Wednesday 25 February 2015

Join us for a Webinar By: Rajan Trivedi

Many of you may have heard about our research with FSD Kenya and the Gates Foundation.  Some of you may have heard about how M-Changa is creating the most transparent, data-driven fundraisers in Kenya.  But if you’re interested in learning more, I’ve got the treat for you! 

As part of our outreach and thought leadership, I'm excited to share with you that M-Changa will be hosting a webinar about the mobile philanthropy market in East Africa.  Hosted by NetHope and facilitated by Dr. Sibel Kusimba, we will go over our ground breaking research with FSDKenya and the Gates Foundation, our partnership strategy, and how we would like to work with your organization.  

Details are below:   When Thursday February 26, 2015 from 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM ET; Add to your calendar Where For details on attending, see webinar listing here

Who:

Professor Sibel Kusimba, Ph.D., Anthropologist in Residence, Department of Anthropology, American University Kyai Mullei, Chief Executive Officer, M Changa David Mark, Chief Technology Officer, M-Changa Rajan Trivedi, Director of Business Development and Research, M-Changa

Why did we start M-Changa? By Dave Mark

As the Chief Technology Officer of M-Changa, I get asked all the time, so what exactly is M-Changa and what are you solving?  So here’s a quick attempt to explaining our purpose, and what’s we’re addressing!
Initially, Kyai and I envisioned a loan application that let users borrow and repay money via SMS.  But we found a greater flaw in the market - East Africans wanted to send money to friends and family in need, but they did not want or need to be paid back!
For critical everyday life expenses such as weddings, education fees, funerals, medical bills, and community rehabilitation, East Africans were eager to simply donate funds, as they have been doing through traditional practices of “Changa” and “Harambee” for centuries.  What we found is that there is a unique philanthropy culture in Kenya, and no technology innovation existed for this market.
So today, M-Changa exists for three reasons:
·    Expand African Citizens’ access to the benefits of mobile technology
·    Integrate unique aspects of African culture with technological innovation
·    Enable transparency for everyday giving, through the digitization of traditional checks and balances
Have questions, have comments, or want to know more about the history of our technology?  Contact us here!


Welcome to M-Changa’s Blog

On behalf of the M-Changa team, Karibu!  Welcome to our new blog!
Here, you’ll find information about our latest developments about M-Changa, interesting articles that are relevant to the crowdfunding and mobile money market, or stories about our partners.
I’m very excited to start this blog for a few reasons, including:
1.     We’re new, but our market is centuries old: Harambee and changa has been part of the Kenyan and East African culture as a means to fundraise for, or support community members for centuries.  It’s expected of a Kenyan to participate in a fundraiser, and in fact, my own participation as a committee member of multiple fundraisers was the incentive to start M-Changa!
2.     Our growth story is telling: Tens of thousands of Kenyans around the world are noticing, and we’re delighted our company is serving over 3,500 fundraisers!  You name it – weddings, funerals, business ideas or even school fees – M-Changa has been used to crowdfund for a variety of life needs. While I will focus an entire post on our recent developments, know that we’re growing, and we’re going to grow even more!
3.     We want to communicate with you: At the end of the day, M-Changa grows through clients like you.  We are a referral business, so if you have had a good experience, share your story with friends and family.

That’s it for now, but we’re very excited for you to stay updated about M-Changa!