FINAL 6 MARCH 2013

I have decided that the Coffee donation through coffee cards idea would work the best because, it is simple way for people to donate without having to change their behaviour. While it wasn't my most creative direction out of all my ideas, it has a clear business model behind it toto raise $1,000,000 in 6 months.

Any feedback is appreciated!

(Apologies for my design efforts, it's not my trade and I'm teaching myself Photoshop while doing this assignment!)

IDEA: Change a child's life for the cost of a coffee

Elevator Pitch:

Donate 'free' coffee on coffee loyalty cards to Pencils of Promise on automatic debit.
Reward loyalty to cause with giveaways.

Challenge

Pencils of Promise: Build schools for underprivileged kids in developing nations.

The challenge to raise $1 million in 6 months, to build schools in Guatemala

Proposal:

Encourage coffee card users to give cost of their free cup of coffee to Pencils of Promise.

Partner with coffee card mobile app providers, KeepCup and independent coffee shops in Australia
Using a coffee card mobile app, like eCoffeecard, users can donate their 'free' coffee on coffee to Pencils of Promise on automatic debit.
Reward loyalty to cause with giveaways from sponsors.

Insights

Insight: Pencils of Promise has been built 'brick by brick' with small, incremental donations:

The organisation started with only $25
In first 2 years, 98% of donations came in form of $100 or less. (Adam Braun, founder)
Philosophy: "One pencil has the power to change a child's life"

Insight: The cost of a cup of coffee is insignificant to most coffee drinkers, (AU$3) and is about the cost of a pencil.

Insight: Coffee is Guatemala's biggest export

Insight: Australian coffee drinkers are brand-loyal and becoming more sophisticated and eco-conscious

Consumers’ awareness of premium coffee is increasing. Once not understood by consumers, now almost a third of Australians (32.7%) prefer Arabica coffee beans. (source)

Market size

Coffee Poppers Pencils of Promise - Final - image 2 - student project

Australia has a thriving café scene.

The sustainable coffee sector in Australia has had the largest growth with an annual growth rate between 10% and 20% compared to general worldwide consumption of 1.2% annually (Source).

Market leaders in specialist, sustainable, eco-conscious coffee include:

Campos - an importer of Guatemalan coffee
Toby's Estate
AllPress Espresso

All of these specialist coffee shops import coffee from Guatemala.

Figures

The average coffee drinker drinks 2-4 cups per day. (University of NSW National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre)
Most loyalty cards reward after 10 cups of coffee, which is roughly one free coffee per week for the average coffee drinker.
Working from conservative average of two coffees per working day, that works out to $12 per month, or $72 for 6 months.
To make $1,000,000 in 6 months, we would need to get approximately 15,000 coffee card users to donate every single free coffee over six months.

eCoffeecard market penetration

The eCoffeeCard app is available on Apple, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone. It allows people to: Keep all their coffee cards for all their different cafes in one place; Pay for your coffee through the app; Swipe phone at coffee shops to log loyalty
1500 cafés have signed up throughout country
The app has been downloaded 200,000 times and is used by 1500 cafés. (Source: Techworld, Jan 2013)

How Coffee Pop works

Coffee Poppers Pencils of Promise - Final - image 4 - student project

How it works:

It will be a mix of in-store collections and mobile app donations.

In-store:

Participating coffee shops will collect coffee cost donations at point of sale - this is open to all people, regardless of whether they use the mobile app or not.
In-store posters and other design will drive awareness about Pencils of Promise. Such as: A limited range of coffee cups with a child's face, URL and PoP logo on the bottom of the cup (other people see the face as you drink). Suggested copy: 'The hidden cost of your coffee, a child's education'. Or 'One week of lattes = one year of education' .

Mobile:

Through eCoffeelub card app, you chose to automatically gift your coffee to Pencils of Promise

Pencils of Promise Loyaltly card app: Coffee PoP

We create a Pencils of Promise loyalty card app - called Coffee PoP - that works with existing loyalty apps, like eCoffeecard.
For every $3 donation, the giver gets a gold star on their Pencils of Promise loyalty card.
Every time a donation is made, the app provides random facts, trivia or other bits of education.
The app also features quizzes, Soduko etc. So users can 'stay sharp' while waiting in line for their coffee

Rewards:

The sponsors - KeepCup, Campos, Toby's Estate etc - provide rewards for loyalty. For instance:
On their 10^th donation, Coffee Poppers earn a free KeepCup from a special limited range run with a Guatemalan design and the Pencils of Promise logo - the idea is to continue to increase loyalty and also spread awareness amongst friends and family.
On their 20^th donation, Coffee Poppers are given a ticket to a nearby event - such as a film festival that is sponsored by Campos etc.

