on every prospective beneficiary before electing them to our cohort. Good governance, impact in their sphere of operation, percentage spend on delivery versus staff and administration expenses and measurable outcomes are all important. We feel that sharing and improving understanding, as can be gained from “cross-pollination” meetings, help to sustain viability and safeguard emerging beneficiaries from pitfalls others have traversed. Mini “seminars” at these joint meetings have been helpful and appreciated. We monitor our beneficiaries’ standing and progress by reviewing their annual reports that they send to us. Where we can be of assistance to any individual beneficiary, we endeavour to do so. We wish that those in the corporate world who are deciding to do similarly will build on our model, and interact with us, so that we may also improve on our initiative.

Is there one aspect of BEST of which you’re particularly proud?

We’re grateful that we’ve made beneficiaries more credible in the eyes of those who peruse their status and see that BEST has found them worthy of support by issuing shares to them. This is probably the most significant contribution that we’ve made to any beneficiary. The dividends received by them on these shares, we regard as being of secondary importance.

What has surprised you about the results of the Brimstone BEST programme?

It’s the great appreciation shown by each of the beneficiaries and their eagerness to participate in our annual networking meetings, which provide mini presentations to enhance governance, compliance and improved management.

Is the programme largely static, or still a work in progress?

Our programme is dictated by the terms of our trust document. All the trustees are acutely aware not to transgress the boundaries of our mandate. Our aim is to increase the number of beneficiaries who will benefit beyond the current 30+, particularly wanting to increase our footprint to incorporate all nine provinces: currently, we’re three short of that goal. We hope to accomplish our goal of full national representation and making greater inroads into rural areas.

BEST has lent support to a wide range of organisations. Why is it important to be involved in organisations with varied areas of impact, at various stages of growth?

Our country is in dire need of assistance in many and varied areas. It’s impossible to be everywhere, but in as far as we are able, we would like to be of assistance as widely as we can. Smaller, emerging NGOS need as much consideration as the longer-standing and established ones and therefore, should they meet our criteria and qualify, then we will willingly welcome them as beneficiaries.