FAQ

The name Stars for Africa originates from the Shining Star Primary School, which is one of the charity's partner schools in Arusha, Tanzania. In this school, the plan to start an organisation to support educational facilities and students in Africa was first made by Daniel Guzmics, the charity's founder, who spent several weeks there to teach children himself.

Stars for Africa consists of ordinary and extraordinary members. To become a member, you need to actively support the charity, for example as a volunteer or through regularly recurring and substantial donations. If you want to apply for a membership, please get in touch with us: info@starsforafrica.com

Stars for Africa has set itself a strict "All to Africa" policy. None of our volunteers are being paid in any way - most of them even invest their own money to cover the administrative costs of this entity (such as paying for this website, its domain, marketing, mail accounts and other administrative costs).

All donations that reach us are transferred to Tanzania or South Africa to be spent on the projects. Please bear in mind, however, that a small proportion of the donations might become victim to bank- /payment provider-related or FX-fees. However, as an NGO, we are entitled to reduced PayPal commission and Transferwise fees to convert and send money to Africa.

Different to many other charities, Stars for Africa refrains from reimbursing any travel or other expenses for its Europe-based volunteers. Only local volunteers may receive any reimbursement for travel expenses or any other fees that arise due to their activity in the charity subject to the requirements set out in Law (this exception was agreed upon because of the disproportional income distribution and the high local travel costs compared to the low salaries in Tanzania and currently only applies there).

Our Teaching Expert has an eye on how the money is spent in order to maximize pedagogical value at the lowest possible cost for the students of the schools that are currently working with Stars for Africa. Our teachers Ainhoa, Linmari and Shemu provide a vital point of view and help us to allocate the donations in the best way possible.

Stars for Africa is committed to adhering to the principles of correct and ethical fundraising. In particular, we are committed to integrity of advertising ("Lauterkeit in der Werbung"). In line with the criteria of the Austrian donation quality label, the board of directors, Daniel Guzmics, Emil Nigmatullin, as well as the Head of Accounting & Finance, Iris Hämmerle, are responsible for the use of donations. The Head of Marketing, Max Kloucek, is responsible for the integrity of fundraising and advertising.

Stars for Africa uses Transferwise or regular bank transfers to send the money to Tanzania and South Africa. The British Financial Service Transferwise has established itself as a much cheaper alternative to regular bank transfers within the last few years. In order to minimise transfer and FX related fees, the charity has decided to proceed with this service, where possible. That way, the organization makes sure that its principles of efficiency and economy are applied to every transaction.

Stars for Africa has a multi-step process to validate that funds are being used efficiently. Apart from contractual agreements, regularly updated records, copies of invoices and an independent check-system comprising several people in Africa and Europe, we also make sure that projects are actively pursued by obtaining and analysing video and photo footage which is analyzed by the board of directors as well as the Accounting & Finance team regularly.