About Tree of Life
History
TOL was launched in 2007 when two businessmen made equity stakes in their businesses available to TOL. For the first nine years of TOL’s existence, the team focused on investing the returns generated from these businesses wisely, and have been blessed to experience rapid growth. During this period, no donations were solicited or received.
As TOL’s balance sheet continued to grow through various investments, the trustees adopted a "progressive distribution policy" in 2014, which in essence calls for a percentage of its Net Asset Value to be distributed to charities every year.
Towards 2015, the idea of offering our investment expertise to others also wishing to participate in the sphere of donor capital started to grow, and we launched a project to establish a Donor-advised Fund platform. This culminated in the launch of the Tree of Life Donor-advised Fund in 2016. By opening participation in our investment portfolios to outside clients through the Donor-advised Fund accounts they open on our platform, we aim to grow the positive impact of donor capital in Africa.
Governance
Between them, the trustees of TOL have ample investment management, governance, and general management expertise. They include a practicing actuary (and founder of an actuarial firm), leading investment manager (and co-owner of an Asset Management business), and former CEO of various listed and unlisted companies.
The Bigger Dream
Collective Christian Capital
We feel strongly that donors sharing a Christian worldview can collectively achieve strategic key objectives by pooling their capital. While financial markets offer this functionality through banks, asset managers, and such, similar platforms for Christian capital are not readily available.
We believe that TOL’s decision to make its structures and opportunities available to external donors by creating an internal Donor-advised Fund platform enables the collective allocation of Christian capital, increasing the impact.
TOL is founded on Biblical principles, ascribes to a Biblical worldview and focuses on the support of charities that share our value system.
Related PBOs
Tree Of Life
BEE Foundation (TOLBEE)
The Tree of Life BEE Foundation shares the vision and values of Tree of Life, but is specifically set up to benefit black (as defined in the BEE codes) “orphaned, abused, abandoned, neglected, disabled, chronically ill, vulnerable or at risk children, including children in need of care and protection as defined in section 150 of the Children’s Act, 2005.”
As such, the Tree of Life BEE Foundation qualifies as a Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) shareholder in commercial investments.