Help Center

“Schools will begin to see their current students as more than just learners, but as their future builders. That aspect alone should influence School culture positively.”

Want to contact us?

Email: info@cheloApp.com / Call: +27 (0)81-779-9230

Why Chelo

1. What is Chelo?

It is a platform where education enthusiasts and those simply wishing to give back to the community can fund and/or partake in projects that aim to bring about positive change in the learning environments.

It fosters continuity by allowing Schools and Alumni to connect better and have a lasting connection. By pouring your share as an Alumni or any other funder, you send positive ripple effect within society.

2. What does Chelo do?

It brings together Educational Institutions and those who want to help with funds and other services. It allows the people involved with the day to day affairs to highlight the problems they face and create projects that are bound to resonate with communities.

The projects are simple yet adequately detailed. This simultaneously gives funders sufficient information and makes it easy for them to contribute at the press of a button. Feedback is then open to the entire community allowing everyone to follow the progression of the project.

The use of a rating system flags Institutes that use the funds well vs. those that poorly manage funds. This motivates and instils accountability.

3. Why Education is the focus on Chelo?

Education is very necessary in order to improve social and economic status, way of living as well as knowledge. It plays a great role in our career growth as well as in the personal growth. The goal is to build the youth and communities. To create a loop that will allow for information sharing and support.

4. Why are Educational Institutes using Chelo?

There is a disconnection between Educational Institutes and Alumni which results in unrealised value. Chelo bridges the gap between the two by forging a long lasting relationship that promotes collaboration.

Educational Institutes are given a platform to raise funds, receive voluntary assistance and other relevant services. This saves them time vs. the current methods which require a lot of effort but yield little to no results. Most importantly they are given the much needed online presence for improved access and communication.

5. What kind of projects can people find on Chelo?

You can find projects that directly and indirectly affect schooling, things that affect learning: Science project, stationary and the likes. Affect the learning environment: Construction (building a lab or fixing the fence), sports, career days or food programs etc. All depends on the issues that the Educational Institutes aims to remedy.

Donors (Alumni, Organisations, Enthusiasts)

6. What does it mean to Endow a School?

To endow is to provide with a permanent fund or source of income. You give consent to be debited an amount of your choosing monthly. All the schools you endow will have this privilege. The access to the money will only take place when they have a project, otherwise the money would remain in their Chelo wallet (The balance is open for the users to view at all time as this is public money). You can endow more than one school at a time.

7. Can I fund other project if I Endow a different school?

Yes, you can simultaneously fund other projects, as many as you want, we don’t limit the contributions you make. While Endowed Schools debit your account monthly, you can still find other projects that match your interests.

8. How do I remove a school form my Endow List?

Under your profile you will find a list of all the schools you have Endow, next to each there is a remove button. By clicking this button, the school will be removed from your list and you will not be debited anymore for that specific

9. Can I alter my contribution amount?

No, once your contribution amount has gone through you cannot alter the amount. You can however make a further donation. We encourage you take your time to assess the projects and be sure that you are ready contribute.

10. Can I make anonymous contributions?

There are two option to make your contribution anonymous and ensure your Display Name does not show:

  1. On a transaction basis.
  2. You can also make sure that all your contributions are anonymous, by going to your settings under your account and adjusting accordingly.

11. What project details are made available?

A project has three stages:

  • Donation stage - Only phase open for donations. Before funding, donors are advised to read and make sure they are acquainted with the details of the project. If you are content then you proceed to fund.
  • Execution stage - Creators will keep everyone up to date with the project. The community can start reviewing & rating the project. A good score will help the Educational Institute in future when looking to raise funds.
  • Closed stage - The “end” of the project. You get a clear idea of the proposed vs. final output. You can still rate/review the project in the closed stage.

During each stage the project card will provide information according to the following tabs (with subsections) as follows:

  1. Project (Objective, Background, Milestone and Team) - This section addresses what the project aims to achieve (It includes a cover image). Background section gives a clear picture of how the project was envisioned and how it came about. Milestones is a precise sequence of events that incrementally build up until completion. Team is a group of individual who will lead in executing.
  2. FAQs - Answers for all the questions that everyone has.
  3. Progress (Overall, Performance and Budget) - Only Execution stage. Overall section summarizes what the project is about. Performance section gives feedback of current accomplishments, Challenges and upcoming Actions. Budget highlights the amount spent vs. what’s remaining.
  4. Comments - The community can share notes or observations here.

