Waterford Kamhlaba UWC of Southern Africa (WKUWCSA) were extremely successful in the second year of the Davis-UWC IMPACT Challenge allowing them to complete the challenge and accessing the full USD $1m match funding for eligible gifts.

Their success was due to their continued communication and the different methods promoted to inspire and involve alumni. Waterford Kamhlaba UWC shared with us the varying techniques that allowed the school to complete the challenge:

‘’Waterford Kamhlaba UWC reached out to an extended group of alumni after the first challenge year ended on July 31 2016. The school was supported by the establishment of an Alumni Avenue, a glass brick wall made up of recycled glass bricks, provided by a local glass factory, where alumni who donated a minimum amount of ZAR 1500 (Approx. USD $100) would allow them to have a brick engraved with their name and class year, thus creating the Alumni Avenue. This became immensely popular and beneficial as many alumni we had previously not been in touch with were reconnecting with the school.

In addition, the Swazi alumni established a Stokvel fund where Swazi alumni were asked to contribute funds in order to bring together the gifts and provide a scholarship for a Swazi student starting in January 2018.
We were able to receive the support of young alumni by creating ‘Year Ambassadors’. The college reached out to alumni through ‘Year Ambassadors’ with some of these year groups joining in supporting Waterford Kamhlaba UWC, with our young alumni creating social media groups to send out the message to support the school.

The final run in June/July, when we discovered that we could actually reach the USD $1m target, was a tremendous success. We sent out messages to our alumni, friends, and supporters making them aware that we were close to the target. We sent out a message of "only 10,000 USD to go" and the response was truly powerful. Until the 31st of July we received donations big and small. In addition, one prominent donor was convinced to make a donation before the cut of date as it would be matched.

It is now up to us to continue with  sustaining the energy that was present throughout our challenge period. Connecting with our alumni through thank you emails and personal communication has opened many new avenues for the school and it has given us an opportunity to collect many wonderful alumni stories in a very short time.’’

Anne Rein Muller
Advancement Director at Waterford Kamhlaba UWC of Southern Africa (WCUWCSA)