The way to get it on CNN

MasterBarista: The 2012 world champion barista is Guatemalan Raúl Rodas. We issue a challenge to him to come to Australia and judge our best, and then take them on in a televised Barista championship: MasterBarista. (I was inspired by recent campaign by Tourism Australia, advertising for the 6 best jobs in the world, and the recent Barista championships. )

MasterBarista will run over a series of months, and the 10 people that donate the most in the 6 month period will win tickets to the finale.

Further promotion and marketing

Coffee making events and classes.
Guatemala event in participating coffee stores, which includes coffee cupping of single origin Guatemalan coffees, as well as Guatemalan-inspired menu items.

ENDS

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UPDATE: 3 March (4:00PM EST)

I think my ideas went in a different direction to my original 25. I tried to find connections and themes amongst them, but also thought up a completely new idea - based on the theme of belonging and togetherness (The snapshot book)

// IDEA one: A global snapshot book (a new idea)

IMAGE: Life in a Day

We get everyone in the world to submit a photo to capture a particular day - a moment from that day. We pick, curate and compile the photos into a book, running chronologically from dawn to night. All proceeds from the sale of the book goes to PoP.

My inspiration is Life in a Day and 52 suburbs. The hope is to make people feel like their efforts belong to something bigger. People are more likely to purchase the book, if they have felt like they are making a contribution.

It also ties into our fascination with connecting with others through moments we can relate to - a Russian family sitting down to dinner, some Cambodian children swimming in a river.

To make it as easy as possible for people to contribute, we would gather the photos using established platforms eg Flickr, Instagram all through the use of a hashtag, and also a dedicated web page and email address.

There is PR and social networking potential for this project - as people submit photos, and share with their friends / challenge their friends to also enter.

I'd like the price point of the book to be about $25 to tie it back to the $25 pays for the education of one child. However, I would need further research on cost of produciton and distribution of the books. If the books were $25, the goal would be 40,000 books sold. If $50, then only 20,000 books.

Distribution:

Online - mail order. You can also buy it for a friend.
All good bookstores, including Airport bookstores

There are many ways to tie this back to Guatemala, with slight tweaks to the theme. Some ideas:

If we put a theme on the photos - eg all photos about what you do with a pencil that day, or moments of education
If we had a photographer in Guatemala shoot and compile photos that echo the photos that are selected EG - Going to a nightclub next to a photo of Guatemalan traditional dancing; Eating at a restaurant next to a photo of Guatemalan family meal. Name of book: 'We are they'
If the challenge was to send some kindness, or send a smile to Guatemala.
Or just in a general way, the idea is to create a coffee table book, so we also sell Guatemalan coffee in a gift package. Perfect stocking filler for Christmas - coffee and a book.

Other projects could spin off from this project or add to it:

Global snapshot: Documentary film

A film documenting the making of the book - increase hype for the book. Inspiration Kony 2012. Despite being a documentary about a protracted international conflict happening very far away, Kony 2012 was a marketing success because:

The director focused on the target audience: teenagers and twentysomethings browsing Facebook and Twitter.
The documentary started with some explanation about the interconnectedness of society – through the use of the Internet, Skype, Facebook etc.
Humanised the conflict, by focusing on the story of one child.
Provide a clear action plan for people - which were very easy to do.
Shortened it to 29 minutes and 59 seconds because that looks shorter than 30 mins.

Similarly the film would raise awareness about the situation about Guatemala by - comparing it to the situation at home, focusing on only one child in Guatemala and their situation, and then providing some hope - spelling out a plan on how to change the situation. Submit your photos, buy this book, help these kids.

...

// IDEA theme two: Coffee ideas

The ideas below are all around the theme of coffee.

