OPERATION HOPE - A concept for a new model for on-line humanitarian relief appeals

Susanna Gonzales & ONZ January 2014

Introduction

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Introduction 2014/15

• Operation Hope (OH) was a nationwide NZ appeal for relief items for Eritrea that ran from 1984 to 1985. The appeal successfully built public support and donations for filling a cargo ship with needed resources; that then sailed from NZ to Eritrea to provide the resources to the emergency relief efforts. It raised $3M NZD worth of support.

• The OH organiser – Gerry Hill – approached ONZ in late 2014 with a suggestion to honour the 30th anniversary of Operation Hope

• ONZ’s current website model for inviting appeals for donations during a humanitarian disaster is currently a static donation page (with data fields for name etc), linked from the home page, news items, e-newsletters and social media to current and potential supporters.

• ONZ has been offering Oxfam Unwrapped via a website as a way for donors to support ONZ. Donors can actively chose specific items that are part of the ‘product’ needs for ONZ’s programme (chickens, pigs, tools etc). They then make a credit card donation and receive a printed or ecard outlining the product ‘bought’ and how it helps; they can then ‘gift’ the product to another person.

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Problem identification

• Operation Hope as a real cargo ship being loaded in a developed country and then sailing to the disaster site is no longer the most effective way to deliver relief to humanitarian disasters.

• The needs of affected communities are increasingly being decided upon by their leadership and government with support provided under their direction

• Multiple ‘independently’ organised relief efforts have has caused more confusion, avoidable duplication and loss of very limited time in the coordination unplanned arrival of stock and people (learning from Boxing day Tsunami).

• Time and donations used to both load and send a ship is more effectively and quickly provided through actual funds sent directly to those doing the coordination at the front line.

• ONZ (indeed Oxfam’s worldwide) are using a relatively dated ICT approach to encouraging donors to give to humanitarian relief appeals. Mobile apps, Social media, crowd funding and social awareness games are already being utilised to raise funds and awareness.

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Problem identification

• New ICT advances (not just social media) offer ways to encourage greater donor ‘experience’ - thus higher donations and longer term engagement

• E.g. – crowd sourcing, inter-active animations, gaming applications

• Donors/supporters are coming to expect a more ‘engaged‘ experience. The slower we are to respond top this interest – the greater risk we have of losing their support.

• Social media is showing new ways to build support through inter-active relationships such as games.

• However ONZ does not have any free resources to design or build new ICT initiatives

• The nature of humanitarian disasters means it is crucial that the ‘levity’ of some ICT tools match the need for respect for loss of life and property. Some components could be incorporated –

• teams to form, compare their fundraising with other teams. Rewards via the good feeling from completing the fundraising for another big ticket item rather than a badge icon

Operation Hope Appeal siteProject outline and Goals

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Operation Hope – Project OutlineIn order to:•Respond appropriately to the invitation to honour the anniversary of Operation Hope

•Harness the offer of volunteer time and skills by Susanna Gonzales – a friend/supporter of the OH anniversary concept

•Manage a feasible, low cost, update to the current on-line appeals format that keeps the donors experience of ONZ as interesting and engaging

ONZ proposes to support the development of a new on-line (and perhaps phone app) appeals portal – titled ‘Operation Hope’. It will be modelled on the successful Oxfam Unwrapped format. Donors will be more engaged with the key components of a humanitarian response through:•Learning about the current emergency and what is specifically needed (and why), on-going emergencies and the history of OH

•Choosing the types of ‘cargo’ they will ‘buy’ for the appeal,

•Seeing the selected cargo being virtually loaded on their behalf, into a cargo ship called ‘Operation Hope’.

•Be kept informed of the amount of ‘cargo’ donated, when it will ‘set sail’, and when the support has arrived. With encouragement to provide more support and get others to donate ‘cargo’.

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Operation Hope – short and long term Goals• Short term Goal. (December 2015)

• To provide a vehicle that acknowledges the 20 year anniversary of Operation Hope - a nationwide appeal for relief items for Eritrea (1984-1985). The appeal successfully built public support and donations for filling a cargo ship with needed resources, that then sailed from NZ to Eritrea to provide the resources to the emergency relief efforts. It raised $3M NZD worth of support.

• To provide a new, effective and innovative way for donors to engage with an ONZ humanitarian relief appeal (both urgent and long term).

• To increase donors understanding about the process and context of emergency relief for immediate and on-going emergencies.

• To increase the number of return and new donors who donate during an Appeal

• To increase the number of new appeal donors who are successfully encouraged to start a supporter journey with ONZ

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Operation Hope – short and long term Goals• Medium to long term Goal. (December 2016)

• To assess and evaluate the donor’s interest and level of engagement with the inter-active appeals site

• Assess and evaluate the potential partners who could provide capacity (for design, build and maintenance) and financial support

• Subject to the degree of support – develop a project that would explore the opportunities for a game based application that meets the expectations and interests of targeted gaming market

• The game application would not have a primary aim to educate or raise funds. It would need to be a good game in itself. The revenue raised would be based on it’s popularity and the side benefit would be learning about the real-life challenges of a humanitarian relief worker in a disaster zone.

Model of operation

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Model of Operation – Short term Goal

• Fundraising through interactive animation• Operation Hope appeals portal becomes an ongoing acknowledgement

of Operation Hope 1984/5• Achieves improved outcomes for appeal donors, donor knowledge and

increased appeal revenue

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Model of Operation – Medium - Long Term Goal

• Explore potential for Fundraising through gaming application• Increase understanding and learning of development challenges• Increase numbers of donors and fundraising income

Inter-active animation

Cost and effectiveness

of design

Gaming expertise

Gaming application developed

Increased donors, HR

understanding and income

How it would work for the donor/player?

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Operation Hope – How would a on-line inter-active appeal site work? (Short term Goal)

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Operation Hope – How could an humanitarian relief game work? (Medium - Long term Goal)

Phases on inter-action

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Operation Hope – Phases of donor/gamer interaction (Medium - Long term Goal)

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Operation Hope – Possible Phases of donor/gamer interaction (Medium - Long term Goal)

Next Stage: Draft a work plan based on the Concept outlined.