Marketing Drives Ambition for Change in Africa

 

Small charities and social enterprises have to be ruthlessly efficient with their scarce resources to prove to their supporters that their contributions are being used wisely and really contribute to the lives of their beneficiaries. Act4Africa is a great example of a tiny charity making a big difference.

Act4Africa was set up in 2000 by husband and wife team Martin and Kathy Smedley as a health and education charity aiming to promote gender justice for women and girls, equip them with life skills to be free from poverty, and combat HIV.

Working at a grass roots level, the charity uses performance arts activities to communicate gender equality and HIV/AIDS prevention education programmes. It also organises trips to Uganda (and soon Tanzania), for those wishing to do their medical elective or teaching placement in Africa.

Martin Smedley, co-founder of Act4Africa said, "We always got very high satisfaction scores from our overseas volunteers but we suffer from limited resources and the skills to get the message of what's on offer out to a wider audience.

“We needed help with our overall marketing strategy and advice on how to gain market share. We are a tiny charity with huge ambition."

The very reason the Pimp My Cause platform was built was to support small causes with big ambitions and when experienced marketer and charity leader Clare Crowther contacted us to ask for a local project that could use her help, we put her in touch with Act4Africa.

Clare undertook a review of all of their marketing material and gave constructive feedback about how they could improve and enhance their materials and the best ways to move forward with their marketing activities.

Alison Bell, Marketing and Trip Logistics Assistant of Act4Africa explained, "Clare advised us on branding issues and marketing campaigns (she advised us to keep them separate and specific - we currently have very general campaigns). And advised us to keep our marketing materials consistent so they all give the same message. Our problem has been that there are many different elements to our charity which makes it difficult for people to understand what we actually do - Clare helped us to try to achieve a simple way of branding ourselves.

"She also came up with a great idea for a new medical volunteering programme, which we are currently in the process of researching and developing."

Clare enjoyed contributing to the Act4Africa marketing strategy, she said, "They have been a great charity to work with. They took the time to help me get to grips with their mission and objectives and to understand their business plan. I had a free rein to look at where strategic marketing could make a difference, and gave a presentation on areas where marketing could have a significant and positive impact on their performance. I know they have taken on board some of my suggestions which will help this worthwhile charity develop further."

"It has been invaluable to have an outside view of things and to gain a fresh perspective on how we can improve our marketing," Martin shared.