41. Animal welfare work - challenges & case study of SMU Animal Day 2008
Sunday, March 9, 2008
This article is written for the benefit of animal welfare volunteers raising funds for the animals, using the SMU Animal Day 2008 as a real life case study.
On Saturday March 8, 2008, I visited the Singapore Management University (SMU) Animal Day 2008. I had news of this event from an electronic NANAS newsletter.
As I have had spent more than 2 hours just editing 5 pictures for this article and have to go to my surgery to work, here are my observations:
1. HOW TO GET A LARGE CROWD?. Saturday afternoon. It is a challenge to get a big audience. 100 goodie bags and prizes would be given but there seemed to be not sufficient audience.
1.1. Get the various sponsors and associates to inform their network. I got info from NANAS electronic newsletters by e-mail. Be pro-active in finding out whether they are doing it.
1.2 100 goodie bags. Attractive. The problem here is the lack of audience. Those children and mothers you see in the picture came over from the National Museum.
1.3 Advertise event in the National Museum, National Library, POSB and community centres where the likely audience is found. A small notice in the Straits Times "Events Today" was placed.
1.4 Excite or interest the newspapers journalists to do a write up. I don't know whether this was done. The theme must be attractive to the jaded journalist.
1.5 50 posters were printed and put around the campus? Some flyers were distributed. None were available.
1.6 Sponsors get disheartened if there is no crowd.
2. THEME. Somehow I feel that the theme is not connecting to Animal Day. This event seems to be more a dog adoption and not buy from the pet shops concept. The poster slogan is great. Poster is attractive. The T-shirts of the energetic organising committee tell it.
3. TIME-TABLE OF EVENTS. Why should a person attend this event? There is no agenda or information about the talks or seminars advertised on site for the audience. No information is given in the poster. Flyers are no more. Actually, there is the agility and obedience dog show by the Singapore Kennel Club.
4. CREATE MARKET AWARENESS OF YOUR OBJECTIVES. Beautiful layout of the front of the T-shirt is important. But in this competitive world for funds, it is important for the animal welfare organisation to understand that a buyer of its T-shirt is a walking advertiser for its objectives.
Though graphics experts advise NO slogan in the front (to attract a person to read the back of the T-shirt for the message), I am of the opinion that the front is prime advertising space. Time-pressed Singaporeans and people may just read the front and if you listen to the experts, you just fail to get the "marketing awareness creation" to anybody.
Remember: The graphics experts look for awards and beauty. A slogan of the animal welfare organisation on the front of the T-shirt reinforces its objectives to new audience and maybe attracts new volunteers. Fund raising is extremely competitive and donor fatigue is common. So, get the slogan out in the front of the T-shirt!
Overall, I enjoyed the SMU PAW event and met great animal lovers including the energetic organising committee members.
This article is written for the benefit of animal welfare volunteers raising funds for the animals, using the SMU Animal Day 2008 as a real life case study.
On Saturday March 8, 2008, I visited the Singapore Management University (SMU) Animal Day 2008. I had news of this event from an electronic NANAS newsletter.
As I have had spent more than 2 hours just editing 5 pictures for this article and have to go to my surgery to work, here are my observations:
1. HOW TO GET A LARGE CROWD?. Saturday afternoon. It is a challenge to get a big audience. 100 goodie bags and prizes would be given but there seemed to be not sufficient audience.
1.1. Get the various sponsors and associates to inform their network. I got info from NANAS electronic newsletters by e-mail. Be pro-active in finding out whether they are doing it.
1.2 100 goodie bags. Attractive. The problem here is the lack of audience. Those children and mothers you see in the picture came over from the National Museum.
1.3 Advertise event in the National Museum, National Library, POSB and community centres where the likely audience is found. A small notice in the Straits Times "Events Today" was placed.
1.4 Excite or interest the newspapers journalists to do a write up. I don't know whether this was done. The theme must be attractive to the jaded journalist.
1.5 50 posters were printed and put around the campus? Some flyers were distributed. None were available.
1.6 Sponsors get disheartened if there is no crowd.
2. THEME. Somehow I feel that the theme is not connecting to Animal Day. This event seems to be more a dog adoption and not buy from the pet shops concept. The poster slogan is great. Poster is attractive. The T-shirts of the energetic organising committee tell it.
3. TIME-TABLE OF EVENTS. Why should a person attend this event? There is no agenda or information about the talks or seminars advertised on site for the audience. No information is given in the poster. Flyers are no more. Actually, there is the agility and obedience dog show by the Singapore Kennel Club.
4. CREATE MARKET AWARENESS OF YOUR OBJECTIVES. Beautiful layout of the front of the T-shirt is important. But in this competitive world for funds, it is important for the animal welfare organisation to understand that a buyer of its T-shirt is a walking advertiser for its objectives.
Though graphics experts advise NO slogan in the front (to attract a person to read the back of the T-shirt for the message), I am of the opinion that the front is prime advertising space. Time-pressed Singaporeans and people may just read the front and if you listen to the experts, you just fail to get the "marketing awareness creation" to anybody.
Remember: The graphics experts look for awards and beauty. A slogan of the animal welfare organisation on the front of the T-shirt reinforces its objectives to new audience and maybe attracts new volunteers. Fund raising is extremely competitive and donor fatigue is common. So, get the slogan out in the front of the T-shirt!
Overall, I enjoyed the SMU PAW event and met great animal lovers including the energetic organising committee members.
posted by Photography by Sing Kong Yuen | 8:02 AM
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