Blueprint Fundraising » Unusual

A generous donor… you don’t want to meet

Andrea Seale — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:07:55 +0000

Here’s a little video from The Onion, just in time for Halloween…

Anonymous Philanthropist Donates 200 Human Kidneys To Hospital

Save the sea kittens

Andrea Seale — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 03:55:08 +0000

This campaign made me laugh! And it is doing something I’ve wondered about… How can a good cause capitalize on the online world’s unquenchable desire to view cute cat images?

PETA’s campaign is all about asking people to stop eating fish and write to the US government to ask them to protect fish. But since fish are not cute, they propose rebranding them as “sea kittens.” Maybe that will help. “Chicken of the sea” certainly worked for tuna. The site has lots of creative content to explore.

About the Campaign

People don’t seem to like fish. They’re slithery and slimy, and they have eyes on either side of their pointy little heads—which is weird, to say the least. Plus, the small ones nibble at your feet when you’re swimming, and the big ones—well, the big ones will bite your face off if Jaws is anything to go by.

Of course, if you look at it another way, what all this really means is that fish need to fire their PR guy—stat. Whoever was in charge of creating a positive image for fish needs to go right back to working on the Britney Spears account and leave our scaly little friends alone. You’ve done enough damage, buddy. We’ve got it from here. And we’re going to start by retiring the old name for good. When your name can also be used as a verb that means driving a hook through your head, it’s time for a serious image makeover. And who could possibly want to put a hook through a sea kitten?

Benefits of the Brushed Aluminum giving level

Andrea Seale — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:35:27 +0000

Shouts and Murmurs, my favourite section in The New Yorker has a funny piece by Bruce McCall, proposing donor giving levels for a Charity Gala Event.

As part of the Brushed Aluminum Motley, you can expect to receive: Sandwich; unlimited water-glass refills; simulated autograph of Guest of Honor on cover of official event program; preferred coat-check queue position; use of rest room (depending on key availability); partially unobstructed head-table view.

Read the rest… and Happy Friday!

Clever kid outwits Make-A-Wish Foundation!

Andrea Seale — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 14:52:06 +0000

Remember when you were a kid, contemplating what you would wish for if a genie granted you three wishes? To live forever? To be able to make yourself invisible?

Of course the best answer was UNLIMITED WISHES!

(I hope I don’t need to tell you that this video is a spoof. I really doubt it although some people have been fooled and the Make-A-Wish Foundation has issued an assurance that there is no such loophole.) Nice one Onion!

LOLcats and fundraising: two worlds collide

Andrea Seale — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 21:00:00 +0000

I’m one of those people who spends way too much time looking at cute pictures of cats online. If the picture has a silly caption, so much the better. But would the worlds of LOLcats and fundraising ever collide?

Yes. Thanks to Stuart Bright, the originator of a serious donor relations problem for the Hervey Foundation for Cats, an Alberta charity for abandoned or injured cats. Bright recently pleaded guilty to charges of sending defamatory letters to 600 donors to the cat charity. From the Edmonton Sun:

According to agreed facts, Bright lived common-law for several years with Marjorie Hervey, president and founder of the Hervey Foundation for Cats, a Stony Plain charity for abandoned or injured cats. While they were together, the “advanced” computer user set up an e-mail account and a website for the foundation. The couple’s relationship deteriorated in 2004 and he moved out in June 2005. A month later he accessed the foundation website and changed the password for the e-mail account, but never informed Hervey of the change.

This meant Hervey could no longer get e-mails sent to her and Bright could also send messages from the account as if Hervey was writing them herself. He then used the account to send himself three derogatory e-mails which were made to look as if Hervey had written them and he used them in his favour during civil court proceedings between them. The e-mails include one in which he is referred to as a “little wimp” and has an attached picture showing a hand with a gun pointing at a kitten with its front paws up as if it is surrendering (here’s the photo).

Bright then used a mailing list of about 600 supporters of the cat foundation to send out a libellous letter regarding Hervey and the foundation, which resulted in complaints to the RCMP and supporters withholding their donations. The bogus letter has Bright stating he had resigned as general manager of the foundation and saying “it is with a broken heart and regret I have to inform you …” The letter then falsely suggests that nearly $100,000 in donations had been used by Hervey and her husband, William Hamilton, to buy booze, hairdressing, food and gifts. The fake letter also suggests Hervey had euthanized 300 cats needlessly and had mistreated many others. As well, it says Hervey had threatened to kill him and pointed a loaded gun at him four times.

Marjorie Hervey is in the process of re-building public trust in her organization.

Canadian penny now worth $47,680!

Andrea Seale — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 23:01:41 +0000

Here’s a story for those of you who talk about every “cent” making a difference show images of Canadian currency on fundraising materials…

Spotted on Boing Boing:

A campaign to raise funds for cash-strapped Canadian cities has been contemptuously sabotaged by the federal government, who are demanding thousands of dollars in royalties for use of the “copyrighted” image of a Canadian penny and the phrase “one cent.”

OneCentNow is a campaign by the City of Toronto to get the federal government to return one cent of the national Goods and Services Tax to Toronto, which is struggling in the wake of decades of federal cuts in their budget-transfers.

Now the federal corporation that mints Canada’s currency has sent the City of Toronto a bill for more than $47,000 for the use of the words “one cent” and the picture of a penny in the campaign’s logo in a citywide public education effort.

