Client: The Last Well

Industry: Nonprofit

Assignment: Branding, Public and Media Relations supportive of fundraising efforts

Business Goal: Fundraising efforts to reach $2,290,000 in donations, provide 500,000 Liberians with safe drinking water and save 25,000 lives in the process.

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Question: What is one of the greatest need in the world today?

Answer: Access to clean and safe water.

 

Question: Where is one of the most challenging places in the world today without clean and safe water?

Answer: Liberia, Africa.

 

HOPE FLOATS is a humanitarian fundraising event conceived by Todd Phillips, Founder, and President, with a goal is to raise funds needed to continue to introduce freshwater wells to provide clean water and send messages of peace through the words of the gospel to the people in Liberia Africa.

 

Progress: Since the organization's inception, The Last Well has provided more than 1.7 million Liberians with access to safe drinking water through more than 5,759 projects completed in the country thus far. The group needed to reach approximately 800,000 more Liberians in about 4,000 communities to finish their mission. When The Last Well began work in 2008, more than 50 percent of Liberia lacked access to safe drinking water. Today, that number is less than 20 percent – but those people are in great need of life-saving water. To date, The Last Well has raised more than $25 million toward its goal.

 

WHY LIBERIA?

Worldwide, roughly 748 million people lack access to clean drinking water. That’s over twice the population of the U.S. using dirty, disease-filled water for cooking, cleaning, drinking, washing and more. Nearly half of those in need are in sub-Saharan Africa where Liberia is located. Almost one million of those live in Liberia. As a result, tens of thousands die every year around the world from preventable, water-related disease. Sadly, children are the most vulnerable to the effects of unsafe drinking water and sanitation problems. Of the tens of thousands who die each year, up to 90% are children under the age of five.

 

Todd and The Last Well team decided to take bold steps to raise awareness of Liberia’s critical need for clean water and to raise in-kind donations needed to solve the country’s issue. Todd planned to place himself on a floating barge off the shore of The Harbor on the waters Lake Ray Hubbard, committing to not leaving the barge until they meet their fundraising goals. The funds raised will be used to install wells to provide access to clean water for the entire nation of Liberia by 2020.​​

 

Results

After living on a wooden barge on Lake Ray Hubbard for almost a month, the promotional fundraising event achieved its goal of raising $2,290,000: By reaching its goal, Hope Floats safe water Initiative will reach 500,000 Liberians with safe drinking water and save 25,000 lives in the process!