When asked to sponsor someone, the usual procedure is to hand over some cash or make a donation on a Justgiving page, to help support them in a significant challenge to raise awareness of a good cause...
However, when Hermione Taylor and her friend Sara embarked on a major cycle trip from London to Morocco in 2009, they didn’t want to ask friends and family to sponsor them with money. Instead to raise awareness of the environment, they asked for people to sponsor them through actions. They were amazed at the reaction, which drew sponsorship from 216 people, whose actions saved over 16 tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of 84 flights from London to Morocco.
On their return, Hermione was so inspired by the commitment from friends and strangers that she decided to set up a website that would help others to follow suit. And that is how The DoNation idea was born, offering a range of green actions that sponsors could use to support their friends’ challenges, with a reporting system to measure the results of each sponsorship.
Actions include switching to green energy, recycling more, ditching bottled water and washing at 30 degrees, helping to achieve greater carbon savings by encouraging everyone to work together and since The DoNation was launched in May, 403 people have already registered, pledging to save a combined total of 36,513 kgs of CO2.
“It’s all been very exciting since the launch,” says Hermione, The DoNation’s founder. “We’ve seen people from all around the world raising sponsorship doing all sorts of different challenges, from hiking mountains and running marathons to busking and knitting. Interest is continuing to grow from all sorts of great people and places so there are lots of exciting projects and opportunities coming up.
Hermione is now excited about taking the site to the next level and more people getting on board and doing even more.
So if you’re looking for a different type of sponsorship to raise awareness of environmental matters, but hate asking for money, take a look at www.thedonation.org.uk and see if your friends can support your challenge without the need to put their hands in their pockets. Of course, if you are raising money for charity, they can always use the cash they’ve saved from their green action. Now that’s a win-win situation, if ever I’ve seen one.
To find out more, visit the website, or follow their blog. You can also keep up-to-date what’s happening via Twitter and Facebook.
More from The Philanthropic Housewife
The Philanthropic Housewife: An Introduction
The Philanthropic Housewife: Rolling Up my Sleeves for 2011
The Philanthropic Housewife: Be Part of BBC Local Radio
The Philanthropic Housewife: More Music, More Variety
The Philanthropic Housewife: Volunteering Your Words
The Philanthropic Housewife: Just Blog It!
The Philanthropic Housewife: Recycling on the Go
The Philanthropic Housewife: Want To Be A Councillor?
About the author
Describing herself as a philanthropic housewife, Karen balances the challenges of modern parenthood with support for community projects and freelance writing, with an emphasis on mainstream, yet sustainable lifestyle issues. She's also the creator of The Rubbish Diet blog and a frequent contributor to BBC local radio. To find out more about Karen, just visit www.karencannard.co.uk.
