“He gave me water. Life.” My notes from IWITOT 2024

I was delighted to be at IWITOT (I Wish I’d Thought of That) once again, one of my favourite events! IWITOT’s two golden rules for speakers are: The (fundraising) idea has to be from someone else You have just seven minutes to talk about it – say what you liked about it and why. And my notes typed while watching are below. They’re just notes though – it’s much better to be there in real life or indeed online of course! Speaker number 1: Manon Oliver, partnership manager, Oxfam First up: Manon talking about 2018 partnership between Lacoste (clothing brand) and International Union for the Conservation of Nature. In 2018 replaced the crocodile with the likenesses of endangered species. Made under 2,000 shirts to match the remaining populations of ten entire species. Means and message came together. Created a symbol of what is at stake. Captured global attention, 1.2 billion impressions. 9.9M Euros in earned media. Sparked global conversation about extinction. Shirts themselves sold out in 24 hours, raising $325,000. And donations to IUCN multiplied by 4. A brilliant idea. Tapped into something super powerful for Lacoste too. People want to support brands that stand for something. They reached new audiences. Next up: Alex Day, managing director, Big Give – talking about the Aberfan disaster of 1966 and the Aberfan Disaster Memorial Fund (ADMF) which was established on the day of the disaster. The Fund received £1.6M about £