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Croatian Dogs appeal for new building

Through colourful posters and public demonstrations the campaign secured wide publicity for its message that guide dogs help blind people to gain their rights to mobility and independence but without them, all streets are dead ends.

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SOFII's view

This ambitious campaign to build a rehabilitation centre in Zagreb that will improve the mobility and rehabilitation of Croatia’s blind population raised a large amount of money at an impressively low cost to income ratio and successfully engaged private, corporate and institutional donors plus succeeded in drawing an urgent and worthwhile cause to the attention of a wide range of important audiences.

Medium of communication:

Event, press advertising, telephone.

Type of charity:

Environmental/animals.

Target audience:

Awareness, individuals, single gift, corporations, intermediaries.

Country of origin:

Croatia.

Creator/originator:

Mira Katalenic, President, Croatian Guide Dog and Mobility Association (CGDMA)

Name of exhibitor:

CSDF Hungary

Date of first appearance:

2004.

Summary/objectives:

Croatian Guide Dog and Mobility Association (CGDMA), together with the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the City of Zagreb set out to raise 500,000 Euros to build the first rehabilitation centre for the orientation and mobility of blind people in this part of Europe. They also aimed to raise awareness about the rights and needs of persons with disabilities, and to develop corporate social responsibility in Croatia.

Background:

The ‘without a guide dog, all streets are blind’ campaign was supported by Zagrebacka Banka (a key campaign partner), and Digitel marketing agency who developed the communications strategy and creative ideas for the campaign.

The campaign was made up of the following elements:

the Philanthropic Orchestra of the Scala from Milan in Zagreb visited on the 4th of October 2004 and donated all the income from this visit to the construction of the centre.
A special donation account was opened by Zagrebacka Banka to collect the payments from interested individuals and companies.
Zagrebacka Banka fundraised through its sales network and collected donations from its employees.
CGDMA organised a humanitarian concert with Croatian popular music performer, Oliver Dragojevic, supported by the production agency Song and the Municipal authorities of Split
Income from the International Dog Show was donated towards the construction of the centre.
Participation in the traditional, 9th Christmas Presents Auction in the Hotel Sheraton. Following this auction, two more corporate sponsors offered to support the campaign.
A seasonal entertaining and educational programme for children was organised just before Christmas with dogs pulling Santa Claus’ sledge.
Funds were also collected by advertising a telephone number people could call to make a donation.
The final phase of the campaign was an educational-promotional programme for the general public on Cvjetni trg (Flower Market) in Zagreb in March 2005.

Costs:

5,571 Euros (budget)

Results:

Income 148,687 Euros
Very good media coverage
“Without a guide dog, all streets are blind” became the motto of all educational - promotional activities of the Association in 2005. It managed to raise awareness about the need of exercising basic human rights – rights to self-reliance and independence of blind and other persons with disabilities.

Merits:

The ‘without a guide dog, all streets are blind’ campaign was a strong national campaign that successfully combined fundraising from individuals, private companies and events.

Final Notes:

Adapted from CSDF’s 2006 publication 'Mission Possible.'