12. How is the project creator being held accountable?

The on-boarding process of an Educational Institution is thorough and requires all the schools to treat platform respectfully. By signing up your account as a creator, you agree to update the community with progress of the project as you execute. Furthermore you are legally bound to only use the funds for the reasons specified (as per Terms and Conditions). To enquire you can engage with the creator through comments.

13. Does funding warrant one to have a say?

No, funding a project doesn’t give one the right to enforce what should happen. You can communicate with the Educational Institute if you want to help in other ways or give suggestions. The project team is responsible for deciding the steps to take in meeting the objectives. You can comment on the project card, give reviews and ratings on the work done.

14. Who is responsible for fulfilling the project goals?

The Educational Institute is accountable. The team, as specified on the project card, leads and makes sure objectives are attained. We provide support where possible if required. It is still left to the Educational Institute to make final decisions, execute and update until the Closing Stage.

15. Can I cancel my donation and make a withdrawal?

No you cannot cancel the donation. Go through all the details of the project thoroughly and then make an informed decision on your contribution. In the scenario, the project doesn’t proceed (due to failure to raise enough funds or any other reason), you get the option to transfer your share to another project or allow the funds to go to the school’s Chelo wallet. You can contact the Chelo Team on info@Chelo.com for further clarity.

16. Why are there no withdrawals on Chelo?

The aim of giving is to alleviate some distress and make things easier for the students, schools etc. If one project doesn’t raise enough funds, the funds can either be transferred to the schools Chelo wallet and be used in their next project[1] or you can transfer to a different project entirely.

[1]The new project needs enough votes before the funds are released from the wallet

17. Why aren’t there any rewards in Chelo?

Chelo gives the project owner discretion to offer rewards for funds raised, but it is not expected. The focus is on impacting the schooling experience and that should be the motive when making a contribution.

18. Can people from outside South Africa pledge to projects?

Chelo is a global platform, anyone from around the world can become a donor on the platform.

Educational Institutions (Schools)

19. Can Chelo be used to fund anything?

Not everything, you can find projects that directly and indirectly affect schooling, things that affect learning: Science project, stationary and the likes. Affect the learning environment: Construction (building a lab or fixing the fence), sports, career days or food programs etc. All depends on the issues that the Educational Institutes aims to remedy. But this is not a platform for start-ups etc.

20. Do I need to give rewards for the money raised?

Chelo gives the project owner discretion to offer rewards for funds raised, but it is not expected. The focus is on impacting the schooling experience and that should be the motive when making a contribution. Idea: You can dedicate and name what you are building after some of your biggest donors etc. unless otherwise specified by the donor. You can be creative with how you show appreciation.

NB: The best reward is making good use of the funds and achieving the objective(s).

21. What to note regarding video used on project?

Having a well-written story is the first step in planning a successful project. As important, is using images and videos to support your pitch. This can get a message across better than words alone. Make sure you curate good compelling content and win the hearts of the donors.

NB: Do not use content you do not own when creating your videos (including the music). There are free resources you can use without infringing on any copywriting.

Options for free resources (Links):

  1. Audio Library of free music
  2. Free Music Archive
  3. Sound Cloud
  4. Creative Commons photo database.
  5. ccMixter

22. What are the standard Minimum and Maximum contributions of a project?

We encourage creators to research all costs involved in completing their project before launching on Chelo. Your funding goal should include the amount you need to complete your project and fees associated with running a project on Chelo. The platform doesn’t allow you to change your funding goal and deadline once the donation round begins.

23. What if a project is not fully funded?

In the case where a project is not fully funded, but has achieved the Minimum Funds Required (as specified by the Educational Institute) then it can proceed. If it fails to achieve the Minimum Funds Required the funders are given the option to transfer to other projects or allow the funds to remain in the schools Chelo wallet to use for their next project.

24. Can a project receive more funds than the target?

Yes they can get more. The maximum percentage is 110% of the target fund amount. The project will not accept any donations after it reaches this point. Under this scenario: donors are encouraged to find other projects to contribute towards.

25. What does a Chelo Funder Look like?

  1. Alumni:
  2. An alumnus or alumna is a former student and most often a graduate of an Educational Institution (school, college, university etc.)

  3. Corporates:
  4. Companies that have education at the heart of their social impact. Most companies are keen to invest in the youth and the communities that they reside in.

