25 March 2008
I arrived in Singapore late yesterday (at midnight, which makes it this morning) to attend Habitat’s Asia Pacific Resource Development Conference held at Fort Canning Lodge. I would have got here earlier if not for the grinding wait at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, thanks to a horde of F1 fans. Here we are, trying to figure out how to save the world, and there they are, spewing carbon into the atmosphere. There’s something wrong with this picture…
Here are some highlights of my first Habitat training session.
The conference began with a guest: Jack Sim, founder of the World Toilet Organisation. A maverick Singaporean activist, he began by telling us that there are 2.6 billion people on Earth with no proper toilet. Often, they have pit latrines which flood and contaminate the ground water.
Sobering facts like these, and harrowing images of the lack of sanitation in places like Nairobi, compelled Jack to establish the World Toilet Organisation, on 19 November 2001, and this date is now celebrated as World Toilet Day.
Many people in our society are capable of doing something about the issues which trouble them, but they do not want to start. However, Jack assured us, it is not risky. At worst, you may make a fool of yourself. That is no reason to ignore your conscience.
From a very humble beginning, Jack’s annual World Toilet Summits are now in demand. Nations are eager to host them because the media love something which is quirky. Beijing, for example, by hosting the Summit in 2004 received millions of dollars worth of free publicity. The President of India has patronised a Summit, as has the Prince of Orange. The next Summit in Macau – 2008 is World Sanitation Year – will be paid for by the Asian Development Bank.
Jack quipped, if you can have a McDonalds University, then you need a World Toilet College. But how to do it when you don’t have a school and you don’t have teachers? Synergy. Jack spoke to Singapore Polytechnic, who agreed to lend the space and their name on the certificates. Japanese technical experts come to teach, and a new learning institution is born!
From somebody with a laughable idea, Jack Sim has now been made a member of the Global Agenda Council in the World Economic Forum.
Jack shared this tip: if you view the poor as helpless, they may make themselves out to be poorer than they are, to get help. View them as your customers. Make them proud of having a good toilet. He left us with this motivational thought:
“How to begin? Don’t look at your resources for a start. Think of your mission. Just ask yourself, what do I want to achieve by a certain time? Set your goal. Such and such must happen because people are suffering. Get obsessed by this picture. Create in your head the 500 completed houses, the roads, every detail. As you see it clearer and clearer, it cannot not happen… because you’ve seen it.”
Secrets of Effective Fundraising by Usha Menon, HfH Director of Resource Development
RD is not about asking, it is about giving: giving donors the opportunity to make a difference.
Volunteers are the best people to tell your story. Paid staff are important, but more to facilitate and mobilise those volunteers who are passionate about your cause.
Understand the psychology of giving, then move the donor from their first gift to regular support; identify what makes your donor tick and pitch to it.
Methodologies include ‘gifts from the heart’ as an alternative to birthday presents; encourage donors to set up wills and trusts, to leave a legacy.
Set up sub-committees: specific projects or donor targets may need particular fundraisers who know how to communicate with and convince them to contribute to your cause.
Find members who can mobilise resources through their personal wealth and/ or their access to wealth.
One study in the US found 68% of donors who lapsed because of indifference of the organisation. Always keep in touch with your donors. If nothing else, it is only polite.
Women IndiaBUILDS Campaign by Payal Modi
The Board in India includes wives of prominent corporate personalities. The aim of the affiliate is to connect women donors to women savers, and challenge the former to exponentially match what the latter can put aside each month.
Among other things, HfH India organises “coffee mornings” with high net worth ladies. The first one was held at the house of the US consulate. Mrs Carter came to share her experiences with the Jimmy Carter Project.
17 countries also came bringing their local foods for the Oberoi Melting Pot event where HfH was the official charity. Money was raised by ticket sales and there was an auction also.
Hong Kong Gala Dinner by Usha Menon
“Don’t put a square peg in a round hole. Let the board member do what she knows best.”
A Hong Kong volunteer had trouble organising an “Under No Roof” event, which has been successful in Singapore. In the end, it was decided that her forte was to organise a grand Gala Dinner instead – sometimes you just need someone who likes a good party. Thus the Habitat Angels were born.
The luxury watchmaker Piaget underwrote the cost of the dinner so all proceeds came to HfH. They even came up with a watch on which the client’s thumbprint could be embossed and set with diamonds, hence the name of the event, “An Impression to Remember”. There was synergy because Piaget would have spent that much anyway, to get 300 to 400 potential customers in one room.
A Sotheby’s auctioneer came and managed to get a bid for a new BMW 750i at USD100,000 above its cost price. Other events during the Gala Dinner included, “buy a brick, leave your mark”, like a gingerbread house. Families were involved in the fundraising. The idea being, it would be more effective to get your friend’s daughter to challenge her auntie to sign on more bricks, than to ask anonymous board members or volunteers. Celebrities like Sally Yeh and George Lam provided their talent for free.
Find an urgency in your call for action. The timing of the 2007 Gala Dinner coincided with the tsunami relief efforts, and helped raise almost USD700,000.
Form a committee with specific tasks for members, and have a Project Chair. Dinners like these take a year to organise. Use a professional events management company which is prepared to do it at their cost as a favour, and for publicity. Capture high net worth individuals, keep their contacts and work on them for future donations.
Habitat information was placed on display in the foyer and in the souvenir magazine. A slideshow went on discreetly in the background as the dinner went on.
“Don’t forget, fund raising is fun raising.”