Images: KeepCup and LunchBeat

Coffee 1: Coffee BreakBeat - World's coffee break movement

Idea: Give people the opportunity to set up their own coffee party.

Target audience: Millenials, young office workers.

Inspiration: Lunch Beat - It’s a great way for people to blow off steam, meet other people, and have a different experience in their break. Also makes them feel like they are part of something bigger, and they belong. However LunchBeat manifesto is about not making profits, while this would be about charity fundraising. I think it's the perfect environment for fundraising, when people are feeling upbeat and positive, and part of something bigger.

Coffee BreakBeat parties can be set up anywhere by anyone. They can be held in university lecture halls, non-profit centres, community halls or basements.

All you need to do to find out where the next one is to set up a regular donation to Pencils of Promise. You get a text message about the next Coffee BreakBeat in your area. They are on during the day. They are only one hour long – the time for a coffee break – and feature DJs and dancing.

People can also set up their own party – They pay a small donation to receive a kit with everything they need to market their event.

Guatemalan coffee is sold at the event. All proceeds to go to PoP. Also a Pencil pendant (see Fashion idea) is sold. Each pendant has a unique ID number. You can enter that ID number into a dedicated website to 'take the pledge' and sign up to regular donations to PoP.

Coffee 2: KeepCup Keep Promises

Research

KeepCup manufactures sustainable, reusable coffee cups. The goal is to reduce the widespread use of disposable cups.
KeepCup is a start-up, private Australian business that has just launch in the US. KeepCup is still small, it has 20 employees. Since 2009, it has grown 300% year on year. It has customers throughout the world
Charity work: KeepCup is interested in supporting charity organisations that reflect their values and aims – sustainability, design, community and coffee. It currently supports CoffeeKids, which helps educate the children of coffee plantation familities in Latin America. Pencils of Promise is a good fit for KeepCup – as it has sustainable programs, it's schools have a design ethos to minimise waste,

Insight: A visual symbol for a charity helps to spread awareness, for example the red nose for Comic Relief (Red nose day)

Idea: Design a range of KeepCup coffee cups for Pencils of Promise. The collection would be called KeepCup Promises – the band would feature a unique PoP symbol or Guatemalan design.

Audience: Coffee drinkers

Distribution - Cups can be bought:

Online, through KeepCup – global distribution
At leading Australian coffee companies: Toby's Estate and Campos Coffee, which both import Guatemalan coffee. Both companies claim to import coffee produced in a sustainable, ethical way - http://www.camposcoffee.com/our-coffee-producers/finca-la-perla.asp
At key retailers in Australia
At the Coffee BreakBeat events

Coffee 3: Coffee card

Most coffee cards have a loyalty system, where your 10^th coffee is free. The idea is to 'donate' that coffee to Pencils of Promise. Customer gives up free coffee to donate the $3.50 to PoP.

This is set up automatically when you download the app, you only need to choose to opt in.

Audience: Coffee drinkers

...

// IDEA three: Looks for Books

Coffee Poppers Pencils of Promise - Final - image 10 - student project

Audience: Women 20 – 40, fashion conscious men

Insight: Pop already has a store featuring some items. This would extend upon that idea.

Looks for Books: Competition fashion event

We run competition for aspiring fashion designers, students and jewellery design students to create a range of fashion items at an affordable price point using Guatemalan fabrics and materials, or around the concept of the pencil and education.

The students submit sketches of their creations, and share on FB to get their friends and family to vote for them. Each vote would come with the option to donate.

The top 20 designers are chosen and made, and then a fashion event is put on to showcase up-and-coming design talent from across Australia.

Tickets to attend $50 or $100 for VIP seats which includes a gift bag, better seating and cocktails. The event has an air of exclusivity, with VIP guests in attendance, but there is also a 'People's Choice' award.

Celebrity judges, or fashion industry pundits, judge the designers' work. Possible TV Tie in - Project Runway (US) or Gok's Fashion Fix (UK)

A well-established designer also creates a range which is displayed on the runway and auctioned off.

The night finishes with a silent auction – Funds go to charity (rest covers costs).

The best designer wins:

a trip to Guatemala,
a training session with a top-end designer, and
a chance to start their fashion range with artisans in Guatemala

There will also be a People's Choice prize and a prizes for the remaining finalists.

