This story is part of the series SA Success Stories: Origin stories of successful brands and names, sponsored by Old Mutual Wealth.
When entrepreneur Patrick Schofield bought the shuttered crowdfunding platform BackaBuddy, it had recently lost its founder, Allan Beuthin, and its future was uncertain.
Schofield made a promise to Allan’s widow, Sue, who had asked him to take over the platform after her husband’s death and see whether he could breathe new life into the small operation.
Eleven years later, that promise has paid off. BackaBuddy has grown into South Africa’s largest crowdfunding platform and is on track to reach two major milestones this year: R1 billion raised and 1 million donors.
At the time, Schofield was running Thundafund, a crowdfunding platform focused on helping small businesses raise capital.
But he knew there was something to the idea of a platform that focused on donations for individuals.
“Alan was a visionary, and he laid the groundwork,” Patrick tells News24. “Raising money for charities is always great, but a donations platform for individuals, nothing else really existed at that time.
“I used to see people go to loan sharks if they couldn’t get funding, and what they have to pay back is insane.”
‘That first month we raised R14 000’
As the story goes, Schofield and his Thundafund team had recently launched a separate donations-based crowdfunding platform when he called Sue to discuss the possibility of joining forces. During that conversation, she told him that Allan had passed away and asked whether he would consider carrying on his legacy by taking over BackaBuddy.
The challenge was daunting. The platform had already been shut down for two months and had lost about 80% of its staff, leaving its future in doubt.
“That first month we raised R14 000 and it was stressful,” Patrick remembers.
He adds:
We raise that in half an hour now.
Having asked experienced fundraiser Catherine Swanepoel to join him in building BackaBuddy, they would spend the first four or five years growing the platform slowly but surely.
“And it’s only in the last three years that it’s really taken off.”
In the past three years, BackaBuddy has helped South Africans raise and give more than R500 million. The total amount raised is R30m shy of the R1 billion mark and will cross it later this year, and Patrick and his team finally feel the platform is ready to give even more.
It’s a far cry from the early days, when the process was very manual. From the front end, it worked fine, but behind the scenes, the team had to copy and paste each submission.
“It hasn’t all been easy, that’s for sure. When our new platform went live last year, our donations-and-payout mechanism was broken for two weeks.
“It took us three months to stabilise the platform, but by the end of last year, we finally had a platform that I felt ‘yes, world, we’re coming.’”
From R1 to R464 494 in single donations
Over the platform’s decade-long journey, they have some interesting stats to show as South Africans lend their support to various causes:
- The smallest recorded donation was R1 on 16 November 2021, in support of a mental health organisation.
- The largest single donation was for R464 494 on 10 November 2023 to support wildlife conservation.
- The largest campaign to date was Help Our Doctors Fight Coronavirus in partnership with Gift of the Givers, which raised R2 073 289.06 from 1 044 donors.
The BackaBuddy team has grown a lot over the last few years as the team aims to build a team always ready for 18 months from now.
The largest campaign every hosted on BackaBuddy was during the Covid-19 pandemic, when South Africans raised more than R2 million for doctors in partnership with Gift of the Givers.
Since June 2025, BackaBuddy has operated with a 0% platform fee, saying every donation goes directly to the campaign or registered charity it is intended for.
Rather than charging beneficiaries a platform fee, BackaBuddy is sustained by the generosity of donors who choose to leave an optional tip at checkout to help keep the platform running.
“This means that every optional tip helps make it possible for the next family, patient, athlete, school or charity to raise the funds they need. It’s a model built on trust and community, one where those who are able to contribute a little more make it possible for others to receive help without deduction.”
The human touch, building a team, and what’s next
So why does this work, and why do so many stories and opportunities to give go viral?
Patrick believes it comes down to South Africans’ desire to connect, backed by a deliberate investment in building a strong team.
“Humans are humans, and they like to engage. Tech can be an enabler, but the reason we grew is because we built an awesome team, and our campaigns connected South Africans.
“When people work as part of an organisation, and they believe the vision is beyond what you’re doing right now, then you can build an incredible team. And we always want to have a team that is built for 18 months from now.”
Patrick Schofield says BackaBuddy wants to make giving a part of everyday life, and hopes to take their crowdfunding platform to new heights.
Patrick Schofield says BackaBuddy wants to make giving a part of everyday life, and hopes to take their crowdfunding platform to new heights.
Going forward, BackaBuddy is looking to tell more of their own stories through partnering with existing news and content creators, believing they have tons of heartwarming tales that will inspire South Africans.
“We have this incredible content, transforming bleeding to healing, and you can’t ask for better content in the world. Our job is now to package it and our objective is to make giving part of everyday life.”
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Left with a final word after reflecting on his own journey, Patrick had these words to impart on anyone looking to build something and make a change.
“Resilience is the thing that you need to succeed. You can have as much passion as you need, but passion without resilience is just ego. It hasn’t been a single game or season. It’s been years of building. It takes 10 years to have instant success.
“Now the real impact starts, because now we can work at scale. Our motto is ‘we grow givers’, and we want to showcase that people are powerful when working together.”
This report is part of the series SA Success Stories: Origin stories of successful brands and names, sponsored by Old Mutual Wealth.
