APOPO

Name of exhibitor

Brock Warner, donor programmes officer, War Child

To acquire new monthly donors for APOPO by asking the public to ‘adopt’ a HeroRAT for a minimum of €5 per month.

Background

HeroRAT is a great example of using a fun way to raise money for a deathly serious issue. APOPO is training African giant pouched rats to detect land mines and tuberculosis. The training takes about nine months, so it’s a labour intensive process.

HeroRATs are trained by APOPO to save lives and limbs, by using their exceptional sense of smell to sniff out unexploded landmines and tuberculosis. They are the true heroes behind APOPO’s mission working together with their human colleagues to create a safer world and inspire social change. 

Special characteristics

Adopters of a HeroRAT receive an official HeroRAT adoption certificate, an introductory letter from the chosen rat and a quarterly update – from the HeroRAT, of course. Adopters also have a personalised ‘myapopo’ wall, where they receive badges as their rat progresses and can see what impact their rat has when it becomes operational.

Results

Total income from the HeroRAT public campaign in 2012 was €241,246.

Merits

While the use of a sponsorship model is not innovative, I’ve submitted HeroRAT to SOFII because it’s a strong example of how the line between fundraising mechanisms and communication strategies can be blurred for great effect. I believe that too often, mass-fundraising strategies lack a strong connection to the work that a charity is doing and why they are doing it. Great fundraising should deepen a donor’s understanding and sensitivity to your cause and HeroRAT is a wonderful example of how that can be executed.

See also A day in the life of a HeroRAT and Give a Rat, Help save lives.