'Lola Olasehan Raises Funds for RESPECT Nigeria
'Lola Olasehan has been an active online volunteer for RESPECT Nigeria since April 2005. As Francis Abayomi reported in "Tribute to Volunteers in Nigeria" in the last issue of the e-Zine, 'Lola was able to raise ₦14600 through corporate sponsorship for the Sponsor a Child project. The funds given to the project will provide much-needed educational material, clothes and food for children at the Oru Refugee Primary School. Here an interview with Lola about her efforts.
Meesa: How did you first hear about RESPECT Nigeria's child sponsorship program?
'Lola: I worked in 2003 as an Online Volunteer for Nation2Nation writing articles about HIV/AIDS and access to medicines in Africa. That assignment ended in December 2003. 2004 was a hectic year with trying to settle into a new job and other volunteering commitments so I stayed off online volunteering. I was able to return to the ONV site to seek new assignments and stumbled upon RESPECT. I liked the fact that its focus was 'fresh' and offered me an opportunity to create impact in Nigeria. I applied, got acceptance and upon regular interaction with the country coordinator. The Sponsor a Child program was identified as a great opportunity to address RESPECT Nigeria's funding challenges, promote corporate social responsibility in Nigeria and create awareness for RESPECT and its laudable ideals.
Meesa: Recently, you have managed to raise ₦14600 for the sponsorship program. Please describe how you were able to accomplish that.
'Lola: Apart from having a natural drive for fundraising, I have immense experience in that field. As a member of AIESEC, a girl guide in elementary and high school and a member of different committees at the University, I found out that I always got stirred towards projects that required raising funds for their benefit. So you can say it has become second nature. In addition, all my friends and associates know that I will not spend my time supporting an ideal that is not positive. So they all bought the idea and were very happy to support my efforts. So you could sum it up as being possible because of my spirit, my friends and associates.
Meesa: How did you decide which corporations to target when you contacted them about the project?
'Lola: Nigeria is an emerging entity. A lot of things are going through change, including the political climate, business and work ethics. There are multi-national and indigenous companies interested in contributing to the development of its society. A lot of the organisations we considered have signified public interest in practicing corporate social responsibility, so they are natural targets.
I must point out that the whole theme of 'Sponsor a Child' has run a little under a month. At present, the bulk of donations coming in are from individuals. Contacts have been identified in the target corporations. So with Francis and the rest of the RESPECT Nigeria crew, we will be working in the course of the weeks to get the sponsorship invites out.
Meesa: Are you trying to get some of these corporations to be regular contributors to the program?
'Lola: That is the plan for all corporate and individual contributors. As a step towards that, we have developed a Relationship Management Plan to reach out to all contributors through personal thank you notes from Francis. He has already sent the thank you notes by e-mail to the first contributors and I must say, the response has been encouraging. A lot of the contributors have come back to say they liked the idea, and that they were happy to help out. They are looking out for other opportunities to help out.
Meesa: What are the different ways in which other people can contribute to this program?
'Lola: A lot of individuals have old clothes that are 'not worn' sitting in their closets along with books and medicines. These are all things that will make a difference in a child's life. For individuals who do not want to give money, they could volunteer, or send out these items to the Oru Refugee camp. It's really that simple to create impact in so many lives.