Ever since we started Bang the Table, Matt and I have been looking for a way to support causes that parallel our own values. Around a week ago we were on the phone (again) trying to nut out what corporate gift we should make to put into the “show bags” of attendees at the upcoming South Australian Local Government and Shires Association. All the usual ideas were thrown around; pens, squeezy balls, flash drives, bottle openers, key rings, an endless list of useless (and expensive) paraphernalia that inevitably ends up in the bin anyway.

None of the ideas excited either of us, so we started to think outside the usual “corporate gift” space. We hit upon the idea of making a small donation to charity in lieu of a gift for each conference attendee.

A few calls and emails to Oxfam Australia later and we had a sponsorship deal in place. Our aim is to buy a buffalo for a Cambodian farmer.

From the Oxfam website…

A buffalo bank works by giving a poor family a buffalo to help them plough their fields and use for breeding, providing them with enough food and also preventing them from having to work twice as hard planting rice by hand. “Before we had the buffalo, we grew rice by hand. Now, we have rice for six or seven months of the year. Before we only had enough rice for two months.” Chrim Veng, Cambodia.

We chose Oxfam because it doesn’t take money from Governments, it is secular, and it encourages local self sufficiency. It’s a new fundraising model for Oxfam and makes us feel so much better than handing out sqeezy toys with our logo emblazoned on the side.