Design to Protect Critically Endangered Orangutans

 

Guest post by Helen Buckland, UK Director of the Sumatran Orangutan Society

As all small charities will know, when free marketing opportunities arise you move quickly and do everything you can to take full advantage of the situation. Pimp My Cause allowed us to get the design support we needed to accept an offer of free mobile ad space.

The Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) works to protect orangutans, their forests and their future. We do this by raising awareness about the importance of protecting orangutans and their rainforest home; supporting grassroots projects that empower local people to become guardians of the rainforests and restoring damaged orangutan habitat through tree planting programmes, and campaigning on issues threatening the survival of orangutans in the wild.

We're a small organisation with a big impact, and we're really proud of the difference we're making on the ground in Sumatra, working with local communities, businesses and government to create a brighter future for orangutans and their forests.

We were contacted by Pimp My Cause back in May 2011, offering us the opportunity to be featured on the site and send out calls for help to a group of marketing professionals - we jumped at the chance to be involved, it's an exciting and innovative platform.

Last month we were contacted by a company offering us free advertising space on their mobile bicycle billboards. This was a fantastic opportunity for us, but as a very small charity, we don't have an in-house marketing or art department - so we reached out for help via Pimp My Cause.

Michelle Norris was really quick to respond to our request for help, and she very quickly put together some really great billboard designs for us! We were delighted to be able to accept the free advertising opportunity, which we wouldn't have been able to do without Michelle's help. The result was a bright and eye-catching billboard with a simple message and call to action - we loved working with Michelle and were delighted with the finished product.

We have lots more ideas to raise awareness of the cause and our work to create a brighter future for orangutans - particularly using online messaging, e-commerce, and working with schools. Watch this space - we'll definitely be posting more projects soon - or contact us direct if you'd like to get involved with supporting our work.