Since its launch in 2016, members have donated towards a variety of causes: improving education, alleviating poverty and hunger, flood relief and addressing water shortages through hundreds of organisations in South Africa. These include various initiatives with the Gift of the Givers Foundation, the Dis-Chem Foundation’s Million Comforts campaign which provides sanitary material to young girls in need, the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s Each 1 Feed 1 initiative, CHOC (which supports those affected by childhood cancer), to name just a few. The Discovery Fund matches donations to amplify the impact. 

An example of what we can do, together 

What is unique about Vitality MoveToGive is that funds are raised through crowd-sourced philanthropy. It is accessed through Vitality Active Rewards, the gamified physical activity platform which uses micro incentives and instant gratification to encourage positive behaviour. Members can earn valuable rewards each week if they meet their exercise, driving and financial wellbeing goals – and these regular incentives help to build healthy exercise habits for members of the programme.  

Vitality Active Rewards has become a key feature of the Vitality programme. Regular incentives help to build regular healthy exercise habits for members of the programme. Vitality Active Rewards has recently scaled to over 700,000 Vitality members who are taking steps towards healthy living, enabled through the simple, short-term encouragement offered through these rewards.  

What this means for Vitality MoveToGive, is more opportunities and amplified rewards to do good. The generosity of Vitality members has been consistent and impactful. There are currently 335 Vitality members who have donated over 95% of ALL the Discovery Miles they’ve ever earned to Vitality MoveToGive. Our top giver has donated over R14,400, while another member has donated to MoveToGive on 288 separate occasions. This is especially impressive considering rewards, which are awarded in our rewards currency, Discovery Miles, can be monetised or spent at a wide range of partners at a discounted rate. 

When thousands of members each donate small amounts to a common cause, we can create a significant impact. Vitality MoveToGive makes charitable giving easy by curating causes to donate towards, allowing small donations and enabling all this with just a few taps in the Discovery mobile app.

Removing barriers and amplifying the ability to be a force for good

Vitality updates the causes it supports every four to six weeks to ensure we are supporting relevant and pressing needs, and to give our members the chance to support a cause that resonates with them. For example, members were able to support Gift of the Givers’ relief efforts to address the devastating effects of the recent flooding in KwaZulu-Natal. Vitality members raised over R400,000 for this cause in just three weeks, an amount that was then matched by the Discovery Fund.

Another area we were particularly proud of was the response of our members during the most difficult periods of the COVID-19 pandemic. A good example is our collaboration with the Nelson Mandela Foundation to raise funds for its Each1Feed1 for Nelson Mandela Day, in response to the devastating effects of COVID-19 on already vulnerable communities. The campaign called for all South Africans to help alleviate food insecurity. During that campaign, our members were able to play a role in helping people in great need.  

Vitality MoveToGive’s success is largely due to strong partnerships with our partners, like Dis-Chem, and Woolworths and non-profit organisations doing incredible work in communities, such as Africa Tikkun, the Breast Health Foundation and many more.  

To learn more about Vitality MoveToGive, visit our website or the Discovery mobile app. DM

Author: James Vos – Discovery Vitality Head of Product Management