As many of you know, I have been stalking Hands On Disaster Response since I first worked with them in Bangladesh in January, 2008. I’ve just taken a break from working with them in Haiti but will be heading back in a few weeks because I’m completely hooked on the work they do and the way they run things. I’m completely passionate about what they do so when I thought of a way that could potentially help raise a lot of money for their cause, I was pretty happy to share it.
Hands On operate both in the US and internationally and have seen thousands of volunteers pass through their program since it began shortly after the Tsunami. This is a huge base of people, most who are as passionate about the cause as I am. I see this as a great opportunity to tap the volunteer base for donations, without them actually having to give. It’s great to be involved with an organisation like Hands On who are interested in your ideas and put the good ideas into action almost straight away.
Most people who read this site know all about affiliate marketing, but that doesn’t mean that people not working in the internet marketing industry know a thing about it. As it turned out, Andrew the fund raising guy, didn’t know much about it at all. I gave him a quick crash course in affiliate marketing, suggested a few programs that might be useful to volunteers and he had this page up and running within a few weeks.
The idea is simple: volunteers need to travel to the projects, they usually take out travel insurance, many buy guidebooks and other suggested reading, and they usually stay a night or two in a hostel or hotel on arrival into the destination country. All of these steps have excellent affiliate options and Hands On signed up with several including Kayak, Expedia, World Nomads, Amazon, Lonely Planet, Hostelbookers and Hostelworld. By adding affiliate links to their site, they will essentially be able to receive donations without the volunteer actually having to give their own money all while giving them a service that is useful.
I don’t doubt that future volunteers will make lots of bookings through the affiliate programs but what is really exciting is the possibility that other people will start heading to this page to make bookings even if they’re not heading to a Hands On deployment. I’ve given my friends and family, and now you guys, the heads up in the hope that some people will bookmark the site and visit it when looking to make these sorts of purchases. I have never felt comfortable steering friends, family and readers of this blog through my own affiliate pages but, because I am so passionate about the work Hands On do, it’s a no-brainer for me.
I love the fact that I am able to use my web marketing experience to help them in this area and am happy to see them act on the idea so quickly. I would love for people to have a look at their affiliates page and chuck a few comments this way about how you think they might be able to improve it. Or to take things to the next level, feel free to bookmark the page and make a booking or two next time you head off on your travels! I’m really excited to see whether this idea pays off for them and the mor epeople that know about it, the better.
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