There are many fashion designers and models that do charity work for children's charities, including: Donnatella Versace, Versace One Goundation – provide support to children in China; Oscar de la Renta – New Yorkers for Children Education charity; Angela Missoni – Orphan Aid Africa and Kate Moss – many charitable works – Make Povery History, Comic Relief

Looks for Books: Pencil challenge

Coffee Poppers Pencils of Promise - Final - image 12 - student project

Image: Joan from Mad Men, and How Two Live blog

We get jewellery designers to create a jewellery range featuring the pencil: Pencil key chains, rings with pencil motif. For example Joan from Mad Men wears a pencil chain necklace (pictured).

Challenge people and bloggers to send in photo of themselves wearing one of these creations with a fashionable street style outfit they have put together. They submit photos with a hashtag #looksforbooks

Target audience: Millenials that use Lookbook.nu and Pinterest

Struggling to get an idea on other ways to monetise this, aside from the sale of jewellery, but it would raise awareness and create a 'Pencils of Promise movement' amongst the fashionistas.

More on Lookbook (source):

Current Traffic:

Over 4 million unique visitors per month
Over 100 million page views per month
Over 1 million total registered members

Audience Statistics:

Female: 80% female
Young: 66% between 18 and 34, 33% between 12 and 17, avg. age 20 yrs. old
Connected: 50% of members run their own blog or personal website
Engaged: Avg. 8.5 pages per visit and 8:11 avg. time on site
Creative: Top occupations include students (college, fashion, architecture, art, design, photography, etc.), photographers, fashion designers, graphic designers, bloggers, models, musicians, and stylists

.......

27 February Research and early ideas

Problem: How do we raise US$1,000,000 in 6 months for Pencils of Promise to help fund urgently needed schools in Guatemala

Mindmap:

Coffee Poppers Pencils of Promise - Final - image 14 - student project

Research

Pencils of Promise Research and Insights

Mission Statement: “Together we can create education for all”: Pencils of Promise is a non-profit, ‘for-purpose’ organisation that creates schools in the developing world.
Vision: “Education creates opportunity”. Education is a basic human right; it empowers the next generation.
Financials:

In 2011, Pencils of Promise received $2,339,383 in total support
Three quarters of donations received were less than $100
A Gala event in November 2011 (a first) raised $1,000,000 in one night.
33% of PoP donations came from corporations
23% came from individuals
Campaigns – including the Schools4All Justin Bieber campaign - raised 12%
Special events (such as the Gala night) contributed 22%

Donations

Motives for charitable giving:

Self-interest – Recognition from peers or a benefit, such as a discount
Empathy – Sense of social justice
Personally impacts them – eg People who have friends or family that have cancer are more likely to donate to Cancer related causes.
Guilt – Sense of guilt about having money when others are so disadvantaged.

Deterrents:

Lack of empathy - People are less likely to empathise if they can not relate to the problem, such as if it is happening in a remote location.
Difficult platforms – if the payment method is quick and painless, people are more likely to donate.
Lack of incentive – Some people are more likely to donate if they will get something in return.

Guatemala

From the CIA Worldbook: “Guatemala is a predominantly poor country that struggles in several areas of health and development, including infant, child, and maternal mortality, malnutrition, literacy, and contraceptive awareness and use. The large indigenous population is disproportionately affected.

“Guatemala is the most populous country in Central America and has the highest fertility rate in Latin America. It also has the highest population growth rate in Latin America, which is likely to continue in the long term because of its large reproductive-age population and high birth rate. Almost half of Guatemala's population is under age 19, making it the youngest population in Latin America.”