  5. Enthusiast:
  6. These are individuals or Non Profit Organisations (NPOs) who are passionate about education and want to promote & support it irrespective of the relation. Individuals who attribute success to education in some shape of form.

  7. Community:
  8. Members of the community and anyone who may want to support or give a hand.

26. Should the project team be open about the issues they face while executing?

If obstacles arise, be honest and reach out to the Chelo community. Be open about the issues and update everyone through the platform. The solution/help may even come from the funders. The way you treat the situation will also affect your rating and reviews, it will either instil or kill confidence in the funders and the rest of the community.

Payments

27. Payments & Fees for creators, Cost of Chelo.

All projects on Chelo are required to reach their Minimum Funds Required (MFR) by the end of donation stage in order to receive their funds. Otherwise funders will be given opportunities to transfer their contribution other projects or allow the funds to sit in the schools Chelo wallet and be used in the future. Donations on the platform are non-refundable. Below are the fees associated with Chelo.

• The Fees are 3, 5% for PayGate, 5% Commission and banking fees.

28. When is my card charged?

You get charged when you make a donation and at the end of the month if you have endowed any school. The funds raised can be accessed by the schools if they have a project that is successfully funded.

29. Does Chelo protect personal and financial details? Is it secure?

Chelo is compliant with the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002. Chelo strives to keep all information secure from unauthorised access by using SSL encryption on sensitive data.

  • The Chelo website is hosted on the Afrihost (https://www.afrihost.com/). Read more about how data is kept safe on their website. However, transmission over the internet cannot be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so any information you submit is done so at your own risk.
  • Please see our Privacy Policy for more detail.
  • For electronic-payments, Customer details will be stored separately from card details which are entered by the client on DPO PayGate’s secure site. For more details on DPO PayGate refer to www.PayGate.co.za

30. Payment options accepted

Payment may be made via Visa, MasterCard, Diners or American Express Cards or by bank transfer into the Chelo bank account, the details of which will be provided on request. We do allow direct deposits but only above a certain amount.

31. Card acquiring and security

Card transactions will be acquired for Chelo via PayGate (Pty) Ltd who are the approved gateway for all South African Acquiring Banks, DPO PayGate uses the strictest form of encryption, namely Secure Socket Layer 3 (SSL3) and no card detail are stored on the website. Users may go to https://www.paygate.co.za to view their security certificate and security policy.

Trust Operations

32. What does Chelo do to protect me?

Our approach towards Trust and Safety has different safeguarding tools, our Trust & Safety team, and our community, you! We count on our global community to work together to provide a safe, secure, and trusted platform.

Chelo aims to create continuity and creators that want long term benefits from the platform will treat it with care. The rating capability flags those who have poor execution and those who don’t use the funds appropriately. This discourages poor use of the platform while serving as another indicator for funders when deciding to make their donation.

  1. Trust and Safety team - We regularly run automated and manual reviews. In addition to routine reviews, our team investigates feedback and concerns from our community and partners. While we may not review every project, we plan to work with the project owners directly if we receive questions or concerns.
  2. Chelo Community - We encourage donors to learn more about the project by going through all provided information, team profiles, FAQs, updates, ratings and comments to get a good sense of what you’re supporting. Feel free to ask any questions to project creators before any commitment. If something looks concerning to you, let us know!

Check our Terms and Conditions.

33. What about TAX?

Please note that Chelo cannot provide tax advice or guidance. We ask that any questions be directed to your Tax Accountant or the local Tax Authorities.

You can find some of the information here:

  1. National Treasury
  2. South African Revenue Service

34. Who is responsible for fulfilling the project goals?

The Educational Institute is accountable. The team as specified on project will lead and make sure objectives are attained. We provide support in the sense of advice if required. It is still up to the Educational Institution to make final decision and making sure to execute and update about the progress till it reaches closed stage.

35. Are updates going to be emailed to backers?

Yes, the backers will get email updates. There are also in-app notifications for any feedback from the project creators. Everyone involved with the project will be able to see this feedback and engage.

Legal

36. What is the Project owner accountable for?

All Educational Institutes on the platform are legally required to fulfil the objectives as specified on the project card, to continually give updates of projects with each milestone and to use the money raised for the reasons specified. By accepting the Terms and Conditions you agree to the above.

37. Infringements:

Do not use content that you do not own when creating your videos (including the music). There are free resources you can use without infringing on any copywriting. The best way to avoid copyright infringement is by creating all the content yourself or by using content that is free to public.

38. Policies: