Libraries
To date Building Futures in Malawi have built two libraries in Lilongwe, Malawi and are currently in the process of adding a third. The libraries have been a resounding success and they receive approximately 200 visitors per day which is an unbelievable 70,000 visits per year. Each of these libraries operates as a satellite for the main library that is based in the commercial district of Lilongwe, City Centre. This part of the city is a bus ride from the area of the city where the majority of people live. We saw an opportunity to set up a library right in the heart of the poorer residential side of town. We teamed up with the Malawi National Library Service and the results have been spectacular.
The National Library Service is funded by the Malawi government and they source many of the books from UK charity Book Aid International. The National Library Service are able to request the books that they want and as a result the quality is comparable to books that you find in the UK. They are not forced to take the discarded books from the UK! The arrangement with the government means that library service have the budget to employ staff and manage their libraries.
The arrangement with Book Aid International means that they have top quality books at their disposal. The problem that they face is that they do not have the budget to build the library buildings. This is where Building Futures in Malawi were able to help. We have funded the buildings. It has been a perfect marriage. We simply pay this one off cost and take care of occasional maintenance and the National Library Service run the library.
This is an area of the charity that we are really looking to push forward. A library building costs approximately £9000 to build. This includes meshed windows (to ensure books are not passed outside), security doors and a full compliment of bookshelves. We would like to thank the employees at Accenture who have made a donation of this sum to build a new satellite library within the compounds of our new community sports school in Muzu, Lilongwe. It is truly spectacular that people in the UK can be so generous. Access to educational materials is so desperately needed in Malawi and so gratefully welcomed that everyone that has supported this venture should be very proud.
We welcome everyone that would like to visit our projects in Malawi to contact us. We would love to show you the libraries and all of our other projects. Perhaps you would like to raise money to go toward a library or another of our building projects if so why not donate some bricks now. If you or your company would like to fund an entire library then please contact us and we would be happy to make it happen for you. Perhaps this might also be a wonderful idea for anyone looking to leave a legacy after the death of a loved one. Personally I would love to think that I would contribute to the lives of so many people after I am gone. Help us build better futures in Malawi!
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TV Gives Charity Donations A Boost
Friday 26th February 2010
The science of marketing psychology isn't just reserved for the consumer masses, it can be used to help maximise donations to charities and not for profit organisations. A recent study carried out by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) found that different types of media coverage can have a profound effect on the amount of money donated by the public.
Following the Haiti disaster, the foundation found that newspaper coverage of the event was not as effective in encouraging members of the public to donate to the appeal. Advertisements and stories influenced only 6 per cent of those who gave money. This is in stark contrast to 11 per cent of the public who donated to the DEC Asia-Pacific appeal just a year earlier.
The shift in trend could be seen as alarming by fundraisers, but in fact it is our use of technology that is affecting the way we empathise with a cause, and our likeliness to donate to an appeal. Television coverage accounted for as much as 75 per cent of donations received for the Haiti Disaster Appeal, a figure that has risen since the Asia-Pacific appeal in 2009, where the figure was less than 70 per cent.
It is evident that fundraisers need to maximise the potential of modern technology, and use social media portals to tap into altruistic tendencies. Television may be top of the donation leader board now, but surely it is just a matter of time before social networking sites such as FaceBook and Twitter play just as an important role in raising much needed funds for appeals.
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