Literacy rate (definition: The percentage of populate age 15 and over that can read and write)

Total population: 69.1%
Male: 75.4%
Female: 63.3% (2002 census)

Potential Audiences

Parents, teachers, primary care-givers - Work with children and are more likely to empathise with children cause.
9 – 15 years old - School children in Australia – Middle class, imaginative, and can relate to other children.
CEOs of large corporates – Naturally competitive people, getting CEOs together in an environment where they will want to compete with each other, and out bid each other.
Coffee lovers in Australia – Australians love coffee and has a thriving café culture. More than one billion cups of coffee are consumed in cafés, restaurants and other outlets each year (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2000). Guatemala’s biggest export is coffee.
18 – 25 Backpackers - The younger end of the spectrum don’t have huge amounts of money. They are more likely to be interested in ‘voluntourism’, where they help out at a local community level by digging ditches, building schools, working in orphanages. Many in this age group are students, to they care about education, and are likely to be interested in helping to teach poor students in third world countries. Backpackers like to stay in cheap accommodation, or homestays.
25 – 45 Flashpackers – Similar to backpackers, flashpackers are community minded eco-tourists that like to make a positive impact in countries they visit. Flashpackers tend to have more disposable income then backpackers, and are likely to financially contribute to good causes when travelling. Flashpackers would prefer homestays, where they can stay with a local family and be exposed to the unique culture.
45 – 60 Lux travellers. Older tourists tend to have more disposable income. These tourists are more likely to stay in a hotel, rather than rough it in backpacker accommodation. They often have all their activities arranged for them by a travel agent before they leave on their trip. The difficulty is that they may not be exposed to the real living conditions of the poor, and may not be given chance to donate.

Ideas into themes

Theme: Music

// Glee cast

Justin Bieber is currently involved in a campaign – Schools4All. Pencils of Promise has gained a lot more attention with media and schools, which is reflected in the web visitors to the site. The idea would be to build on this success, while the cause is still in the public eye, and involve other celebs. For instance: The cast of Glee could film an episode at your school and 10 lucky kids could guest star. Glee appeals to school age kids, and actress Lea Michele is an active supporter of charity work for children.

// Top of the PoPs

Partner with iTunes and Amazon, every book or song downloaded has an option to add extra funds donate to PoP, make it so easy to remove the barrier to donate.

// Guatemala festival

An all day event with music, food, clothes etc everything celebrating Guatemalan culture. The event is free to attend, but everything at the event is designed to raise funds. Eg Cooking demonstration that you pay to attend, Fashion event with designers using Guatemalan fabrics. All clothing is auctioned at the end.

// Big music festival

Rival to Harvest and Big Day Out – socially minded musicians are invited to perform for free, with expenses covered, and the rest of the proceeds from ticket sales go to PoP. Target audience: 18 - 35

Theme: Raise Awareness

// Raise Awareness

* A series of documentary videos where you ‘Meet’ one of the children and how their lives have changed thanks to PoP. It's about hope and about social change.

* All the teachers create Facebook pages documenting the issues they confront on a daily basis.

// Ad campaign

Ads with Australian kids discussing why they don’t go to school but using all the real reasons that impact Guatemalan children: the facilities are bad, they have to get up at dawn to work picking beans, there wasn’t enough money for uniforms. At the end is a call to action and an explanation that education is a basic human right, and yet kids in Guatemala face these issues everyday – some stats on how many drop out, and then ask for a donation.

// Airport POS

Research says that most people in international airports are stressed, excited and most likely to indulge in impulse purchases. Also, those that have been to Guatemala or other developing countries may be more aware of the issues. Idea is to target travellers at the airport book store, for every purchase you can buy an education - $5 for supplies, or $25 to pay for one child’s education.

Theme: Coffee

// Get everyone in the world to take a coffee break

Partner with a leading coffee manufacturer - Starbuck or Nescafe - and set up the World's Biggest Coffee Break - people set up their own private coffee party, selling home mage cakes and coffee.

What if we can get everyone in the world to take a coffee break? Office workers, corporates etc each host their own event, you pay to attend and people provide cakes, coffee etc for sale to buy.

The coffee partner would match the proceeds that are raised. There would also be a Pencils of Promise logo on their brand of coffee to show their support, and raise awareness.

// Coffee lovers

Guatemala’s biggest export is coffee. Target coffee consumers at point of sale, and raise awareness, ask for donation. This could be done by putting the face of a child on the bottom of the cup, so when you raise the cup to drink, your friends and colleagues see the face of the child that ‘picked the beans’. The price of one cup of coffee each month changes lives. $4 per cup of coffee. $25 for one child's education.

Theme: Art fashion

// One million pencils

Pay $1 and you receive a pencil with a message on the pencil. The bigger the donation, the bigger the pencil and bigger the message.

