This advocacy organization is the cats meow! You absolutely must visit: http://www.petsfortheenvironment.org/
From their "Get the crap out of our food - Poo Bag Campaign", to their spokesperson Eddie - to every detail of their website... I am impressed!
As an animal lover and "human companion" to 2 cats (that's how Eddie the spokesperson would describe me), these fine folks have done a tremendous job of capturing my attention... and my donation!
Pet people love their furry family members and we listen when someone tells us that they may be in danger.
Furry Fun & Advocacy
So what did they do right?
Recent surveys indicate that internet supporters and donors are willing to forward emails and refer friends. In an email to their online list, they encourage supporters to forward the email to other pet lovers. Guess what - it works! That is exactly how I learned about them!
I was so amused and intrigued by the email and the notion of a dog as an environmental advocate, that I simply couldn't resist reading their email.
Urgency!
Their newsletter made it clear that unless I signed up for more alerts, I wouldn't hear from them again. If I wanted to continue to know more about Eddie and the good work of Pets for the Environment - I had to sign up. I liked this so much, that I couldn't bear the thought of missing future emails from Eddie - so I signed up. They do an excellent job of their sign up page. Language has been changed to reflect the voice and tone of Eddie. They don't ask for your name - they ask for the "Human Companion Name". They ask you to submit the names of each of your pets and what types of furry friends you have. They are hitting the emotional triggers of Human Companions everywhere... or at least this Canadian Human Companion.
Here's where they really got me...
After signing up for their email updates, they allowed me to inform my friends about Eddie and his excellent efforts to clean-up the environment, by sending an E-card. This isn't just any-old e-card. Along with some very cute pictures of various animals, they offer people the ability to put a picture of your own pet on the e-card!
Human Companions just love, love, love, to show everyone how cute their furry friends are - so I couldn't resist sending an e-card to some of my fellow human companion friends.
After that, I just had to read Eddie's blog. The website includes a video of Eddie (and his human translator) visiting Washington to have a meeting with the FDA to address his "Get the crap of of my food" concerns. Apparently the officials who agreed to meet him, didn't stay. The video is fun, interesting and compelling. Although they are using humour to make their point - they do make their point.
Donation Time!
After that, I couldn't resist giving them a donation. I didn't care if it was a US or Canadian organization. I wanted Eddie to succeed! I figured $25 bucks.. no big deal. Then I realized that I would get a pet tag for each $25 I donated. Well - I couldn't get just 1 tag. That would mean that one of my feline friends would be without a tag! (funnily enough, mine are indoor cats and they don't wear collars, but I still wanted those tags!)
Thus - my donation was instantly increased from $25 to $50.
Their thank-you page provided me with great information about what I can look for to protect my furry friends from toxins and chemicals in food and household products. And they asked me which food I would like them to test.... giving me a vote in how my donation is used. Additionally, their donation process was "Canuck friendly". Their online form offers provincial choices and the field for zip code is labelled: Zip/Postal Code. Did I mention that I'm impressed?
From start to finish their campaigns, website and donation process gets an A+. I loved the dialogue. I felt compelled, engaged, amused and I wanted to be a part of it. Even more importantly, I wanted to ensure my friends have the opportunity to see and share in the experience. Yay for referrals!
The Downside
Eddie's Goal is $47,000 and thus far they have online achieved $14,575! I would hate to see such an appealing, endearing and worthwhile campaign miss its goal. I would love to chat with the marketing and fundraising team involved with this campaign to learn more about how they are marketing and propogating information about Eddie and his good works.
Late Edit - downgrading from an A+ to an A. Apparently their email tracking has a slight burp. My email thank you letter was sent to the original person who forwarded the initial email to me. Although this doesn't bother me (much), I suspect some people might be a little bothered by others knowing that the amount of their donation... and the lack of an email thank you appearing in their inbox. (I'm sure the folks at Pets for the Environment will address this in short order now that they're aware of the issue)
The final downside - it's a US company and I can't work for them :)
All in all - marvelous work. Keep up the good work Eddie - and the human translators supporting Eddie! That is almost certainly the most fun $50 donation I have ever made.
Thank you for allowing me to join the fun.
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