The Starfish Greathearts Foundation is planning to raise funds with the introduction of an interactive e-book.
The foundation says instead of using the traditional charity model that requests people to make donations, they are providing donors with a product of value, an e-book, for their funds. Seventy percent of the proceeds will go to the charity.
The Starfish Greathearts Foundation approached digital advertising agency Retroviral to develop a campaign that enables the charity to earn an income in order to further extend its services to orphaned or vulnerable children in SA.
The digital agency developed the interactive e-book, titled 'The Starfish Story', available on Apple iOS store for $9.99.
Belinda te Riele, CEO of Starfish, explains: "It is a challenge raising funds in our market, as SA is considered a middle-income country with less foreign aid coming through. Also, many people are experiencing donor fatigue and so we need to find more innovative ways of raising funds and building a community of support for children."
The Starfish Story tells the tale of Nozi, who is tucked into bed by her mother at night. A magical adventure ensues as Nozi drifts into a deep slumber. The story is ideal for a child's first book, as parents can read the text, or choose to have the story narrated by Lebo Motsoeli.
For older children who are learning to read, the tale includes a series of interactive Easter eggs, and animals that come to life on the screen when they are clicked, or as the iPad is hugged, tapped or moved from side to side, explains Starfish Greathearts.
Mike Sharman, co-founder of Retroviral, says his agency's challenge was to create something that members of the public would find valuable in exchange for their disposable income.
"We modernised and localised the Starfish narrative, collaborated with the finest team of designers (You and Me) and developers (Aglet) and today we are proud to launch a paid-for, interactive, iPad e-book, where all proceeds from the sales will go directly to Starfish."
Concludes te Riele: "We are incredibly excited about this e-book and look forward to receiving feedback from parents and children, both locally and internationally. Enjoy the gift of giving this festive season, and a big thank you to everyone for supporting Starfish."
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