Questions people ask
Here are the things people want to know before they give, before they put a woman forward, and before they trust us with their details. Tap a question to read the answer.
Giving
Each woman is helped with what her own trade needs: stock, tools or equipment. We keep the figures in the open on this site, and only a confirmed gift moves the raised total.
Our Give page shows every way to give that is open now. You can give online by card, transfer or USSD. You can also give by bank transfer, once or every month by standing order, or hand your gift to a trustee in person. For a transfer, ask for a reference on the Give page and type it as the payment description, so we know the money is yours. If you made a pledge at the launch, use your pledge number as the payment description instead. Every gift is recorded, and receives a numbered receipt. If you lose your receipt, you can get it again on the receipt page.
No. The launch is the beginning. Women are helped all through the year, for as long as there are funds. Each 5 November we gather to give thanks and show what the giving has done.
No. Each woman receives what will truly help her trade stand: sometimes money for stock, often tools or equipment, such as a sewing machine. The help is sized to her trade, not to a fixed sum.
We would rather be honest than promise what we cannot confirm yet. The Foundation is registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission as an Incorporated Trustees body. The trustees are confirming with an accountant what that means for a gift. Once we know, we will say so here plainly.
Nominating a woman
A woman aged 30 to 60, living and trading in Lagos or Ogun State. She is already at a trade of her own and making a genuine effort at it. What holds her back is a lack of capital, nothing else.
People who know her put her forward, someone like a market leader or a church mother. Then a trustee visits and verifies her story quietly, with her own consent. She is chosen on real need and genuine effort, with the same care for every woman.
Yes, you can. Every nomination is judged on the same thing, real need and genuine effort, and every one is verified. Putting someone forward does not guarantee that she will receive anything. It means we will look at her story with care.
Your nomination is reviewed. If it goes forward, a trustee verifies the woman's story with her own consent, never behind her back and never in a way that shames her. Women are helped all through the year, for as long as there are funds. We cannot promise that every nominator will be contacted.
Yes. You can mentor a trader, help with bookkeeping or legal work, teach a trade, or bring your organisation alongside us. Offer what you have on the get involved page and we will find where it fits.
Trust and privacy
Yes. The Foundation is registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission as an Incorporated Trustees body. The registration number follows, and the governance page will show it. The Foundation is governed by a board of trustees, who answer for how it is run and how every gift is used.
Her name and photograph are published only with her own consent. If she would rather stay private, she stays private. A nominee's details are held by the foundation and seen by the founder and trustees only. They are never shared or sold.