Honor your mother. Send a net. Save a life. -- Mother's Day Campaigns Better than Ever

My husband received this highly-effective email from Nothing but Nets this week, just in time for Mother's Day.

There's probably no better holiday to leverage folks' humanity, love and guilt (yes, mothers are known for that, whether its articulated or not) than Mother's Day. And nonprofits are doing a great job of it this year, especially those who can capitalize on a natural link to motherhood (focused on children, seniors, etc.).

Here are just a couple of the powerful campaigns I've seen:

1) The Nothing but Nets email campaign, which opens with this hard-to-resist pitch:

In the first few years of our lives, our mothers held our hand, picked us up when we fell, and rocked us to sleep. They provided a healthy, happy environment and kept us safe from harm.

Nothing But Nets works to give mothers in Africa the chance to do those same things, by providing them with insecticide-treated bed nets so that they and their children have the opportunity to realize their full potential too. Pregnant mothers and children under five are the most susceptible to contracting malaria. Protective bed nets allow mothers to enjoy the simple pleasure of caring for their children, as our mothers cared for us

2) The Families of Children from China(FCC) Mother's Day appeal for assistance to Chinese orphanages is another winner. Most members are, like us, families who have adopted children from China, so the interest in the welfare of the orphans still in China is already very strong.

It's hard to resist when asked to "keep our promise to the children who call the orphanage home."  Tie that to a focused email campaign on how donations can help provide "grandmas" in the orphanages, or more foster care, and bingo. I forwarded this email twice to my husband, with a strong request that this be my Mother's Day gift.

Any other great Mother's Day campaigns out there? Let me know by clicking the Comments link below.

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Comments

[Conor Byrne]

I am loving what nothing but nets are doing. Their game got me connected and then they have kept in touch with me with nice easy to read and unobtrusive emails.

[Amy]

I subscribe to this blog in my feed reader--that's where I saw this post. I thought the first person account was very effective and I liked that the NGOs they highlight are smaller ones I might have missed otherwise. Seems like a good grassroots approach. I was motivated to forward the link and plan to make a gift of support for my sister-in-law.