// Pencil chain

Donaters receive a bit of jewellery, a metal pencil on a chain.

// Pencil artwork Auction

Commission artists to create artworks with the theme on education and PoP, and auction them at a big event. Get the school kids in PoP programme to contribute artworks, which are auctioned at Gala event.

// Giant pencils art event.

A competition open to public that you can submit your design to be put on a giant pencil. Leading creatives and artists, such as Ken Done, along with people that raise a certain amount of money for PoP, are invited to design one of the 1000 pencils. There is an exhibition all over the country, and at the end the pencils are auctioned off. All proceeds go to PoP.

// Giant drawing event

Wrap a city’s icon sculpture or building in blank paper, and people can pay to decorate the structure. EG the Sydney Harbour Bridge or the Sydney Opera House. You pay per pencil, and for a section of the structure.

// Staedtler

Partner with notebook maker like Moleskine or pencil maker Staedtler, for every notebook or pencil bought, that manufacturer sends the equivalent money to PoP.

// Pencil sculptures

Pay for your pencil to go into artwork with a personal message engraved on side. Artist – and a team of helpers - creates sculpture about Guatemala made out of pencils. There are one million pencils used in the final artwork. You can choose the colour of you pencil, and the colour you want your message.

Theme: Challenges

// PoP quiz. Who has the smartest business mind?

Playing on the idea of education, you get CEOs of large corporate and major competitors in business together for a fundraising trivia quiz night. EG Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook and Harvard drop out, donated $500 million to a Silicon Valley Community Foundation to support health and education causes which shows that he cares about education. Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, one of the world’s biggest philanthropists, reportedly has an IQ 170. CEOs would pay to participate, plus pay to answer.

// ‘Are you the smartest?’ contest

An online competition where you can pit your wits against your friends and family. Team with intelligence specialists Lumosity http://stories.lumosity.com/, you would perform a quiz to find out how smart you are, donate to get your results and then share your results on Facebook or Twitter, challenge your friends to beat your score. See how you rank next to CEOs above and well-known geniuses.

// Big promises

Take on your biggest fear or personal challenge, whether it be running a marathon or giving up chocolate. Phase one: Challenge 1000 people to do one big challenge within 100 days, and raise $1000 each. Whatever Impossible challenge you choose, it will be attached to a SchoolBuilder fundraising page.

// Live the experience

Schools and business go without most facilities for one hour - no air-con, no laptops, no desks.

// Pencil Pals and School to School (S2S) pinkie promise

Phase one: Pencil pals – get Australian school students writing to, and receiving postcards from Guatemalan schools. The aim is to encourage a sense of connection between the kids, and it would also help to teach English to the Guatemalan children.

Phase 2: Pinkie promise - 100 Schools across the country get set a challenge to raise $10,000 in 150 days (a little under 6 month) in any way they can.

// Pencil games

Put out the challenge to school kids to invent as events or games with pencils as possible. Each school hosts an event where everything pencil related is on show, and schools have to sell tickets to the event. For example, a school musical about pencils, a fashion show but all the clothes are inspired by pencils, a games day where all the games involve pencils.

Theme: Collaboration

// Giant online sketch project.

Everytime you donate, you can add a drawing to the mural. You can’t see what the person before you has drawn. The size of your donation is relative to how big your drawing can be. Your cursor is a pencil, but you can donate more for other colours and skins. At the end, the final online artwork is translated by an artist into a giant mural at a major city.

// Digital postcards and mural.

For every donation, you can send a message to the schools. The larger the donation, the bigger the message you can send. Once the target is reached, and the school is built, the messages are all transcribed onto a big mural at the school.

Theme: Comedy

// Comedy

Commission skit videos from celebrity comedians, such as Rebel Wilson, or College Humour. Audience has to pay a donation to unlock all the videos

// Ask the kids.

Get comedy duo Hamish and Andy to interview the kids on how they think we should raise the money, then the two comedians have to do or enact everything the kids suggest. The intention is the video is funny enough to go viral, and raises awareness, increases emotional connection to the cause, and then prompts people to donate. This could be a series of videos, and could connect to the College Humour idea above (no. 8)

Siobhan Chapman

Producer at Mi9

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