WaterAid’s new approach to virtual gifts allows donors to buy stories rather than toilet seats
Howard Lake | 17 February 2014 | News
A “genuinely different” take on virtual gifts – which that allows donors to buy stories rather than tangible goods and services, such as goats, on behalf of friends and relatives – has been launched by development charity WaterAid.
A new online giving platform Wahoo features the stories of eight people to whom WaterAid has delivered clean drinking water. Rather than buy something tangible such as cement or a toilet seat – the type of virtual gift previously available on WaterAid’s website – donors can now buy and share each story with up to 100 people at a time for a donation of £15 per person.
The stories are presented in the form of an infographic and each one features a short video segment.
Suze Haworth, Senior Project Manager at Numiko – the Leeds based digital agency that developed the concept – says the project is the result of “extensive research to understand the different audiences and how to appeal to them.
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“In the design of the site, we aimed to use really strong imagery to convey the joy that has been brought to the people in these stories by gaining access to clean water. The big smiles really bring this to life, and people will be able to share this moment of joy with their loved ones in a personalised way.”
Jeremy Gibson, digital marketing lead at WaterAid says: “We’re really excited about Wahoo and we hope it will provide something genuinely different and unique to the market place.”
He adds that the launch of Wahoo is the “first phase of a larger collaboration with Numiko to diversify WaterAid’s online donations presence”.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.