The Royal Canadian Mint, a corporation of the federal government, has now demanded that the City of Toronto pay $47,680 for the public education campaign. Included in this amount is a request for $10,000 for the use of the words “one cent” in the campaign website address (www.onecentnow.ca) and the campaign email address (onecentnow@toronto.ca), and an additional $10,000 for the use of the words “one cent” in the campaign phone number (416-ONECENT). The remaining $27,680 has been assessed against the City for the use of the image of the Canadian penny in printed materials such as pins and posters. (The Mint has come to this amount by taking the total number of materials printed divided by the approximate population of Toronto, and then using a percentage of that number to arrive at a dollar figure.) Link to the full story.

OMG! How ridiculous. Happy Thanksgiving, Canadian readers. Be thankful that you haven’t (yet) received a bill from the Canadian Mint for flagrant abuse of their copyright.

Mystery donor leaves treasure in public washrooms

Andrea Seale — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 14:40:36 +0000

In another case of unusual charity, someone is placing the equivalent of tens of thousands of dollars in neatly packaged envelopes in the men’s rooms of public buildings across Japan.

The packages of 10,000-yen bills each come with a letter saying “Please make use of this enclosed inheritance money of 10,000 yen to fund your self-enrichment,” handwritten in a traditional brush and evoking the language of Buddhist monks.

Authorities don’t quite know how much cash has been left — some people have brought the packages to the police, but there could be many who haven’t. This may be the same mystery donor who left similar packages in public washrooms of cemeteries near Osaka last year.

You’ll find some very interesting things, looking for Japanese public toilet photos on Flickr. This one, “Still nature (in a Japanese toilet)” by puss in boots is quite beautiful don’t cha think?

So many good fundraising ideas come from the UK

Andrea Seale — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 15:21:05 +0000

In the spirit of yesterday’s posting, with Ewan McGregor as the voice of a homeless gorilla, here is a shot of the recent “Great Gorilla Run” through Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. It’s a fundraising run organized by the Gorilla Organization which saves endangered gorillas in Africa. There are only about 700 mountain gorillas left in the wild.

The San Francisco run was limited in size by the number of gorilla suits available (400) for participants. They chased a banana… “I had to cut out. I feared for my life,” laughed Erin Hillier, a social worker and avid runner. “I got outrun. I’m faster when I’m not a banana.” In London1,000+ runners take part the annual 7K race.

Photos from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Unusual gift: billionaire gives mansions to low-income families

Andrea Seale — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 16:58:12 +0000

This is an interesting story — last year Japanese billionaire Genshiro Kawamoto invited low-income Hawaiian families to write to him and apply to live in one of his Honolulu mansions for rent of $150 per month. Three thousand people applied.

Last week Kawamoto selected four families and will choose another four next month. The families are ecstatic — some have been homeless, living on the beach. He decided to give the first two years completely rent-free with an option for families to stay on at a low rent until their last child graduates from high school.

Reviews from the neighbours are mixed… some have been unhappy that his unkempt properties are bringing down values and they suspect ulterior motives. Kawamoto said he wants to transform Kahala from an exclusive neighborhood to a more open community reflecting Hawaii and that his action “shows more dedication to helping Hawaii’s homeless than just handing out wads of cash.”

I love these stories of unusual giving. Some have criticized him, saying he could have helped more people by selling the multi-million homes and giving the money to charity. Probably true. But so what? From reading about how he selected the families, he wants a connection with the people his is helping and I don’t think you can really get that by giving at arms length. Here’s the letter he sent the lucky families.

Ricky Gervais in Kenya

Andrea Seale — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 23:25:08 +0000

I found this via the $5 Philanthropist… a hilarious spoof of celebrity spokespeople and direct response TV. An excellent way to spend the next eight minutes — watch for a special appearance at the end. The video is part of the UK’s Comic Relief and Red Nose Day 2007.

When we need your help we’ll let you know, ok?

Andrea Seale — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 21:20:28 +0000

I’ve been waiting for The Onion to write more on charity and philanthropy ever since this article (only for those with a truly dark sense of humour!).

Now this: Proud Cystic-Fibrosis Foundation Doesn’t Need Your Charity.

Naming rights gone wild

Andrea Seale — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 22:13:58 +0000

The current issue of The Economist has an interesting article about naming new species as a way to honour people (i.e. the spider named Calponia harrisonfordi) and as a way to fundraise for conservation causes.

GoldenPalace.com, an online casino hosted by the Kahnawake Mohawk First Nation, paid $650,0000 US to name a new species of Bolivian monkey, now known as Callicebus aureipalatii (Golden Palace monkey). The auction benefited the Wildlife Conservation Society.

This led me to look into the Golden Palace people and it turns out that they are known for pursuing some wacky naming rights, sometimes to benefit charity but mostly to generate publicity. Here’s just a sample:

They paid $25,000 US for William Shatner’s kidney stone, with proceeds going to Habitat for Humanity
They paid $28,000 US on eBay for a 10-year-old grilled cheese sandwich purported to bear a representation of the Virgin Mary in its toasted bread
They paid Terri Iligan $15,000 to change her name to “goldenpalace.com”
They also paid Edward Rouzin-Moy, a student at Eastern Illinois University, $232.50 US for a chicken breast that looked like Pope John Paul II
In June 2005, Karolyne Smith sold the right to permanently tattoo an ad for the URL of goldenpalace.com on her forehead for $10,000 US

Update on We, the two-headed albino snake

Andrea Seale — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 18:11:24 +0000

Newsflash! Auctioning a two-headed snake on the internet is not a good fundraising strategy. There were no bidders. At all. The Aquarium is now looking at a private sale.